Le Tout-Puissant Orchestre Poly-Rythmo

Le Tout-Puissant Orchestre Poly-Rythmo: Madjafalao

by Karl Ackermann
January 19, 2017

Le Tout-Puissant Orchestre Poly-Rythmo is a difficult ensemble to follow. For one thing, they have functioned under the names Poly Rythmo de Cotonou, TP Orchestre Poly-Rythmo and L'International Poly-Rythmo among others. Add to that, a frequently shifting line up, a series of serious misadventures, a long period of dormancy, and their lack of familiarity outside of Benin (in West Africa) is understandable. Saxophonist Mélomé Clément founded the group in 1968 and they went on to substantial success in ...