When Claude Vamur released his first album, Lévé Mwen, in 1987, he was already an extraordinary drummer with an international career. After starting out with Robert Mavounzy and then Les Vikings de Guadeloupe, it was on to Paris, where he met Jerry Malekani of Ryco Jazz, and one thing led to another, Manu Dibango. He worked with the saxophonist for several years and held the sticks on a number of legendary albums, including Makossa Man and Afrovision. Of course, from 1983 onwards, he was best known as the drummer with Kassav’. As a result, and in keeping with the period, Lévé Mwen is a very zouk album, featuring a host of talented musician friends. Michel Alibo, Vicky Edimo, Roger Raspail, Olivier Vamur, Jean-Claude Naimro, all the brass players from Kassav’ and, of course, the famous voices of Jocelyne Béroard, Patrick Saint-Eloi, Tony Chasseur and Jean-Paul Pognon. Claude Vamur has since released two more solo albums, Héritage Pou in 1994 and Kolo Ka in 2008, which we’ll be coming back to shortly.
Lévé Mwen – Claude Vamur, 1987
