Mandali

Africando All Stars (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 16, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Stern's Africa
• ASIN: B000054BHC
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #143,808 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #72 in Music > Indie Music > World Music > Africa

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Africando turns up the heat, December 28, 2000

By 

Bruce Whitehouse (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mandali (Audio CD)

Since the middle of the 1990s, trans-Atlantic salsa sensation Africando has been putting the "Afro" back in Afro-Cuban music. A combination of Cuban instrumentalists and African vocalists, Africando draws from the wealth of rhumba, salsa and other polyrhythmic Latin styles while adding its own distinctly African touch. "Mandali" is the group's latest and possibly best recording.

What makes "Mandali" stand out from the band's previous efforts is the broad cross-section of African vocal talent that appears on the recording. Gnonnas Pedro of Benin, Thione Seck of Senegal, Eugene Shoubou of Haiti, and Ronnie Baro of Cuba all appear on this album as they have on earlier ones. The golden-voiced Guinean Sekouba "Bambino" Diabate, whose passion for salsa has led him to several earlier collaborations with Africando, again graces two tracks here.

Of special note, however, are contributions by "newcomers"--though they are actually veterans. Malian singer Salif Keita and Congolese singer Koffi Olomide, arguably the two biggest names in African pop music today, each contribute a song, as does Congolese star Lokua Kanza. Finally Ahmadou Balake of Burkina Faso and Hector Casanova of Puerto Rico round out the cast of guest vocalists.

"Mandali" artfully blends Africando's crisp horns, piano and percussion with soaring, passionate vocals, often sung in African languages (Seck sings in Wolof, Keita and Diabate in Malinke, and Olomide in Lingala) as well as Spanish. The result is an irresistable fusion that's almost impossible not to dance to. No wonder Africando's music is popular from Dakar to Dar es Salaam; with "Mandali," it's time for America to take notice as well.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great album, April 30, 2001

By 

JohnnyD (Montreal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mandali (Audio CD)

Only recently have I joined the Africando bandwagon and I'm loving the ride. Mandali, for me their best album, is a great mix of 'bailable' black rhythms from across the Atlantic that exemplifies what cultural exchange is all about. Perhaps with the power of a Bob Marley, whose rastaman vibrations can evoke smiles simultaneously in Addis Ababa, New York City, Buenos Aires, and Beijing, Africando has an energy and a reach that will not disappoint. Whether you want to dance, wash your car, or chill with a kane, Mandali is one heck of an album. Disfrute!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for Salsa dancers!, March 9, 2004

By 

Denis Wieger (Bonn, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mandali (Audio CD)

Over here in good 'old' Germany this CD "Mandali" by Africando is named "Africando All Stars - Betece", and it's still being played in almost every european Salsa club. All 13 tracks are VERY danceable, representing the african branch of Salsa music at its best.

If you'd like more 'oriental' Salsa music, listen to Africando's version of "Aicha" on their CD "Baloba" (2000), a well known song from the Paris-based algerian Rai-singer Khaled. And get the CD "Yo Soy" (2000) by the Colombian Yuri Buenaventura, on which he sings the song "Salsa Rai" together with the Rai-singer Faudel (both now based in Paris).

And if you visit Europe - join the multi-colored Salsa dancefloors!