ANGELIQUE KIDJO b. JULY 14th 1960

i remember a great trip marie & kim & i made to new orleans. other than the thrill of having two lovely women on my arm & in my bed, we set some standards i've never been able to surpass. we drank in the napolean house from 2pm until midnight, only to find the parking garage(the old dh holmes parking garage) we'd parked marie's car in closed for the whole weekend. we spent the weekend in one cab because the first cabbie who picked us up on canal street was a rasta & he bonded w/the ladies very quickly. he was very happy to drive us out to tipitina's that night to see oj okamode & the african all-stars. kim spent the night smoking pot w/the band(their joints were the size of baseball bats)& learning to dance like the backup women singers in the band.

this was several years before paul simon explored african music. at the time, king sunny ade & his african beats were the nyc critic's favorite. then came fela & cesaria evora. then, the deluge & simon's use of african beats & rhythms.

ms kidjo was somewhere in there too. this song is a little more traditional & less directed at the world market(like her duet w/joss stone, for example).