Syllart Productions` Via series showcased the transcultural exchange between the music of Cuba and the Caribbean with the Atlantic Coast of the African continent. While these two regions were the most obvious places to begin, Syllart continues its exposition here in Via Cotonou, the largest city in Benin. Cuban music is one of the strongest influences on African music -- via records -- in large part owing to the previous exodus of African slaves to both the Caribbean and America, creating strong linkages and lineages between the Afro-Cuban population and those nations on Africa`s West Coast. The music on this volume, though it commences in the middle of the 1960s, sounds more modern than on Via Conakry, the volume released simultaneously with this one. This is perhaps because Benin in particular had a near century-long exposure to the music of Cuba because it had record players first and its own indigenous bands played their own rhythmic form of the rumba. The other reason is the prevalence of early electric keyboards. These are heard as early as 1966 in `Yiryini Boum` by the best-known singer in Cotonou`s history, Gnonnas Pedro. Check out the contrapuntal montuno lines played on the electric piano as rhythmic patterns from rumba and merengue merge with ska-like backbeats. The great, widely celebrated Poly-Rythmo also hail from Contonou and are here represented by the stellar `Le Silence N`est Pas un Oubli` and `Kissi Noumi` the former a bugalu and the latter a son. Disc two begins downright funky in the early `70s with Les Volcans du Bénin on `Oye Ka Jojo` (which sounds like a cross between salsa`s fierce piano montunos, stridently arranged, punchy horns, and Fela`s Afro-funk) before moving back into more recognizable terrain with beautiful folk songs like Negros Jazz de Cotonou`s `Vi Vo` with its clave rhythms and snaky guitars; the steppin` bugalu of Poly-Rythmo`s `Sèmassa`; and the slippery, seamless line between African and Cuban music sewn by Nerose Rythm Michel Kougbab on `Amia Yaco`. The historical and discographical French liner essay by Florent Mazzoleni is fascinating -- though its English translation is a bit rougher going (yet still well worth wading through) -- and the sonic representations taken from vinyl copies of these recordings are as fine as can be expected
DISC 1:
1. Yiriyiri Boum - Gnonnas Pedro
2. Bonne Année - Honore Avolonto
3. Naye Tche - Avohou Pierre
4. Errante Y Bohemio - Los Commandos De Cotonu
5. Le Silence N`est Pas Un Oubli - Poly-Rythmo
6. Noun Ma Do Minsi Wë - Black Santiago
7. Hotel Tropicana - Les As du Benin
8. El Manicero - Pablo Medetadji
9. Ten É Ten - Melome Clement & Poly Rhytmo
10. Kissi Noumi - Poly-Rythmo
11. Gnon Nou Dagni Wan Na - Dynharmonie
12. Madazon Mio - Supermen De Cotonu
13. Ngbahanovo - Gnonnas Pedro
14. El Manicero - Black Santiagos
DISC 2:
1. Oya Ka Jojo - Les Volcans Du Bénin
2. Yao Yao - Poly-Rythmo
3. Zoun Ma Vie Và Se - Avohou Pierre
4. Etrococo Masawenin - Gnonnas Pedro
5. Babadé Né Mi - Black Santiago
6. Vi Vo - Negro Jazz De Cotonou
7. Sèmassa - Poly-Rythmo
8. Ma Koba Houi Deo - Avohou Pierre
9. Bonne Guérison - Black Santiago
10. Afeto Kpo Nublanui Nam - Les As Du Bénin
11. Amia Yaco - Nerose Rythm Michel Kougbab
12. Gninou - Negro Jazz De Cotonou
13. El Cochechivo - Gnonnas Pedro
14. Wloui Bonu Houide - Poly-Rythmo