Open to all music trends, Mamadou Barry has insisted on self-producing his first album Niyo under his name, in a studio of Conakry. It was recorded with the cream of Conakry’s musicians, all generations included, both modern and traditional; it notably features three of the finest female voices in Guinea. With his cool yet energetic Afrobeat style and the frenzied rhythms of the forest that he has invited into his music, ‘Master’ Mamadou Barry showcases all the facets of his talent in this recording, notably his gift for hypnotic Mandingo melodies. Between Afrobeat, Mandingo rhythms, soft funk, revisited jazz flavours and Latin sensuality, Niyo is undoubtedly one of the good surprises coming from Africa this year, like something from another planet come to join the world of tropical groove.