 Salsa, like jazz or pop, has become one of many musical styles without a motherland. It has spread so much and has been so popularized over the last 50 years that no country can claim its ownership, not even Cuba or Colombia despite the fact they played an important part in its development. During the last century this rich and sensual fusion between African and European traditions has been the first musical style to emerge from outside the western world and attain worldwide popularity thus setting the trend for what would later be called ”World Music”. The truth is that salsa has lost its hegemony on the dance floors lately even though it still enjoys excellent notoriety especially with youth people. Salsa is commonly associated to the Latin-American continent but nowadays migrations, travels and communications have created great salseros in cities as divers as Dakar, Hong-Kong, Paris, Helsinki or Cotonou where is originated the artist that we present this month; an artist who can hold his head high when comparing to other salseros from the Caribbean. This trombone player, singer and composer from Benin comes soothing the airwaves of Groovalizacion with his salsa sung in Fono, French, Dioula, Spanish and Yoruba. And as if to demonstrate his versatility and the universality of the genre he readily adds to it a touch of reggae, Cuban music or Mandinka tradition. The musical career of Michel Pinheiro has greatly been influenced by his collaborations with some renowned artists from Ivory-Coast: Mamadou Doumbia who made switch from guitar to trombone and Tiken Jah Fakoly with whom he worked as a conductor for more than 10 years. His socially conscious lyrics tackle issues such as AIDS, Malaria, the importance of developing the agriculture, the incompetence of the African leaders, the return of the diaspora, the brain drain, etc. Issues which are still ongoing 50 years after the decolonization.
 Some people state that percussions (just like music and mankind) were born and raised in Africa, reached adulthood in India and aged in the West with electronic music. Jokes and witticism apart, what is certain is that artists like Trilok Gurtu, give a good lifting to the wrinkles and a good dye to the white hair that digital beats occasionally bring to this rhythmic and organic instrument called percussion. Born in Mumbai at the beginning of the 50s, Trilok Gurtu started to learn the tablas when he was only six. Very soon, his father, tired of seeing the young Trilok beating the table in the living room as if it were a drum, encouraged his mother, a famous classical singer, to take him in her band. Later on he went to Europe to pursue his education and after 4 years playing with the guitarist John McLaughlin (to whom he dedicated the song Kuruksetra on his last album) he began in 1988 his own career (that was never a solo career). This allowed him to keep on collaborating with various international musicians while he could still devote himself to exploring the fusions between Hindu rhythms, jazz, Western sounds or African music. Doing so he contributed greatly to the development of a new trend of global music creators. More than 20 years and a dozen records later, we celebrate this month some of the best compositions of this rhythm acrobat. On his recent albums Trilok Gurtu collaborated with artists like the Tuvan throat singer Huun Huur Your, the innovative Arkè String Quartet from Italy or The Frikyiwa Family, with whom he explored the connection between India and West Africa. We also focus on his latest album "Massical". This name is a wordplay using "mass" and "classical" in reference to the universal and democratic vocation of his music : cult but popular; not made for the elite but for the people. Able to play more than 30 different instruments, Trilok Gurtu can even make music out of water adding to the feeling of universality that animates the mystical and spiritual sound of this brilliant percussionist. This feeling takes us beyond the dogmas and separatist theologies which abound in a world increasingly fanatic and intolerant, and makes music the true universal religion of the third millennium.
Ti-Coca & Wanga-Nègès
 More than 30 years have gone by since 1976 when singer David Mettelus (aka Ti-Coca) assembled a group of musicians from the konpa (Haitian par excellence genre that mixes African and European traditions) and offered them to leave their electric instruments and rediscover troubadour's music. They formed a group using banjos, accordions, drums, the graj (metallic streaked cylinder, to be scratched with a small stick), maracas and manoumbas (large boxlike “thumb piano” on which a player sits and plucks metal tongues that vibrates and sounds like a double bass). For many years Haiti did preserve the European tradition of itinerant and semi-rural troubadours who added the Cuban influence of son and bolero (many people emigrated to Cuba as temporary workers), voodoo, merengue, and Haitian kompa to the rhythms and instruments of the old continent. Small acoustic bands would tell through their compositions the sweet and sour stories of everyday life on the island as they played in local parties, on the beach, in the restaurants, etc... Sensing this tradition was in danger of disappearing, Ti-Coca and his band set to preserve the essence of these chronicles by writing a new chapter in their discography with the release of “Haiti Colibri” in 2009. One of the tracks “Simbo Dlo” is in our charts this month as a modest tribute to this Island which has been devastated by a troubled history and the recent earthquake. We wish Haiti a prompt return of hope and happiness hopefully through international solidarity and good music.
 The small world of afrobeat has been in full swing for a few years now. Bands are emerging everywhere and this music has gained popularity worldwide. The death of Femi Kuti in 1997 did not bring an end to this lively protest music. Quite the contrary in fact and the Black President must be delighted to see that the music he embodied is blooming in all directions. In France one band has established itself as the key figure of the genre: Fanga. It was born when hip-hop producer Serge Amiano met Burkenabese rapper Korbo. Musicians of various backgrounds joined the two of them and gave Fanga its current structure. This group from Montpellier (South of France) draws inspiration from the rhythms and spirit of afrobeat also borrowing from funk, jazz and hip-hop. Its new album, Sira Ba, released at the end of 2009, is strongly steeped in funk and Mandingue tradition. Whilst avoiding lecturing, Korbo poses the lines of reflection amongst a cocktail of positive energies. His lyrics in Dioula and English defend the right to be different and promote social equality. They also reflect on nurturing a deeper harmony between humankind and nature which is perfectly highlighted in the song Dounia, a tribute to mother-earth. Having already collaborated with Tony Allen, Kady Diarra, Mike Ladd and Segun Damisa on the album Natural Juice in 2007, Fanga has this time invited Jamaican singer Winston Mac Anuff on the new opus. And to finish the album on a note of happiness, the Togo All Stars invite us to explore the great grooves of Africa. Fanga are currently touring France and Europe. Not to miss. [Nicolas Lhullier]
 «No matter how far you’ve gone, you can always turn around » He’s back. After many years of silence plagued with prison terms and drug addiction, Gil Scott Heron comes back with a new album and a new musical direction where electro flirts with spoken word. The dark, tragic and fascinating world of Gil Scott Heron takes us deep into the human soul baring its contradictions and intimate wounds but also sending a message of hope sung in this raw profound voice. This is the rebirth of an upset artist who suffers, decries, observes and suggests. Gil Scott Heron is often regarded as the godfather of rap or even the black Bob Dylan due to the strength and depth of his lyrics. His words are rooted in black militant activism and a very soulful anger. Son of a Jamaican football player (who played for the Glasgow's Celtic Football Club in the 50s) and of a music-mad librarian, Gil was born in Chicago and raised by his grand-mother in Jackson, Tennessee. He then lived in New-York and studied in Pennsylvania where he started his musical adventures alongside the pianist Brian Jackson who has been his long-time collaborator. His first albums such as “The revolution will not be televised”, “the Bottle”, “H20 Gate Blues” are undisputed masterpieces and the subtle fusion of jazz, soul and poetry still influences many musicians of all styles. During these productive years Gil also wrote two novels: “The Vulture” and “the Nigger Factory” which have just been reissued for the release of his last album. “I’m new here” came out in February. Make sure you do not miss the opportunity to see him live if he happens to play nearby. He will give a series of concerts in London and in other UK cities in April and we hope to see him in other parts of the world soon.
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The township of Soweto, a ghetto in the suburbs of Johannesburg, came to the world's attention in the 20th century when it became the stronghold of resistance to the Apartheid, this unfair system of racial segregation which was enforced in South Africa for almost 50 years. It's in 1976 that erupted the Soweto uprising. The violence used by the authorities outraged the public opinion worldwide and led to economic sanctions which finally brought the Apartheid to an end in 1991. 
