The KutiMangoes - Made in Africa (2016)

Three years ago, a group of renowned danish jazz musicians showed up on the Copenhagen club scene. Their goal was to put together a band which would fuse the west african music of Fela Kuti with the inimitable style of jazz bassist Charlie Mingus. The two creative directors Michael Blicher (sax) and Gustav Rasmussen (trombone / guitar) dubbed their project The KutiMangoes (TKM).

Their debut album Afro-Fire took off like a rocket and won the danish Grammy award in 2014 for Best World Music Album and also was nominated in categories for Best Compositions as well as Best Alternative Jazz album. Following this success the band appeared on worldwide festivals and laid down frenetic and inspired performances in Denmark and Germany.

For DJs across the globe, the favorite cut from the album was called Fire. Vocalist Patrick Kabre, born and raised in Burkina Faso, was the featured singer on Fire. He accompanied the band on several concert dates and even joined them headlining a festival in West Africa. This experience convinced Kabre and TKM to record their second album in his homeland. It was generally regarded among the musicians that something really special would be created when the recording was done where the music has its origin: Africa. Michael puts it this way: Our musical mission has from the very beginning been to get deeper and deeper into combining our own musical heritage with influences from especially western Africa. So when we met the incredible Patrick Kabre from Burkina Faso, a musical collaboration started that made it possible for us to get closer to the rich musical traditions, the vibrant energy and the unique sounds of western Africa.

TKM have composed new tunes based on ancient traditional songs (such as Tolma and M'ba) and included them alongside original afro beat and afro jazz within the tracklisting. TKM's goal is to create music together - to share and meet diverse but brotherly cultures through music. And that's exactly what you will experience when listening to this album.

TRACKLIST

01. Ouagadougou
02. This Ship Will Sink
03. Bamako by Bus
04. BIC
05. M'ba
06. Hunting
07. Adjoa
08. Red Rain
09. Tolma
10. Nin Gang (Hear My Call)