'Tumbélé: Biguine, Afro & Latin Sounds From The French Caribbean, 1963-74' takes the listener to the French West Indies (Guadeloupe and Martinique), where in the sixties and early seventies of the last century, tumbélé reigned supreme. This typical Antillean genre arose from a cross pollination of Haitian compas, Congolese rumba, Cuban guaguanco and local biguine traditions (the biguine itself a mixture of New Orleans jazz, contra dance and African rhythms imported by the slaves). In addition to the more urban sound of the biguine Martinique and Guadeloupe also knew the more rural traditions of bèlè and gwo-ka (of the latter the tumbélé would inherit the large ka-drums also featured on the cover of this compilation), both of which emerged in the slave communities on the many plantations the islands counted. It goes without saying that this "negro music" was completely unacceptable to the upper class of the time. To indicate the exact point when a new genre was created, is an almost impossible task, but the development of tumbélé seems to coincide with the visit of Congolese Ry-Co Jazz in 1967; a visit that would eventually extend into a four year stay.