Description

1LP Vinyl – BM1807

Frédéric Gassita discovered music at the age of five. A little later he quickly proved to be a gifted young musician and have already played on a number of instruments. In 1977 he left Gabon to study in France, his mother offered him his first guitar. His tutors in France spotted the talent of the young man and decided to enroll him at the Conservatory of Music in Châteauroux, where he learned classical music, composition, and perfected his practice of piano, bass and guitar.
Back in Gabon in 1983, Frédéric decided to form the band "Surprise" with his longtime friend Jean-Jean Gateau, his musical influences – his parents introduced Frédéric to a lot of music: Afro-Cuban music, Jazz, Soul or RnB. – forged the sound of the band as well as a strong inspiration from the US funk that invaded the radio waves of Gabon: Earth, Wind & Fire, the Commodores, Maze by Frankie Beverly ….
The Guitarist Célestin Assélé Bongo joined the band and provided them the necessary means to record an album. Florence Nang Ekomye, a talented self-taught jazz singer, is immediately recruited, being the voice of Surprise.