don pascal: the mindelo experiment
Taking on the rich Cape Verdian music culture, Don Pascal presents a beautiful project via r2 records. The Mindelo Experiment fuses typical local textures with London’s broken beat percussion patterns and details. Following up on The Dakar Experiment and The Cali Experiment, Pascal’s new album features an A-Side of original recordings backed with a B-Side of incredible remixes by some of our ‘heroes’: Afronaut, Atjazz, EVM128, Haze City and Karmasound.
A chance meeting at the French Cultural Institute with the legendary Cesária Évora’s producer José De Silva led to the genesis of the project. De Silva was building a new studio in the small town of Mindelo, and the global lockdown meant all the island’s best musicians were unable to tour and available for sessions. The stars were aligning. Pascal spent some weeks on the island recording with some of Cape Verde’s finest musicians including Hernâni Almeida on guitar, Rossini Santos on percussion Éder Motta on bass, and Cesária Évora’s pianist Khaly Angel adding his magic touch. The result is a unique fusion of Cape Verdean Creole Jazz and London’s bass club culture. Available on vinyl, for the collectors - we know you’re there.