New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Angélique Kidjo has unveiled a thrilling
Bomba Estereo remix of the classic
Celia Cruz song "La Vida Es Un Carnaval." This remixed version comes on the heels of Celia (Verve/Universal France), Kidjo's latest album that revisits Cruz's catalog in a new light.
For the "La Vida Es Un Carnaval" remix, Angélique teams with Colombian duo
Bomba Estereo for a layered & electro-infused dance mix of one the record's standout tracks, and one of Cruz's most famous songs.
Listen to the "La Vida Es Un Carnaval" remix here: https://angeliquekidjo.lnk.to/CarnavalRemixPR
Says Angélique: "Working with a Columbian artist was a dream come true! Latin music was inspired by African rhythms, then it inspired African artists like me. Now my version is going back to Latin America, and especially Columbia which has a strong tradition of
Black music. Every time music travels and crosses a border, it enriches itself and brings joy and wisdom to the people!"
Says Simón Mejía of Bomba Estereo: "Doing this remix was a great experience as this Celia song is an anthem of Latin and Caribbean music. Also, working with Angelique was amazing as I deeply admire her voice and music ...Africa is always an immense inspiration for me!"
On Celia, Angélique explores the African roots of the Cuban-born Cruz and reimagines selections from Cruz's extraordinary career in surprising new ways, spiked with sounds and rhythms from Cuba, Africa, the Middle East, Brazil,
America and beyond. Along with Tony Allen, it features Meshell Ndegeocello on bass, Shabaka Hutchins and his band Sons of Kemet, and the Gangbe Brass Band from Benin. Celia was recorded in New York and Paris, produced and arranged by
David Donatien and mixed by Russell Elevado (D'Angelo, Kamasi Washington).
Angélique has discussed her life-long admiration for
Celia Cruz on a number of public radio programs, including Here & Now and NPR Music, as well as a recent Billboard feature.
Angélique continues to tour various projects into 2020 and she will open for
Vampire Weekend at Madison
Square Garden on
September 6. Last year she released a radical reimagining of Talking Heads' landmark 1980 album Remain In Light to rave reviews. Kidjo recently sat down with
Talking Heads frontman
David Byrne for a conversation, on both records, for Cultured Magazine.
PRAISE FOR CELIA
"She belts with enough grit to rival Cruz herself"
-The New York Times
" Best Albums Of 2019 (So Far)"
-NPR
"Kidjo's reinterpretations rearrange the molecules of songs that many of us know by heart. The results are glorious…Celia Cruz's music and her entire being was a reminder of the presence of Africa in Cuba. Angélique Kidjo's Celia musically closes that circle with reverence and more than a little love. -NPR First Listen
"It's going to be astounding" -BoingBoing
"Since Cruz's roots were in Nigerian Yoruba culture, Kidjo's version acts as a kind of musical homecoming -WNYC
Album of the Month -The Guardian, 4 stars
"Kidjo succeeds on Celia because she not only pays revelatory tribute to a prime influence, but channels that very spirit of inspiration to deliver a high-water mark in her catalog" -AllMusic
"A delightful dervish of a recording… blazes from start to finish." -Downbeat, 4.5 stars
Tour dates:
Jul 21 - Berlin, Germany - Wassermusik Festival (Celia)
Jul 23 - Milan, Italy - Festival Arconati (Remain In Light)
Jul 24 - Rome, Italy - Auditorium Parco della Musica (Remain In Light)
Jul 27 - Gdynia, Poland - Ladies' Jazz Festival (Celia)
Jul 30 - London, England - Royal Albert Hall / BBC Proms Festival (Celia)
Aug 2 - Crozon, FR - Festival Du Bout Du Monde (Celia)
Aug 3 - Marciac, France - Festival Jazz in Marciac (Celia)
Aug 31 - Toronto, ON - Harbourfront Centre
Sep 6 - New York, NY - Madison
Square Garden (supporting Vampire Weekend)
Oct 11 - Nancy, FR - Parc de la Pepiniere / Nancy Jazz Pulsations (Celia)
Nov 19 - Barcelona, SP - Sala Barts / Barcelona Jazz Festival (Celia)
Dec 2 - Lyon, France - Auditorium-Orchestre
National de Lyon (Celia)
Feb 14 - St Louis, MO - Sheldon Concert Hall (Remain In Light)
Feb 16 - Ann Arbor, MI - Michigan Theater (Remain In Light)
Mar 14 - New York, NY - Carnegie Hall - Stern Auditori
https://www.kidjo.com/
