Holy Grail of funky Caribbean music and proto-zouk, this remarkable album was arranged, composed, and produced by Guadeloupean musician Henry-Wenceslas Thenard.
It brings together an exceptional cast of Guadeloupean musicians, including Georges Decimus on bass, Dominique Panol and Dominique Zorobabel on backing vocals, Ramon Pyrmée on strings, Tanya Saint-Val on lead and backing vocals, Edouard Benoit on saxophone, Jacques-Marie Basse on synthesizers, G Patrick Parole on guitar, and Pierre-Edouard Decimus handling sound engineering duties.
The album includes the early cosmic cadence/electronic zouk anthem “Pa Normal,” whose chorus subtly echoes lyrics associated with Bob Marley.
Its undeniable centrepiece, however, is the monumental 12-minute “Zoum Balala,” propelled by hypnotic uptempo electronic rhythms and mesmerizing proto-zouk grooves.
Another standout is “An Hô (In The Heaven),” a superb fusion of electronic cadence proto-zouk and shimmering island disco sensibilities.
Without question, this is one of the essential proto-zouk recordings to emerge from the French Caribbean scene — a consistently brilliant work from beginning to end. It deserves to be ranked alongside seminal productions by NSI Group, Milton, and Ramon Pyrmée. A true favourite of Digital Zandoli's DJ set.
Record is conservatively graded VG++ / close to EX and plays beautifully (please refer to the actual audio clip available on our Instagram post). Sleeve is strong EX with only very light wear, immaculate seams and corners, and a small stain on the back cover.
