Afro-Latin-Africa

On the 21st of February 2015, I was at the Salle Majestic, Quartier Cadjehoun, in Cotonou, Benin, at the closing party of the Benin International Salsa Festival’s second edition. ¹ Over 500 people were in attendance, sitting around tables, dressed in their best. Most were from Cotonou, and there were numerous participants from the neighbouring countries of Togo, Nigeria and Ghana. Seated at the top table were some celebrated West African cultural icons. The guest of honour was the doyen of Afro-Latin music in West Africa, Boncana Maiga of Mali. He had studied in Havana from 1963 to 1973 within the context of the Cold War, been a founding member of the Malian Cuban band “las Maravillas de Mali” and, later, of the pan-Black Atlantic Africando; he was the face and voice of TV5 Monde Afrique’s much-loved music programme Stars Parade, and much else. ² Also present was his peer Vincent Ahehehinnou, founding member of Benin’s classic band from the 1960s: Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou. ³ They shared the limelight with contemporary stars of Benin’s Afro-Latin music scene, including Laurent Hounsavi, resident in Paris, who had returned to Cotonou to launch his latest album, LatinAfrica, at the festival. ⁴