Roi De L’Agbadja Moderne 1974–1983

Best known as the lead singer of salsa legends Africando between 1996 and his death in 2004, Gnonnas Pedro was a legend in his native Benin long before that, both as a member of Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo and leading his own band, the Dadjes, with whom he updated the traditional Agbadja rhythms of his ancestral home in the Mono region in southern Benin. It earned him the title ‘Le Roi De L’Agbadja Moderne’ (The King of Modern Agbadja), while the Dadjes were nicknamed ‘The Band That Speaks All African Languages’ for singing in Fon, Mina, Adja and Yoruba as well as French, English and Spanish. This two-disc anthology collects together 16 swinging dance tracks ranging from the exuberant 1974 highlife anthem ‘Feso Jaiye’ to the joyous ‘Mo Ngbadun Re’ on which, with comradely affection, he namechecks all the rival groups playing in the clubs of Cotonou during what was a thrillingly rich era for Beninese music.