Etienne Mbappe Releases Fourth Solo Album

Etienne Mbappe & The Profits: How Near How FarEtienne Mbappe handles both bass and lead vocals on his fourth solo effort, How Near How Far, released under the name, Etienne Mbappe & the Prophets.

Mbappe (John McLaughlin’s 4th Dimension, Joe Zawinul, Robben Ford, Slif Keita, Ray Charles, Steps Ahead, Bill Evans) has focused more on instrumentation than vocals on this record. “The concept of the Prophets,” Mbappé said, “is a nod to visionaries like Miles, Coltrane, Joe Zawinul, John McLaughlin, Ravi Shankar, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, and Charlie Parker among others. We seek to extend their vision and imagine a music where there are no borders and no musical barriers. With the Prophets, I decided to come back to instrumental music…I wanted to get away from the strict song format – verse, bridge, chorus – and focus more on the music itself.”

Mbappe, a gloved bassist originally from Cameroon, said “My music is influenced by places I have traveled, people I meet, colors I see, flavors that I taste, fun that I’ve had, and, sometimes, the pain that I feel.” The album also features a unique sound as a result of his choice of players/instrumentation for the Prophets: Christophe Cravero (acoustic & electric piano); Clement Janinet (violin); Nicolas Viccaro (drums & bottle percussions); Anthony Jambon (acoustic & electric guitars); Arno De Casanove (trumpet & flugelhorn); Herve Gourdikian (tenor saxophone).

How Near How Far is available on CD and as a digital download (Bandcamp and Amazon MP3).

How Near How Far Track List:

  1. John Ji
  2. Bandit Queen
  3. Lagos Market
  4. How Near How Far
  5. Make It Easy
  6. Milonga In 7 (To Astor Piazzola)
  7. Bad As I’m Doing
  8. Mang Lady
  9. Assiko Twerk
  10. Day Message (To Joe Zawinul)
  11. Musango Na Wa

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