Africadelic: The Best of Manu Dibango is an outstanding retrospective of Manu Dibango's career, with a focus on the early years. With Dibango hailed as one of the early originators of the world music scene, this album does a good job of looking over the years prior to his mainstream breakout with... [+] Expand

Africadelic: The Best of Manu Dibango is an outstanding retrospective of Manu Dibango's career, with a focus on the early years. With Dibango hailed as one of the early originators of the world music scene, this album does a good job of looking over the years prior to his mainstream breakout with "Soul Makossa" (1973). In reality, Dibango was playing in the 1950s, but the album only goes back as far as 1967 because it's that area of time that he really began stepping out with his own sounds. The album begins with the classic "Soul Makossa" itself, his most shining moment in the sun. It quickly moves into funky dance riffs in "Hot Chicken" and "Wouri," both from 1967, which show off a heavy influence of the American soul scene of the day. From 1972's "Night in Zeralda" (an Algerian play on Dizzy Gillespie's "Night in Tunisia"), comes "New Bell," which is ultimately similar to "Soul Makossa," and followed by 1973's "Pepe Soup," with its undeniable dance beat that was lost in the glare of "Soul Makossa"'s success. "Dikalo" comes from 1968, as does the later "Soul Machine," which, along with the Latinesque "African Carnaval," sandwiches the title track from "Night in Zeralda." "Sun Explosion" leads the way into two more tracks from the same album, including the title track of the current album, which is an exciting explosion of big band Afro-Cuban jazz with an extra emphasis on the "Afro" aspect. "Je Veux Etre Noir" is a tribute to French performer and author Nino Ferrer (and a return to the American soul idiom), and "Abelley Sphere" is the only post-1973 track on the album, a nice piece somewhere between jazz and Afrobeat, with touches of the rain forest tossed in for good measure. The album closes with a dance remix of "Soul Makossa," which nearly falls flat compared with the original, but has a good deal of energy in a different form. Overall, an excellent album to get a handle on the works of one of the innovators of world music. ~ Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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