Mansfarroll, a Cuban composer and percussionist based in France since 2002, will release his third album, África sí, on 10/04/2026 on CD and digitally via M. Percuson / InOuïe Distribution. “África sí”, the first single from this new opus, is already available on all platforms!
There is a link between Afro and Cuban music. In geography, it is the Atlantic; in this album, it is the composer and percussionist Mansfarroll who plays this role. African captives deported to the Americas introduced their music there. The Caribbean island quickly ‘Cubanised’ it. Since then, as people have crossed the Atlantic, exchanges have continued, from east to west and west to east. Mansfarroll helps us rediscover the deep ties that unite the African continent with the Caribbean island, Congolese rumbas with Cuban rumbas, Ghanaian high-life with tumba francesa, jazz with the whirlwind of Afro-Cuban rhythms…
On this album, Mansfarroll (compositions and arrangements, percussion, backing vocals) is accompanied by leading artists from the Afro-jazz scene:
- Yaroldy Abreu Robles: percussion, vocals (tracks 1-10)
- Ballaké Sissoko: kora (tracks 3, 7)
- Pierre Marcault: djembe, bougarabou (tracks 2, 8, 9)
- Patrick Bebey: pygmy flute and kalimba (tracks 6, 7)
- Jorge Vistel Serrano: trumpet (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9)
- Irving Acao Sierra: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone and flute (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 10)
- Julien Chirol: trombone (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 9)
- Aude Publes Garcia: vocals and backing vocals (tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10)
- Monika Kabasele: vocals and backing vocals (tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8)
- José Ramón Cabrera Montes de OcaJ: piano-Fender Rhodes (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10)
- Felipe Cabrera Cardenas: double bass (tracks 1, 2, 8, 9, 10)
- Gino Chantoiseau: bass guitar (tracks 4, 5, 6)
- Abdoulaye Kouyaté: electric guitar (tracks 1, 4, 6)
- Daniel Garlitsky: violin (tracks 2, 10)
- Jérémie Visseaux: violin (tracks 2, 10)
- Nina Tonji: viola (tracks 2, 10)
- Mimi Sunnerstam: cello (tracks 2, 10).
Mansfarroll biography:
In Cuba, he toured with Maraca y Otra vison and the group Síntesis las Hermanas Faez y la Casa de la Trova. Based in France, he collaborated with musicians and groups such as Chucho Valdés, Ibrahim Maalouf, Ernesto ‘Tito ” Puentes, David Murray, Patrice Caratini, Julien Lourau, Camille Bertault; major international artists such as Rosalia, Angélique Kidjo, Las Maravillas de Mali with Mory Kanté; French pop artists such as Charles Aznavour, Michel Fugain, Clara Luciani, and many others.
He played at the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (Lady Gaga), the opening of the Paralympic Games with Christine and the Queens, and the Parade of Champions with Philippe Katherine, Christine and the Queens, Cerrone, and Amadou and Mariam.
He has released two CDs, Utop!a Guantanamera, nominated for the Cubadisco award, and Dizzy El Afrocubano, a tribute to the centenary of Dizzy Gillespie‘s birth.
