The Charles Géne Suite

The Charles Géne Suite has introduced itself as a cutting edge Neo-Soul band emerging from the rich and forward-thinking musical soil of South Africa. The collective consists of musicians, rappers and singers. It seems that they have developed into a fully-fledged unit after years of gathering in the core member’s bedroom studio which they named “The Suite” and have held many sessions over the weekends. They seem like very close friends who are confident and well-grounded. Their debut album “Suite Nites” is a masterpiece that captures the diverse sounds of Johannesburg, the central city of South Africa. It contains the participation of 20 musicians and is centred on mellow, Neo-Soul tunes that are fronted by highly skilled singers and rappers. There are also strong Jazz-flavoured instrumentals in which saxophonists blow skilfully over broken beat rhythms and African-esque tunes. There are percussions, bouncing-beats and and the accents of the South African linguistic clicks. In recent years they have attracted some worldwide attention for their colourful and smooth fusion of mellow Soul, Hip-Hop, Jazz and traditional African music while adeptly fusing the live musical and electronic elements together. From an angle slightly different to that of Afrobeats or Amapiano, we are sure that they will convey a different and original state of music from Africa for a new generation. The sound has the feeling of a cool night in the city as well as that of organic connections between people. The mellow Jazz number “I Don’t Sleep Anymore” decorates the opening of the album, followed by many sweet, soulful, emotional, rap steady, soulful African, R&B and instrumental songs which gather the new up-and-coming of South African Jazz. A strong impression is indeed made. We are excited by the sweet sounds of these studio sessions, spun creatively by very human hands. Please enjoy their warm, palatable and unique sound which is different from American and European Neo-Soul. It is oriented towards a sonic return to Africa, regardless of genre or nationality.