Song:Le Monde Comme un Bebe
Album:Oyaya!
Angelique Kidjo has been hailed by Time Magazine as Africa's premier diva. Though she was born in the west African country of Benin, Angelique has lived in Paris since the 80s and usually writes all her songs with husband Jean Hebrail. She has performed and recorded with a lot of different artists. On this particular song, she is performing with legendary French singer Henri Salvador. Angelique was born on July 14, 1960 in Cotonou, Benin. As a child, she performed in her mother's theater troupe. After recording an album at home, political pressure forced Angelique to move to Paris in 1983. While she was studying music at the Paris school CIM, she met and married musician Jean Hebrail. She recorded three albums as lead singer of the jazz rock group Pili Pili. She left to go solo and signed with Island Records in 1989. Among those who have appeared on her albums are Branford Marsalis, Manu Dibango, Carlos Santana, Cassandra Wilson, Kelly Price, Kenny Kirkland, Gilberto Gil, Dave Matthews, Alicia Keys, Joss Stone, Peter Gabriel, Ziggy Marley, Dianne Reeves, Bono, John Legend, Roy Hargrove, Lionel Loueke, Christian McBride and most recently Dr. John. So you may not have heard of Angelique Kidjo but all these musicians like her enough to record with her. She has a great voice. Oyaya! was released in 2004 and was produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos. Angelique and husband Hebrail wrote all the songs and the music is a mix of her African roots with Latin elements. French singing legend Henri Salvador appears on Le Monde Comme un Bebe. He has been a big deal in France since the 50s but is otherwise unknown. Salvador was 86 years old in 2004. He died in 2008. Angelique's latest CD Eve was released on 429 Records in January. She has been working a lot lately with jazz guitarist Lionel Loueke who was also born in Benin. She is currently touring Europe and will begin a US tour in June. Here's Angelique Kidjo and Henri Salvador performing Le Monde Comme un Bebe on the TV5 show Acoustic in Paris Nov. 2004.
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