Gino Sitson

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. But those tracks pale in comparison to the handful on which Sitson is accompanied only by himself, through creative overdubs and some ingenious body percussion where Sitson generates polyrhythmic tapestries by slapping various body parts, kind of a collage of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" mini-opera with an African percussion ensemble. It is here, on tunes like "Vocassiko," "Pretty C" (where he impressively simulates the crashing of ocean waves), and "Ngoyak," that Sitson's extraordinary talent shines through.