Heritage Pou

Claude Vamur became Kassav''s drummer in 1983. He has also worked with Manu Dibango, Miriam Makeba, and Baden Powell. As expected, the album is heavy on rhythmic waves of percussion, but is somewhat uneven in track quality. He covers the gamut, from neo-traditional gwo ka, mazurka, and zouk to music that fits no category at all. "Tre D'Yunion" is an outstanding, energy-filled track with Ralph Thamar on vocal. Sung in Creole and Spanish, it lopes along like a charanga, touches on son montuno, and is underpinned by unstoppable Antillean swing. This song alone is worth the price of admission. Some of the traditional drumming could have been accompanied by less electronic histrionics. The purity of the drum would have shown more. The album does finish strong, though, with the singing "Colozou." Kassav' has turned out better albums, but this one does have a few gems on it.