The real Canterbury sound, for all its supposed sophistication, is often stodgy and constipated. Kevin Ayers & The Whole World - Shooting At The Moon With the assistance of Brazil's Nana Vasconcelos, Akendengue seamlessly incorporated the French popular melodic vocal style, brisk Amazonian percussion, and solid, soulful African themes, words and energy: a 'Fourth World' styling several years early. The album is accented by soft acoustic guitar, shakers in stereo effect, slicing flexitone, berimbau and cuica, deep cello. Complementary voices (tight harmonic choruses, Akendengue's own thrilling tenor and emphatic reading voice) arc above a collection of individual instruments, each running their own rhythmic line. Nandipo, his first album, becomes a play - each song a dramatic act made of miniature scenes. Graduated from universities in France (in literature, psychology and more), Akendengue went blind sometime in his twenties - which may have turned his remaining senses toward the sound of language, the way musical parts fit together, and the contrasts in songs from different countries. Composer, guitarist, dramatist, poet and singer, Pierre Akendengue's influence in his home, Gabon, is huge in the francophone world, he's made a dent everywhere else he's barely a footnote.
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