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Hard to find oddity of the parisian fusion gwoka scene ! Check out the banger 'Misik A Moun A Kaz''
Gwoka is a traditional & protest genre of Guadeloupe, a french West Indies island, usually played with drums ; Jimmy, though, billiantly mixed it with other influences to create his own sound, danceable, spiritual and so 80’s.
Dou Van Jou is one of these mysterious and rare records that deserve to be (re)discovered, as an image of a time when modernity and tradition were brilliantly mixed in the mind of a guadeloupean-parisian artist.
Recorded in 1987, it showcases an original fusion of gwoka, world music, jazz and enthusiastic use of synths. Some songs reached a cult status in the underground: « Misik A Moun A Kaz », a blend of gwoka mendé rhythm, salsa piano and disco bass, was played by Emil Omar and in Air Baer’s Boiler Room set. The pure traditional gwoka « Tambou La & Ti Bois La » became a hit in the Paris-region léwoz, the music and dance events of guadeloupean tradition, that directly come from the Neg Marrons.
Side B contains the unreleased song “Kimbe” that Jimmy kindly gave from his private tape recordings made in the 80’s.
A true cultural activist, Jimmy Blanche organized lots of concerts on the parisian scene, as programmer of La Chapelle des Lombards or at the New Morning. He worked with the gwoka legend Guy Konket and with the huge Manu Dibango, but also with Eric Serra. He incidentally played a role with the latter in cult Luc Besson’s film Subway.
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