Topium feat Djenmbi & Klod Kiavué
When Electro meets the island rhythms of Guadeloupean Gwoka
The worldwide release of the new album Topium feat Djenmbi & Klod Kiavué under the label Disques Nuits d’Afrique, is available on all digital platforms, today, Friday 25 February 2022
This album is the result of a residency organized in 2019 in Guadeloupe by GEG (Guadeloupe Electronik Groove), in partnership with Musjo Music, during which the duo Topium meets Jacques-Marie Basses and Klod Kiavué.
Topium is a Montreal electro-jazz duo composed of multi-instrumentalist Jérôme Dupuis-Cloutier and programmer-drummer Jonathan Gagné.
Jacques-Marie Basses, alias Djenmbi (keyboards) and Klod Kiavué (percussions) are two musicians rooted in the Guadeloupean musical tradition, veterans of the Gwoka.
This meeting and this unprecedented exchange between the Quebec and Guadeloupean duo gave rise to an innovative musical creation that conveys the roots of Gwo-Ka through electro-jazz music. This fusion, which they themselves named “Electro-Ka”, mixes with finesse modern sounds and island rhythms of Guadeloupe.
Topium feat Djenmbi & Klod Kiavué makes sure that cultures meet and intermingle. This album, a true artistic bridge between two cultures, opens up new horizons for traditional Caribbean music as well as for the world, jazz and electronic scene.
The traditional Guadeloupean music of Gwoka transported by electro-jazz compositions, this is the promise that this unexpected album reveals!
Single “Woulé”
The first track “Bo Bay Lanmen”, released last year and which means “to give the hand”, revealed the spirit of this album. “Woulé”, the second key track, confirms the power of this opus.
This piece refers to the Woulé, one of the seven traditional rhythms that make up Gwoka. The word “Woulé” means “to roll” in Creole, but also “to work”, depending on the context.
It is a 3 beat rhythm, a kind of waltz very energetic and catchy. Viv pou woulé, “live to work”, or Lésé woulé, “let things happen”, this title invites everyone to choose their philosophy of life.
Listen & download the album
01. Bo bay lanmen
02. Woulé
03. Ti bedon
04. Filles de la place
05. Flying Boys
06. Église
07. Rayon vert
08. Québec-Guadeloupe
Authors / composers :
Jérôme Dupuis-Cloutier / Jonathan Gagné / Jacques-Marie Basses / Klod Kiavué
Label : Disques Nuits d’Afrique / Distribution : Believe
