The Bongo Hop
Just recently we shared a post with you, covering the infamous Cut Chemist's exploration of record crates found in Cali, Colombia. Today, we return with another musical venture that also has its roots in Cali. Enter The Bongo Hop, a swingin' afro-caribbean project by Bordeaux-born/Lyon-based trumpetist, journalist, film maker, university teacher, DJ, and digger Etienne Sevet. Sevet spent eight years in Colombia as a Cali resident, where in 2003 he chanced upon the remarkable vocalist Nidia Gongora, now better known as the voice of Ondatropica and Quantic. While working as a South American correspondent for French magazine World Sound and learning to play the trumpet, it was actually his friend, the acclaimed Britisch producer Will "Quantic" Holland, who encouraged Sevet to make his own music.
Years later, at the tail end of 2016, Etienne Sevet and The Bongo Hop released their debut longplayer "Satingarona Pt. 1", a 9-track "musical travel diary" of sorts as well as Sevet's "personal take on tropical tempos, as he launches a storm of infectious grooves, ranging from high life to vallenato-meets-dub, dance hall, afro beat, kompa...". On "Satingarona Pt. 1" he is joined by friends, including rapper Maikcel, the prolific producer/multi-instrumentalist Patchworks aka Bruno Hovart and of course the aforementioned Nidia Gongora, who can be heard on the album's title track, "a powerful [piece], mixing Benin afro funk vibes with 6/8 rhythm patterns, drawn from the Colombian Pacific coast's traditional music".
The Bongo Hop unites 'the cream of the crop' from Lyon's local scene such as tenor sax player and theatre sound designer Olivier Granger and drummer Remy Kaprielan as well as Colombian musician the likes of cumbia singer Paola Barreto or percussionist Mario Vargas (Bigre!). Find a detailed list of live shows here, stream/download "Satingarona Pt. 1" on Bandcamp and listen to "'Tite Jeanne (ft. Nidia Gongora)" below. Time for a trip down memory lane...
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