WOMAD

Papa Noel

From Congo

Veteran Congolese guitarist, singer and songwriter Papa Noel will be appearing in two guises at this year’s WOMAD, first in an intimate unplugged session with the talented young Cuban sonero Adan Pedroso and secondly with classic Congolese rhumba kings Fan Fan. Noel, or ‘Nono’ to his mates, began his career back in Kinshasa in the sixties when rhumba ruled the roost and its energetic offspring ‘soukous’ was still just twinkle in the eye of future greats like Franco, Grand Kalle and Sam Mangwana, all of whom worked with Noel at one time or another. This accomplished master of wonderfully fluid guitar based Congolese dance sound released his first solo album in the 80s before leaving Kinshasa and settling in Paris to pursue his solo career and record more records. Noel’s current obsession is the rediscovery of his Afro-Latin roots and his ambition is to bring various far-flung members of the Afro-Latin family; Cuban son and guaracha, Colombian cumbia and African rhumba back together for a meaningful musical reunion. His partner in this ambitious venture is Adan Pedroso, frontman with last year’s WOMAD Festival Cuban revelation Asere, and one of the brightest young stars in the firmament of modern, forward-looking Cuban music.June 2000