''Vini Pou'' is an album by the Guadeloupean band

Kassav' Kassav' is a French Caribbean band formed in Guadeloupe in 1979. The core members of the band are Jacob Desvarieux, Jocelyne Béroard, Jean-Philippe Marthély, Patrick St. Eloi, Jean-Claude Naimro, Claude Vamur, and Georges Décimus (who left t ...

, released in 1987. It went gold in its first two weeks of release and was their first album to be widely distributed in the United States. Kassav', as a 16-piece unit, supported the album with a North American tour.

Production

Produced by Jacob F. Desvarieux, the album was recorded in Paris. ''Vini Pou'' used five singers; many songs were sung Creole. Earth, Wind & Fire's horn section played on the album.

Critical reception

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

called the album "the latest, the longest and the easiest to find LP from the guys who invented world dance music," writing that "the production has gained depth." ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'' noted that "the rhythms are often derived from the buoyant bop of Haiti's cadance and compas, a major element in Zouk." '' USA Today'' deemed ''Vini Pou'' "primo zouk," noticing the "gloss of disco and soul." '' The New York Times'' wrote that "the songs step out at a brisk clip, their three-chord harmonies lilting in syncopation like a carousel at full tilt; everywhere, the beat stutters and skips behind ear-catching, perfectly calculated riffs or sounds"; Jon Pareles later listed ''Vini Pou'' as the best album of 1988. '' The Washington Post'' determined that "Zairean guitar licks are offset by American funk and soul horn charts; synth riffs and buoyant vocals harmonies abound, and the dance mixes have a distinctly disco/Euro-pop sheen." AllMusic labeled the album "one of their weaker efforts." '' MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide'' stated that "the balance between raw rhythm and studio polish is at its apex."

Track listing

References

{{Authority control Kassav' albums 1987 albums Columbia Records albums