Honoré Avolonto

Singer, percussionist, and composer from Benin

Honoré Avolonto

Today on Ecléctico you're listening to Honoré Avolonto, a Beninese percussionist, singer, and composer. Avolonto started his career as a conga player and began writing his own songs shortly thereafter. His time in two stellar Beninese bands, Orchestre Black Santiago and Orchestre Poly-Rythmo, were part of a prolific songwriting and performing phase, today's song a big hit with the latter. He is joined on the track by two vocalists from that band, Eskill Lohento and Joseph Vicky.

"Tin Lin Non" by Honoré Avolonto
1983 | Singer, percussionist, and composer from Benin


Go deeper with this excerpt from and a link to a short article by Amir Ali Said on The Art of Sampling:

[Honoré Avolonto] was a percussionist from Benin, Africa.  In 1969, he started his recording career.  In the beginning, he only played the conga, but as his career evolved, Honoré started recording his own compositions.  As a solo artist, he recorded for two decades, and by the end of the ’70s and the ’80s, he was one of the most prolific composers in Benin’s history.  In 1983, he released an album called Avolonto Honore Avec La Participation Vocale De: Vicky, Eskill, Miguel & Guenshi-Ever.