ROBERTAONTHEARTS.COM:fascinating, sometimes African, sometimes French vocals and earthy scat, the audience was treated to an impressionistic, somewhat surrealistic set.
Roberta Zlokower


RFI MUSIQUE:« Sortie française de Bamisphere, le troisième opus du
Camerounais installé à New York. Virtuosité et liberté en
sont les maîtres-mots. L’Afrique et le jazz y servent de
prétexte pour un ultime numéro d’acrobatie vocale aux
messages clairs et sans complexes aucuns. »
Soeuf Elbadawi


JAZZMAN:« Gino Sitson s'affirme comme le plus talentueux des
chanteurs africains dans le contexte du jazz. Virtuose dans
l'art d'associer polyphonies pygmées, poly-rythmies et
polytonalités diverses à l'improvisation jazzistique, il
réussit à définir un projet décidément original. (…) Sitson
tient les promesses de "Vocal Deliria" et "Song Zin".
Sensible à la pensée et à l'exemple d'hommes remarquables
(Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Charles
Mingus), Sitson transmet en langue medumba ses messages de
liberté, de tolérance, de justice, de créativité. (…)
Portés par des acrobaties vocales, subtiles et ludiques...
»
Francisco Cruz

 

LOS ANGELES TIMES:« Sitson is a stunningly versatile vocalist with a cunning imagination and a seemingly endless capacity to create
colorfully layered vocal sounds (…) his music has evolved
into a magical blending of traditional elements from his
native land and the urban swing of New York (…) the results
are consistently compelling — producing more fascinating
results with each hearing. »
Jazz Spotlight - Don Heckman


• MONDOMIX: "There are few musicians who can come anywhere near Gino Sitson in vocal acrobatics and dexterity." Daniel Brown
• Time Out New York:"...is fast becoming a local phenomenon"
• Der Schallplattenmann sagt
  Neu!ArchivNewsletterForumInfoImpressum
  Gino Sitson "Song Zin'..."
  Ausgabe #336, 31.03.2003, Rubrik Albums - Neuerscheinungen
  Singer/Songwriter-Jazz -- Vocadelic Tales
  (CD; Piranha)
  Der in Kamerun geborene Sänger Gino Sitson ist -- aus welchen Gründen immer -- in deutschsprachigen Landen (im Gegensatz zu Frankreich und USA) leider weitgehend unbekannt. Um diesen Zustand entgegenzuwirken, tourt er derzeit durch Deutschland, mit im Gepäck sein zweites Album "Song Zin'..." (dt: "Ich erzähle dir...") mit dem programmatischen Untertitel "Vocadelic Tales". Der sympathische Sänger versammelt auf der CD 16 Songs in der kamerunischen Sprache Medumba, welche im Wechselspiel klassischen Singer/Songwritertums und Jazz zu Gehör kommen. Er erzählt Geschichten über Menschen, die als illegal betrachtet werden ("Paper"), über das Eigenleben einer Stadt ("Complex City"), Rassismus ("Colored Man"), aber auch über seine Liebe zur Welt und Menschheit. Piano, Akustik-Bass, Drums und Saxophon umrahmen seine Gesangskunst, die wahrlich etwas Besonderes ist. Vielerorts war zu lesen, dass Gino Sitson der "neue" Al Jarreau und Bobby McFerrin ist, was einerseits natürlich Quatsch ist und was der in New York City lebende Musiker andererseits auch nicht gerne hört. Sitson hat seine eigene individuell geprägte Gesangsstimme und mag vermutlich deshalb an beide oben erwähnten Superstars erinnern, weil auch er mit der Sprache spielt und lautmalerische Improvisationen vom Stapel lässt. Das auf "Song Zin'..." dargebotene ist jedenfalls ein immens farbenfrohes und positives Stimmenspektakel. Superbe Melodien und die hervorragende Instrumentierung machen das Album zum Gesamterlebnis, das einem nicht so schnell loslässt. [mh: @@@@]
  See it!
  
  
• NAPRA Review (09-10/02, p.83)
  "..Utterly irresistible.... in a heart-reaching category all by itself..."

  Song Zin': Vocadelic Tales by Gino Sitson
  Pirahna Musik
  Don't attempt to neatly niche Gino Sitson's SONG ZIN: it just won't work - his music is a blend of African and jazz vocals and is so intrinsically interwoven between both traditions that it's impossible to separate one from the other.
  Jazz vocalist Sitson's style comes closest to Bobby McFerrin, blended with a distinct Cameroonian vocal style and female backup singers who add touches of gospel, blues and traditional African at the drop of a hat.
  The female polyrhythmic harmonies of the introductory cut 'Ngoyak' quickly move to a more choral atmosphere in 'Lovely Dany-jo'.
  SONG ZIN is contemporary Afro-jazz at its best: with elements of both and entireties of neither.
  A pioneering work, SONG ZIN presents a refined, highly recommended pick, with all songs sung in the Nedumba language for added cultural punch.
  See it!
  
  

• MONDOMIX
  Some call him the African Al Jarreau or Bobby McFerrin, others simply vaunt his ability to modernise age-old traditions of vocal music from central Africa. But Gino Sitson has little interest in the labels that critics attempt to pin on his singular singing range. The discreet Cameroonian musician first crafted his polyphonies in the French capital, Paris, before heading off to the Big Apple for more jazz-oriented exchanges. With him he brought examples of his vocal harmonies in the form of two albums, « Vocal Deliria » and « Song Zin ».
  See it!
  
  
• LOS ANGELES TIMES
  February 19, 2004
  "The first sound out of Gino Sitson's mouth Tuesday at the Jazz Bakery was high, piercing falsetto phrase, followed by wind-like rustling, interspersed low notes, a whispering sequence of syllables and an insistent finger-tapping on the microphone..." Don HECKMAN
  See it!
  
  
• Álbum: Song Zin'
  Artista: Gino Sitson
  Procedencia: Camerún
  Sello Discográfico: Piranha
  Año: 2002
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  Ya desde "Ngoyak", la canción que abre el álbum, Gino Sitson deja en claro que lo suyo es la virtuosidad. Desde los primeros acordes, el camerunés hace uso de sus cualidades vocales llevándolas al extremo de la delicadeza, la prolijidad y el encanto, como un artesano de la voz que utiliza sus cuerdas vocales para crear un abanico de ritmos y melodías en las que no descarta el jazz, el blues y el delicado sonido de su pueblo.
  
  En la búsqueda de algunas referencias, no estaría de más decir que Gino Sitson tiene algo de Bobby McFerrin , tanto en lo vocal como en lo musical respectivamente. Pero el músico no solo se queda allí. Él es un contador de historias.las de su pueblo. De hecho, la traducción al español del nombre del disco ("Song Zin', en lengua medumba) sería algo como "Te lo voy a contar" ("I'm gonna tell you") y en cada una de sus piezas hay sentimiento y nostalgia por su patria y por su gente.
  
  Nacido en el oeste camerunés, Sitson se mudó a París cuando todavía no había superado la mayoría de edad. Allí estudió etnomusicología antes de embarcarse en una carrera artística profesional. Con diploma bajo el brazo y algunos sucesos en el país galo, el camerunés llegó en 2001 a Nueva York, ciudad desde donde ha compuesto algunas bandas de sonido y participado en muestras colectivas de música y poesía.
  
  Luego del sorprendente debut en "Vocal Delira", Sitson incorpora en "Song Zin'" una mayor presencia instrumental aportada por algunos destacados músicos, tan interesantes como su conductor. Diecieseis piezas musicales conforman este trabajo, todos ellos compuestos y arreglados por Sitson. Cada uno con una historia diferente, con una temática particular, con un sonido distinto, con sabor especial. Todos con un denominador común: la virtuosidad de su creador.
  
  Jorge Maldonado
  See it!
  
  
• MORGENPOST Die afrikanische Antwort auf Bobbie McFerrin
  Ein Sänger aus Afrika, der heimische Traditionen mit Jazz verbindet und so etwas wie die afrikanische Antwort auf Al Jarreau und Bobbie McFerrin ist ...
  Und wer Ohren hat, die noch nicht vom Gleichmachersound der Charts verklebt sind, kann sich von den wunderbaren Sounds und Gesängen auf Sitsons Album "Song Zin!..." verzaubern lassen.
  "Es gibt kein Instrument, das kann, was eine Stimme kann", findet der Musiker.
  
  
• Radio Multikulti
  "Ich möchte Geschichten erzählen, mit meiner Stimme, mit meinem Körper. Und ich möchte die Menschen berühren mit diesen Geschichten. Musik hat die einzigartige Kraft, die Zuhörer - egal woher sie stammen - anzusprechen, zu bewegen, weil wir in der Musik ein authentisches Gefühl teilen, das die Barrieren der Sprache weit hinter sich lässt." Schwebend und voller subtiler melodischer und rhythmischer Nuancen eröffnet Song Zin'... den Weg zu einem freien Ausdruck der Stimme. Sitson webt ein musikalisches Universum der Erfindungsgabe und Originalität, zwischen Respekt vor der afrikanischen Tradition und energiegeladener Aufbruchsstimmung. "
  
  
• Jazzdimensions, Carina Prange
  " Gino Sitson besitzt ein ungewöhnliches Talent, sich in dem Augenblick der Aufnahme ganz einzubringen. Ergebnis sind geschmackvoll arrangierte Songs, verziert mit Sitsons warmer Stimme, viel Perkussion, akzentuiert eingesetztem Klavier und Saxophon. - Musik, die ihre Erklärung in sich selbst trägt."
  
  
• Folker, Luigi Lauer
  "Sein atemberaubender Gesang vereint die Qualitäten der weltweit besten Vokalakrobaten: die knackende Intonationssicherheit - selbst in schrägalterierten Skalen - von Aziza Mustafa Zadeh, die Inbrunst, die Scat-Qualitäten und den Farbenreichtum von Al Jarreau und die beschämende Wandlungsfähigkeit von Brian Ferry. Stellt man Sitson genügend Aufnahmespuren zur Verfügung, macht er die Musik der kubanischen Gruppe Vocal Sampling glatt alleine."
  
  
• Shirokko.de
  "Der afrikanische Sänger legt eine ungewöhnliche und erstaunliche CD vor, die streckenweise klingt, als würde Lokua Kanza Songs von Bobby McFerrin singen. Für Freunde aussergewöhnlicher Vokalarrangements."
  
  
• Blue Rhythm
  "Er ist Vokal- und zugleich Stilakrobat."
  
  
• Cameroonian offers unique soundscapes :
  JAZZ REVIEW: "The first sound out of Gino Sitson's mouth Tuesday at the Jazz Bakery was a high, piercing falsetto phrase, followed by wind-like rustling, interspersed low notes, a whispering sequence of syllables and an insistent finger-tapping on the microphone. It was a taste of things to come."
  By Don Heckman
  See it!
  
  
• Cameroon-Info.Net :
  “Gino SITSON est devenu la coqueluche de tous les connaisseurs de jazz, et autres novices. Tous les média en parlent. ... Il est en studio en ce moment pour son troisieme album. Un album qui est attendu fébrilement, d'autant plus que le public a déjà écouté et apprécié quelques chansons de ce nouveau répertoire. ”
  See it!
  
  
• Afrikara :
  “ L'artiste n'a pas fini de surprendre et son mouvement entamé avec le premier album se rapproche de la maturité d'un sillon patiemment labouré... ”
  See it!
  
  
• Ekobantou :
  “ Le travail et encore le travail; c'est bien cela qui comme le disait voltaire "éloigne de nous l'ennui, le vice et le besoin", et aujourd'hui, Gino Sitson peut commencer à récolter avec mérite le fruit d'un labeur souvent ingrat, mais ou la ténacité fini toujours par triompher. ”
  See it!
  
  
• Le Messager :
  "Gino Sitson (qui décolle au Cameroun avec Vocal deliria) n'est pas un enfant de chœur (même si sa musique consiste essentiellement en des exercices vocaux formidables). Pas si populaire que cela en Afrique, Gino Sitson est pourtant un chanteur accompli, et peut-être le meilleur des Camerounais de Sun City. Aux Kora, il pourrait bien démontrer qu'il n'est pas classé parmi les dix meilleurs disques de jazz, par le New York Times, pour rien."
  Danielle Nomba
  See it!

• THE VILLAGE VOICE :
  “ Great Cameroonian-American singer Gino Sitson, who's also adept at body percussion, is a cross between Bobby McFerrin and Al Jarreau with a thing for African jazz. ”
  See it!
  
  
• VOIR.CA Montréal :
  “GINO SITSON, la découverte à ne pas rater... un fabuleux acrobate vocal Gino Sitson qu'on a surnommé le "Bobby McFerrin du Cameroun. Cet homme-là parle d'or. Et il chante de mieux en mieux...”
  Ralph Boncy
  See it!
  

• JAZZDNES Jazz Funky Alternative :
  “Tato recenze je venovaná težko zaraditelnému, rekl bych i progresivnímu albu Song Zin´ Kamerunce Gino Sitzona. Jeho umelecká dráha, kterou se rozhodl venovat hudbe a jejímu studiu, zacíná v Kamerunu, kde se narodil a kde do 17 let vyrustal a studoval....”
  Ferdinand Valent
  See it!
  

• ALL ABOUT JAZZ :
  “Quick and to the Point : African jazzistic vocal lusciousness.
  Although seldom fully appreciated, musical expressions often evidence a remarkable bond with the cadences, inflections, harmonic and melodic character of the languages spoken by their producers and interpreters...”
  Javier Antonio Quiñones Ortiz
  See it!
  
  
• LOS ANGELES TIMES :
  “Sitson is a creator of vocal panoramas (…) always fascinating…”
  Don Heckman
  
  
• ALL MUSIC GUIDE **** ½ :
  “he's someone who loves and caresses every note. Whether you can understand his words or not, the meaning is always abundantly clear from his tone.” Chris Nickson
  
  
• ROOTS WORLD :
  “the meditative virtuosity of Sitson's solo work is clear, and his voice conveys a pristine, complex instrumental tonality” Michael Stone
  

• JAZZ REVIEW.COM :
  Gino Sitson is a young jazz vocalist from Africa, singing mostly in his native Bamileke language. Born in Cameroon, he studied music and languages in Paris, France, where he also studied ethnomusicology, an important scientific branch of anthropology which focuses on the role of music in cultures. He is to Africa and Cameroon what Bobby McFerrin and Al Jarreau are to USA jazz. An entertaining performer with a unique style of delivery, he will find a large listening audience in the USA... See it!



• LOS ANGELES TIMES :
  All the pieces are original, mostly sung in Sitson's native Medumba language, but his gift for melody and his persuasive powers of interpretation establish an
  instant connection for listeners in virtually every number. In his liner notes, Sitson refuses to define his music, simply saying, "I don't feel I belong to any style." He's right, but despite the great variety of sounds and rhythms present in the album, his creative vision is clear enough to bring a sense of solidarity to the tracks...
  
  
• ROOTS WORLD :
  Singer Gino Sitson, long a Paris resident and now New York based, cultivates a vocal style variously recalling Slam Stewart, Eddie Jefferson, Jon Hendricks, Al Jarreau and Bobby McFerrin. Having grown up in a musical family for whom blues, jazz and traditional African music were vital influences, Sitson jestingly calls himself an "unidentified vocal object," an indication of how his musical conception moves beyond earlier proponents of vocalese (whose lyric lines are written to and sung like instrumental jazz solos)... See it!
  
  
• AMAZON.DE :
  Was Gino Sitson auf Song Zin'... seiner Stimme entlockt, grenzt an Zauberei. Der Vokalakrobat aus Kamerun erzeugt mit den Stimmbändern und seinem (Resonanz-)Körper eine Vielzahl faszinierender Klänge und verfügt über ein riesiges Register an Ausdrucksformen. In insgesamt 16 Songs beweist der Stimmartist eine erstaunliche Wandlungsfähigkeit. See it!
  
  
• ALLMUSIC.COM :
  Gino Sitson has a soul brother in singer Al Jarreau. The Cameroonian and the American seem to share a particular bond in their tastes, world views, and the ways they make music. For both, the voice is the thing, the ways it can be used, and how the body itself can be a musical instrument. And like his more famous counterpart, Sitson is a master at what he does. Performing alone, as on the glowing "Complex City," or fronting a small jazz group, as he does for much of Song 'Zin..., he's someone who loves and caresses every note. Whether you can understand his words or not, the meaning is always abundantly clear from his tone. But his voice isn't his only instrument... See it!
  
  
• TUCSON CITIZEN :
  If the phrase "incorporating indigenous African polyphonic techniques into the jazz vocalese tradition" doesn't scare you, grab onto this CD.
  Gino Sitson is from the African country of Camaroon, singing mostly in his native Bamileke. But he has studied extensively in France and now lives in New York City.
  The Bamileke language is filled with vowel sounds, and, the way Sitson sings it, often seems like bebop sung with a French accent. Much more user-friendly than the musicologist's description above are the singer's own words in the liner notes: "I would like every person who listens to my album to breathe it, dance to it, smile, fly, feel peaceful." See it!
  
  
• MIAMI NEW TIMES :
  Describing Gino Sitson, the Cameroonian-born singer who now resides in New York, as an African Bobby McFerrin might give listeners a clue as to the vocal acrobatics that define his sound, but it wouldn't quite do justice to the broadness of his palette. On Sitson's new Song 'Zin, the singer is accompanied most of the time by a jazz quartet that swings ably while Sitson impresses in a more traditional role -- that of a singer fronting a band, albeit one who has a penchant for overdubbing layers of background vocals to sweeten things up... See it!
  


• DJEMBE ONLINE FRANCE :
  CD Review.

Très peu de mots pourraient avec exactitude qualifier la magie que diffuse Gino Sitson à travers son oeuvre. Il y a eu en 1996 "Vocal deliria" ; un délire vocal comme son nom l'indique si bien. Gino Sitson avait alors émergé comme un champignon de terre, dans un domaine où des groupes choraux sud-africains étaient maîtres... See it!


• JAZZBREAK.COM in France :
  CD Review.
  Gino Sitson chanteur 'percussionniste' d'origine camerounaise nous fait découvrir un univers de rythmes africains, d'improvisations jazz, et surtout de figures vocales assez incroyables, qui ne sont pas sans rappeler Bobby Mc Ferrin... See it!
  
  
• LE MONDE :
  Gino Sitson is a real vocal acrobat: he sings with fabulous ease and obvious humor developing a register where African traditions come across jazz and blues. As a distinguished ethnomusicologist, Sitson has a rich and varied musical culture, as can be heard on his last album, "Song Zin'…". This musician from Cameroon has already been remarked with the famous Manu Dibango, Ray Lema, Papa Wemba, Steve Potts…
  
  
• L'EXPRESS :
  This young Cameroonian melodist with smiling eyes, elegant gestures and delirious vocal scansions, inbetween jazz, gospel and African music, amazed us with Vocal Deliria, his first album. Song Zin'…, his next CD, is another jewel full of lightness and humanity, visited by trained musicians (the West Indian pianist Mario Canonge, the Venezuelan percussionist Orlando Poléo, the French cellist Vincent Ségal) where Gino Sitson's subtle militant voice tells about his joy in life, but also his bitter sorrow at the history of Black people.
  
  
• LE FIGARO :
  Inventive, skilful, seducing, moving, the Cameroonian author-composer Gino Sitson, with surprising vocal performances and creativity, embodies the new ways in African singing.
  
  
• ADEN (Le Monde - les Inrockuptibles) :
  Gino Sitson gives his voice, trained for vocal acrobatics, to the service of subtle African melodies.
  
  
• NOVA MAGAZINE :
  This young man from Cameroon - a revelation of the year - has an amazingly elastic voice and is as much inspired by the sounds of his equatorial forest as by the crazy scatting singers in jazz.
  
  
• TELERAMA :
  Cameroonian inheritor of Al Jarreau and Bobby Mc Ferrin, Gino Sitson engages in vocal acrobatics, somewhere between jazz, gospel and African music.
  
  
• The Newsletter of The French Music Export Office (world) :
  Issue #17 January June 2001
  This Cameroonian artist is famous for his vocal wizardry: he stunningly imitates the sounds of the sax, trumpet, and bass. Don't skip over this gem of a song !
  
  
• POPKOMM Festival (Germany) 2000 :
  This edition has broken all records for attendance with more than 17 000 visitors from 50 countries (…) Many showcases of French electronica artists were given throughout the city of Cologne. For world music, Gino Sitson, presented by record company Scalen International, was a total success and the audience remained standing throughout most of the concert.
  
  
• RFI MUSIC :
  "Suddenly, I heard a warm, friendly voice beside me (it was Gino Sitson), asking "So, what did you think? Did you enjoy the show?" What can I say? Like it? I loved it! And I have to admit, hearing Sitson's incredible vocals belting out beneath the New York skyscrapers on Friday night, I almost found myself believing that yes, miracles do exist!" Myriem Wong www.rfimusic.com
  
  

RADIOS about the album Vocal Deliria
(source : Francophonie Diffusion)

• Sergei Shidlouskij, deputy director of a radio station Ukraine:
  Kraj 68,2 Fm - RIVNE :
  There is much good musics on planet but such single. The Voice and canto Gino - splendid and absolutely. With many thanks for miraculous music !!!
  

• The WORLD :
  The World | Monday Edition
  If you need an American frame of reference to understand what musician Gino Sitson is up to, you might try out Bobby McFerrin. But Sitson's music is about more than vocal acrobatics. It's about where he's from, and where he's going. The World's Stephen Snyder has today's musical closer.
  Text interview
  Audio interview
  
• CANADA Ontario : CBOF 90,7 - OTTAWA
  It is really very good ... It is true that he can easily be compared to Bobby McFerrin but he has a modulating vocal tone, which is very interesting ... Somehow afro-jazz somehow funk. I like it a lot.
  
• ITALY : Radio Citta Futura - ROMA
  Our compliments ! This man is really a star in his own, another little star growing in the fields of the jazz polyrhythmic.
  
• CANADA Quebec : Société Radio Canada - MONTREAL
  Sitson makes a complete use of all the artifices of his voice and explores the jazz avenue in a brilliant way. Magnificient.
  
• CANADA Quebec : CIBL 101,5 - MONTREAL
  Vocal arrangements are excellent. Check it out!
  
• ISRAEL : IBA - Voice of Music - JERUSALEM
  Great !
  
• LEBANEN : Radio Mont Liban - BEIRUT
  We feel as if in the jungle. Very innovative !
  
• GERMANY : Deutschland Radio Berlin / Radio Brandenburg Potsdam
  It's great. Very original and full of musical mood. Very good !
  
• SOUTH AFRICA : Voice of Soweto - JOHANNESBURG
  Interestingly different. Very nice, a lot like Bobby McFerrin.
  
• NORWAY : Paris Oslo - OSLO
  When the voice is a birth instrument, Gino Sitson is its father. Thanks to his polyvalent chords, he is enchanting our waves with the deliria of his voice and saxophone. "Two hands, two cheeks, one mouth". The truth is probably contained by this title. The most limpid album of this month !
  
• SWITZERLAND : Radio Suisse Romande - LAUSANNE
  Superb. What a voice ! Everything is good. A real pleasure.
  
• CAMEROON : CRTV - YAOUNDE
  It's the only album of this genre which succeeded in finding an echo in Cameroon. Gino the " Bulu " deserves respect for his work full of authenticity which is a wink at traditional musics from the country.
  
• GABON : Africa n° 1 - LIBREVILLE
  Original ! Amazing ! Joyful cocktail of warm voices and instruments which match with one another in a very particular jazz !
  
• MOROCCO : Radio Télévision Nationale - RABAT
  "Vocal deliria", an attracting delirious album.
  
• SENEGAL : Nostalgie Dakar - DAKAR
  It is like some Bobby McFerrin with a bit of sun. Brilliant disc, full of joy and warmth. We are always looking forwards to listening to discs like that.