Feelgood With A Capital "F"

The three musicians featured on this album called Stories are all named individually with no collective band name, implying that this collaboration may be a one off. It certainly produces joyous celebratory music that draws from the many musical sources to be found in Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean region, with traces of jazz, blues and soul. From Madagascar, Regis Gizavo plays accordian and contributes vocals as does Zimbabwean guitarist Louis Mhlanga. The third musician is French drummer and percussionist David Mirandon. Gizavo and Mirandon are a long established duo act and the sparkling jazz tinged runs of Mhlanga's guitar add many colours to the sunny mood of the music. The accordion reminds me a little of cajun and zydeco music from Louisiana but Gizavo has wider influences than that and makes a very big sound with the bass runs on the instrument making up for the lack of a bass player in the ensemble. The problems of the Africa are many and well documented but this music reflects another side of the continent with joyful good humour and irresistible rhythms. The problems are not ignored in the lyrics but there are no direct translations, only brief synopses of what each song is about. If you want a feelgood album, this might well be it.