Kadi Yombo

Papé Nziengui is seen as something of a heathen in Gabon’s traditional music landscape, a revolutionary who never let himself be confined by tradition or society. He was the first to fuse Tsogho ritual music from Gabon with modern, electronic orchestration, adding thumping beats and layers of synths to the male and female call and response vocals and his twangy Bwiti harp. His 1989 album Kadi Yombo is a fine example of this, a groundbreaking album that brought the Tsogho’s sacred music to the world. Despite upsetting certain purists, Papé Nziengui taught countless young talents how to play the Bwiti harp, thus ensuring the survival of this sacred instrument.