Akalé Wubé African Pop Session Feat. Manu Dibango

On December 12th 2013, as part of the celebrations for Manu Dibango’s 80th birthday, RFI invited Akalé Wubé to play live for the African master. For the ethio-jazz ambassadors, it was the perfect occasion to unearth two nearly unknown tracks – “Ekedi” and “African Pop Session” - both written and recorded by Manu in the early seventies. The moment was magical. During soundcheck, Manu fell for the charm of the Parisian quintet and quickly set up his saxophone. A few minutes later, Manu invited himself to play together with the band live during the show being aired internationally. This meeting could have ended there, but soon enough, it was Manu Dibango’s turn to invite Akalé Wubé on stage. He also contributed some studio work on Akalé Wubé’s album “Sost”, and joined the band on stage for a few concerts after that. The adventure continues! In order to inaugurate its catalog, Prado Records has chosen to release these two tracks on a vinyl 7inch. This newborn label, created by Benjamin Verdier (DJ) and David Georgelet (musician) is based in Paris and is associated with the musicians woking at Studio Prado, also Akalé Wubé’s HQ.