Vive L’Amour

Helsinki-Cotonou Ensemble are an unusual and intriguing project that started back in 2009 when Finnish guitarist Janne Halonen travelled to Benin in West Africa and met up with singer and percussionist Noël Saïzonou. They began playing and writing together, formed a band, and have now recorded six albums that mix African influences, including Benin’s vodoun music, with funk, jazz and European pop. On Vive L’Amour, which is dominated by love songs, the Ensemble are joined by Nigerian percussionist Jah Baba and the massed strings of the Budapest Art Orchestra for a set that is confident, classy and full of surprises. It starts with breezy Afro-jazz, driven on by tight brass work and Noël’s easy-going, versatile vocals, then switches to anything from quirky chanson with saxophone backing to slinky funk, a dash of guitar blues and the grand, sing-along show tune and title-track that ends the album. Well worth checking out.