The Rhythm of the Saints is the eighth studio album by Paul Simon

Paul Simon

Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...

, released in 1990. Like its predecessor Graceland, the album gained commercial success and received mostly favorable reviews from critics. In 1992, The Rhythm of the Saints earned two nominations for the 34th Grammy Awards — Album of the Year and Producer of the Year.

Production history

Following the success of 1986's Graceland

Graceland (album)

Graceland was Paul Simon's highest charting album in the U.S. in over a decade, reaching #3 in the national Billboard charts, receiving a certification of 5× Platinum by the RIAA and eventually selling over 14 million copies, making it Simon's most commercially successful album...

, on which he worked principally with South African musicians, Simon broadened his interests in diverse forms of music from around the world

World music

World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...

. He turned to Latin America

Latin American music

Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...

 for the musicians and rhythms which characterize much of this album, partnering with Afro-Brazilian

Afro-Brazilian

In Brazil, the term "preto" is one of the five categories used by the Brazilian Census, along with "branco" , "pardo" , "amarelo" and "indígena"...

 superstars Grupo Cultural Olodum

Olodum

Olodum is a cultural group based in the Afro Brazilian community of Salvador, the capital city of the state of Bahia, Brazil. It was founded by percussionist, Neguinho do Samba....

, masters of the heavily percussive sub-style of samba

Samba

Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...

 called Batuque or Batucada

Batucada

Batucada is a substyle of samba and refers to an African influenced Brazilian percussive style, usually performed by an ensemble, known as a Bateria...

. The group's drumming is featured on the opening song and first single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

, "The Obvious Child". Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento

Milton Nascimento

-Biography:Nascimento's mother was the maid Maria Nascimento. As a baby, Milton Nascimento was adopted by his mother's former employers: the couple Josino Brito Campos, a banker employee, mathematics teacher and electronic technician; and Lília Silva Campos, a music teacher and choir singer...

 co-wrote "Spirit Voices" and contributed some vocals. Guest appearances were also made by mandolin

Mandolin

A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...

- and "guitarra baiana" master Armandinho, another Bahia musician, and by Afro-Cuban

Afro-Cuban

The term Afro-Cuban refers to Cubans of Sub Saharan African ancestry, and to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community...

 drummer Francisco Aguabella

Francisco Aguabella

Francisco Aguabella was an Afro-Cuban jazz percussionist whose career began in the 1950s.-Biography:Aguabella was born in Matanzas, Cuba. In the 1950s, he left Cuba to perform with Katherine Dunham in the Shelley Winters film Mambo filmed in Italy...

, and Puerto Rican

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

-born drummer Giovanni Hidalgo

Giovanni Hidalgo

Giovanni Hidalgo a.k.a. "Mañenguito" is an educator and percussionist associated with Latin jazz.-Early years:Hidalgo was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico where he received his primary education. His grandfather had also been a musician as well as his father, José Manuel Hidalgo "Mañengue", who was...

. Another collaborator was jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 percussionist and master of the berimbau

Berimbau

The berimbau is a single-string percussion instrument, a musical bow, from Brazil. The berimbau's origins are not entirely clear, but there is not much doubt about its African origin, as no Indigenous Brazilian or European people use musical bows, and very similar instruments are played in the...

, Naná Vasconcelos

Naná Vasconcelos

Naná Vasconcelos is a Brazilian Latin jazz percussionist, vocalist and berimbau player, most notable for his works with Pat Metheny, Don Cherry, Egberto Gismonti, and Gato Barbieri....

; jazz guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

ist Rafael Rabelo also played on the album, along with many other Brazilian musicians.

The musical styles on The Rhythm of the Saints are, however, not uniformly Brazilian. US saxophonist

Saxophone

The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...

 Michael Brecker

Michael Brecker

Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...

 and other horn players contribute as session musicians (for example, on "Proof"), as well as American roots rock

Roots rock

Roots rock is a term now used to describe rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid sub-genres from the later 1960s including country rock and Southern rock, which have been seen as responses to the...

 guitarist J. J. Cale, Fabulous Thunderbirds vocalist Kim Wilson

Kim Wilson

Kim Wilson is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for The Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s; "Tuff Enuff", and "Wrap It Up."-Career:...

 (contributing harmonica on "The Obvious Child"), R&B keyboards

Keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...

 player Greg Phillinganes

Greg Phillinganes

Greg Phillinganes is an active session keyboardist in Los Angeles, California. He is a graduate of Cass Technical High School, Detroit Michigan....

 and jazz drummer Steve Gadd

Steve Gadd

Steve Gadd is an American session and studio drummer, notable for his work with popular musicians from a wide range of genres.-Biography:...

. Art rock

Art rock

Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...

 guitarist and synth

Synthesizer

A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

 player Adrian Belew

Adrian Belew

Adrian Belew is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer...

, who played on Graceland, is credited on "Spirit Voices". There are also many backing vocals on The Rhythm of the Saints, such as "She Moves On", a duet with Charlotte Mbango. Also, Simon was influenced by bikutsi

Bikutsi

Bikutsi is a musical genre from Cameroon. It developed from the traditional styles of the Beti, or Ewondo, people, who live around the city of Yaounde. It was popular in the middle of the 20th century in West Africa...

 for this album.

The album is characterized by impressionistic lyrics (referencing the Chernobyl incident in "Can't Run But" and the state of the world in "The Cool, Cool River"), with slower tempo

Tempo

In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...

s than Graceland and an atmospheric flow. Along with Latin rhythms, the prime influence on the album was West African and Central Africa

Central Africa

Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....

n music. Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

ian jazz composer Andre Manga plays bass

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

,and South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n guitarist Ray Phiri

Ray Phiri

Raymond Chikapa Phiri is an African jazz, fusion and mbaqanga musician born in Mpumalanga. He became founding member of the Cannibals in the 1970's...

, who also collaborated on Graceland, plays on much of the album, while famed trumpeter and worldbeat

Worldbeat

Worldbeat is a music genre that primarily refers to a blending of Western pop music with traditional/folk or world music influences...

 bandleader Hugh Masekela

Hugh Masekela

Hugh Ramopolo Masekela is a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer.-Early life:Masekela was born in Kwa-Guqa Township, Witbank, South Africa. He began singing and playing piano as a child...

 is credited with playing flugelhorn

Flugelhorn

The flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...

 on one song.

Although drums for "The Obvious Child" were recorded live at Pelourinho Square in Salvador, Bahia

Salvador, Bahia

Salvador is the largest city on the northeast coast of Brazil and the capital of the Northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. Salvador is also known as Brazil's capital of happiness due to its easygoing population and countless popular outdoor parties, including its street carnival. The first...

, Simon recorded most of the rhythms for the tracks in Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

 studios before returning to The Hit Factory

The Hit Factory

The Hit Factory was a recording studio in New York City famous for its clientele. It was officially closed for business April 1, 2005 whereas other Hit Factory studio locations remained open, such as in Miami, Florida.-History:...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 to record guitar accompaniment and, later, the final arrangements. The Rhythm of the Saints marks Simon's first collaboration with Cameroonian guitarist Vincent Nguini, a member of his band since. Nguini is credited with creating the music and guitar arrangements for "The Coast", although Simon still wrote the lyrics. Nguini also arranged guitar for other songs, such as "She Moves On" and "The Cool, Cool River," and he arranged the horns for "Proof." Together, Simon and Nguini created the melodies, lyrics, and arrangements that changed the bare rhythm and guitar recordings into (due to Simon's studio experience:) the expertly-edited final product.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Paul Simon; except where indicated

1. "The Obvious Child"
2. "Can't Run But"
3. "The Coast" (Simon, Vincent Nguini)
4. "Proof" (With
5. "Further to Fly"
6. "She Moves On"
7. "Born at the Right Time"
8. "The Cool, Cool River"
9. "Spirit Voices" (Simon, Milton Nascimento
   Milton Nascimento
   -Biography:Nascimento's mother was the maid Maria Nascimento. As a baby, Milton Nascimento was adopted by his mother's former employers: the couple Josino Brito Campos, a banker employee, mathematics teacher and electronic technician; and Lília Silva Campos, a music teacher and choir singer...
   
   )
10. "The Rhythm of the Saints"

Alternate listing

According to an article published in Stereophile magazine, Simon's original track sequence was changed when "the boys in Warners' front office insisted the album's lead single, 'The Obvious Child' be given pride of place." To hear Simon's preferred track order, the current release would have to be re-sequenced as 3-6-4-7-8-1-2-9-5-10 (see below).

1. "The Coast"
2. "She Moves On"
3. "Proof" (With Vincent Nguini) Bikutsi (Cameroonian rhythm)
4. "Born at the Right Time"
5. "The Cool, Cool River"
6. "The Obvious Child"
7. "Can't Run But"
8. "Spirit Voices"
9. "Further To Fly"
10. "The Rhythm of the Saints"

2004 reissue

In 2004, the album was remastered by Dan Hersch and Bill Inglot. It was reissued with the same track order as the original release, along with four previously unreleased bonus tracks:

1. "Born at the Right Time" [acoustic demo]
2. "Thelma" [outtake]
3. "The Coast" [work-in-progress version]
4. "Spirit Voices" [work-in-progress version]

Central Park concert

Simon and his fellow musicians performed live versions of many of the songs from the album at a free concert in Central Park

Central Park

Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...

, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 on August 15, 1991, in front of an audience of over 100,000 people. The performance was recorded and later released as the album, "Paul Simon's Concert in the Park, August 15, 1991

Paul Simon's Concert in the Park, August 15, 1991

Paul Simon's Concert in the Park is a live album released in 1991 by Paul Simon. It provided a survey of his two most recent albums, Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints, and also drew liberally from his earlier songbook including a number of tunes from the Simon and Garfunkel era...

.'

Criticism

Brazilian musician Caetano Veloso

Caetano Veloso

Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso , better known as Caetano Veloso, is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo which encompassed theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s,...

 derides Simon's album in his song Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

, implying that he sees the album as an inauthentic attempt to take Brazlian music to new audiences.

Chart performance

The Rhythm of the Saints peaked at #4 on the US album chart, while Graceland had peaked at #3, both among Simon's most commercially successful albums. The album was also commercially successful across the Atlantic, reaching #1 on the UK album chart. However, with the exception of "The Obvious Child", none of its singles charted or received substantial radio play ("Proof" and "Born at the Right Time" were released as well). "The Obvious Child" also failed to reach the US top 40, although it came in at #15 in the UK. In the end, the album was certified multi-platinum.

Chart positions

Chart (1990-91)	Position
Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...	1
UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...	1
Dutch Mega Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top...	2
Australian ARIA Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...	3
Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...	3
Austrian Albums Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann...	4
United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...  Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...	4
New Zealand Albums Chart	6
Norwegian Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...  VG-lista VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by...  Albums Chart	6
Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association ....	8
Finnish Albums Chart	9
German Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...  Media Control Albums Chart	11
Italian Albums Chart	13
French SNEP Albums Chart	22
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...	87

Year-end charts

Chart (1990)	Position
UK Albums Chart	13
Australian Albums Chart	36
Chart (1991)	Position
U.S. Billboard Year-end Albums	22

Certifications

Personnel

• Paul Simon - vocals, guitar
• Clifton Chenier
  Clifton Chenier
  Clifton Chenier , a Creole French-speaking native of Opelousas, Louisiana, was an eminent performer and recording artist of Zydeco, which arose from Cajun and Creole music, with R&B, jazz, and blues influences. He played the accordion and won a Grammy Award in 1983...
  
   - accordion
• Ladysmith Black Mambazo
  Ladysmith Black Mambazo
  Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group from South Africa that sings in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his album, Graceland and have won multiple awards, including three Grammy Awards...
  
   - background vocals
• Milton Nascimento
  Milton Nascimento
  -Biography:Nascimento's mother was the maid Maria Nascimento. As a baby, Milton Nascimento was adopted by his mother's former employers: the couple Josino Brito Campos, a banker employee, mathematics teacher and electronic technician; and Lília Silva Campos, a music teacher and choir singer...
  
   - vocals
• Naná Vasconcelos
  Naná Vasconcelos
  Naná Vasconcelos is a Brazilian Latin jazz percussionist, vocalist and berimbau player, most notable for his works with Pat Metheny, Don Cherry, Egberto Gismonti, and Gato Barbieri....
  
   - percussion, conga, triangle, berimbau, gourd
• Adrian Belew
  Adrian Belew
  Adrian Belew is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer...
  
   - synthesizer
• J.J. Cale
  J.J. Cale
  JJ Cale , born John Weldon Cale on December 5, 1938, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and musician. Cale is one of the originators of the Tulsa Sound, a loose genre drawing on blues, rockabilly, country, and jazz influences. Cale's personal style has...
  
   - guitar
• Rigo Star
  Rigo Star
  Rigobert Bamundele, best known as Rigo Star, is an appreciated soukous guitarist and composer from DR Congo, now based in Paris. He has played with several major soukous and world music acts, including Papa Wemba's Viva La Musica, Bozi Boziana's Anti-Choc, Kanda Bongo Man, Koffi Olomide, Kelele,...
  
   - guitar (Liner notes misprint as "Ringo Star")
• Michael Brecker
  Michael Brecker
  Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
  
   - saxophone
• Hugh Masekela
  Hugh Masekela
  Hugh Ramopolo Masekela is a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer.-Early life:Masekela was born in Kwa-Guqa Township, Witbank, South Africa. He began singing and playing piano as a child...
  
   - flugelhorn
• Giovanni Hidalgo - conga
• Kim Wilson - harmonica, olodum
• Clifton Anderson - trombone
• Francisco Aguabella
  Francisco Aguabella
  Francisco Aguabella was an Afro-Cuban jazz percussionist whose career began in the 1950s.-Biography:Aguabella was born in Matanzas, Cuba. In the 1950s, he left Cuba to perform with Katherine Dunham in the Shelley Winters film Mambo filmed in Italy...
  
   - conga
• Artur Andres - percussion
• Mingo Araujo - percussion, castanets, conga, cymbals, drums, triangle, shaker, African bells, go bell, casinette
• Isaak Asante - percussion
• Martin Atangana - electric guitar
• Dave Bargeron - euphonium, horn
• Karen Bernod
  Karen Bernod
  Karen Bernod is an American born R&B vocalist, songwriter, and producer.Karen is best known for her unique vocal harmonies as a background singer for Chaka Khan, Erykah Badu, C&C Music Factory and D'Angelo.-Biography:...
  
   - background vocals
• Jude Bethel - tenor saxophone
• Jacques Bolognesi - trombone
• Randy Brecker
  Randy Brecker
  Randal "Randy" Brecker is an American trumpeter and flugelhornist. He is a highly sought after performer in the genres of jazz, rock, and R&B, and has performed or recorded with Stanley Turrentine, Billy Cobham, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Sandip Burman, Charles Mingus, Blood, Sweat & Tears,...
  
   - piccolo trumpet
• Briz - background vocals
• Anthony Carrillo - bongos
• Elolongue Mbango Catherine - background vocals
• Don Chacal - bongos, conga, bata, gourd
• C.J. Chenier - accordion
• Wilson DasNeves - percussion, cowbell
• Djana'd - background vocals
• Charles Doherty - tenor & alto saxophone
• Steve Gadd
  Steve Gadd
  Steve Gadd is an American session and studio drummer, notable for his work with popular musicians from a wide range of genres.-Biography:...
  
   - drums
• Florence Gnimagnon - background vocals
• Myrna Lynn Gomila - background vocals
• Gordinho - surdo

• Grupo Cultural - drums
• Alain Hatot - saxophone
• Errol Ince - trumpet
• Kia Jeffries - background vocals
• Remi Kabaka - percussion
• Bakithi Khumalo
  Bakithi Khumalo
  Bakithi Kumalo is a South African bassist, composer and vocalist who has worked with a wide variety of diverse artists including Gloria Estefan, Herbie Hancock, Chaka Khan, Harry Belafonte, Cyndi Lauper and Paul Simon...
  
   - bass
• Armand Sabal-Lecco - bass
• Charlotte M'bango - background vocals
• Andre Manga - bass
• Mazzola - percussion, chicote
• Jimmy McDonald - accordion
• Clyde Mitchell - trumpet
• Madeleine Yayodele Nelson - chekere, bass
• Vincent Nguini - bass, guitar, clavinet
• Greg Phillinganes
  Greg Phillinganes
  Greg Phillinganes is an active session keyboardist in Los Angeles, California. He is a graduate of Cass Technical High School, Detroit Michigan....
  
   - synthesizer
• Ray Phiri
  Ray Phiri
  Raymond Chikapa Phiri is an African jazz, fusion and mbaqanga musician born in Mpumalanga. He became founding member of the Cannibals in the 1970's...
  
   - guitar
• Raphael Rabello - guitar
• Decio Ramos - drums
• Felix Sabal-Lecco - drums
• Paul Santos - percussion
• Paulo Sérgio Santos - chicote
• George Seba - electric guitar
• Phillipe Slominski - trumpet
• Pedro Sorongo - percussion, scraper
• Justin Tchounou - synthesizer
• Antonio Luis Alves de Souza - director
• Remy Kabocka - drums
• Beloba - percussion
• Marçalzinho - percussion
• Armandinho - guitar
• Canegal - percussion
• Asante - drums
• Sidinho Moreira - bongos, conga, drums, bottle, water bowl
• Yo Yo De La Nelson - chakeire
• Jorge Ferreira da Silva - percussion
• Kofi Electrik - guitar