Nyanka Bell

b. Touba, Côte d’Ivoire. Like her fellow Ivoirean vocalist Alpha Blondy, Bell appeared overseas for a lot of her motivation. While Blondy considered Jamaican reggae, Bell discovered a stylistic house in the quicker and even more effervescent rhythms from the Francophone Caribbean. Her 1984 debut record, Amio, embraced funk, disco and ballads. 2 yrs afterwards the follow-up, IN THE EVENT THAT YOU Came To Move, moved to the Antilles. One monitor, ‘Feeling’, was compiled by Jacob Desarieux from the Antillean music group Kassav, who also organized ‘Chogologo’. Despite a solid worldwide repertoire – she talks French but sings in British – Bell continues to be largely unknown beyond the Caribbean. In 1988 she added to an record by Eboa Lottin that also highlighted James Brown being a guest.