Personnel: Vieux Farka Tour‚ (vocals, guitar, electric guitar); Keziah Jones (vocals, guitar); Vusi Mahlasela, Waldemar Bastos (vocals, acoustic guitar); Reuben M. Koroma (vocals, percussion); Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo, Sandra Nkak‚, Les Nubians, Ang‚lique Kidjo, S‚kou Kouyat‚ (vocals); Daniel Cantor (guitar, drums); Joao (Tombo) Mota, Joe Perry , S‚bastien Martel, Chris Velan (guitar); Mitchell Long, Eric Herman (acoustic guitar); Paul Redmond (harp); Nicolas Giraud (trumpet); C‚sar Anot (organ); Patrick Goraguer (keyboards, drums, percussion); Derek Nakamoto (keyboards, programming); Jesse Flack (electric bass); Tony Allen (drums, claves, shaker); Tim Keiper (drums, shaker, triangle, gong); Mustapha "Nico" Massaquoi (drums, percussion); Ian Herman, Benny Herson (drums); Ibrahima "Konkoure" Bah (djembe); Lance Martin (hand claps); Ashade Pearce, Mohammed "Makengo" Kamara (percussion, background vocals); Alhaji Jeffrey "Black Nature" Kamara (percussion); Mounir Belkhir (programming).
Audio Mixers: Guy Tourville; Laurent Ja‹s; Martin Feveyear; Rob Chiarelli; Tom Durack; Cyrille Taillandier.
Recording information: Notable Productions; NY Noise, New York, NY; Only You Music; Sierra Wave Studios, Barcelona, Spain; SoundHouse Recording, Seattle, WA; Studios de la Seine, Paris, France; Studios Piccolo, Montreal, Canada; Vindaloo Studios; Zarma.
Author: Shawn Amos.
Arrangers: Lucas Bok; Marc Antoine Moreau; C‚sar Anot; Benny Herson; Daniel Cantor; Jean H‚brail.
When African-American producer Shawn Amos visited Africa to help build housing, he had the inspiration to assemble an all-star cast of African musical luminaries to record U2 songs, with proceeds from the recording going to the Global Fund, a charity that seeks to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria in Third World countries. Like the best covers albums, the tracks here deconstruct and reconfigure already-great songs, making them shine in new ways. Highlights include Angelique Kidjo's take on "Mysterious Ways," which underscores the rhythmic elements and adds new melodic ideas. The enclosed booklet includes extensive information about the artists and the countries they represent.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (p.71) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Guinea's Ba Cissoko reinvents 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' with kora-harp ripples....Great songwriting makes translation easier."
CMJ - "True classics fare best, as in Keziah Jones' percussive take on 'One' and the Soweto Gospel Choir's expansively harmonic 'Pride (In the Name of Love).'"
