Les Mains Noires

n some quarters, Tijan Pou Velo is considered something of an unheralded jazz-fusion classic. Here issued on CD for the first time by Heavenly Sweetness, the 1988 album saw trumpeter Edmondy Krater join forces with occasional backing band Zepiss to deliver unique blends of modern Gwo Ka (a style born and popularized in Guadeloupe) with American jazz-funk and electric jazz influences. The resultant music is a humid, highly attractive hotchpotch of Guadeloupe's traditional African and South American influences, and distinctive nods to (then) contemporary European and North American sounds. In other words, it's a tropical fusion masterpiece.