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The African sheen What to watch for in the 11th Festival Nuits d'Afrique by CHRIS YURKIW
To talk about almost any kind of "world music" that makes it to the international stage is to talk about hybrids, or métissage, and that further multiplies the possibilities of African music. But those mixes don't necessarily mean Papa Wemba's slick Afro-pop, or Geoffrey Oryema's ballads with Alain Souchon. Take this year's Nuits d'Afrique festival opener Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca, whose aim it is to reintroduce Congolese soukous and rumba to the Afro-Cuban music that inspired it. Singer-dancer Lemvo was raised in Kinshasa but moved to Los Angeles at 16, and in 1990 realized his dream of starting "a band to combine the two forms that I love: Cuban and Congolese." His favourite line: "We are not a salsa band and we are also not an African band." A glorious and fitting aes-thetic to kick off the Fest (Club Balattou, Sunday, July 6, 10 p.m. $15). The next thing of note is a couple of mini-themes at this year's festival, the first of which is blues from Mali. This is familiar territory for those who know the work of guitarist Ali Farka Touré, especially his album with Ry Cooder. But as one critic commented, "If Touré is Mali's answer to John Lee Hooker, then Boubacar Traoré is Mali's Robert Johnson." Active again after a respite of some 20 years, acoustic guitarist Traoré (aka Kar Kar) will be joined for his fest show by local bluesman Bob Walsh, making the Mississippi-Mali connection concrete for Montrealers (Club Soda, Monday, July 7, 9:30 p.m. $15). And Malian blues isn't only being played by elders, either. Guitarist Lobi Traoré (no relation) picks up the torch, or the flat top, and hitches up with French harmonica player Vincent Bucher and a percussionist (djembe, bongolo) to form a polyrhythmic blues trio (Club Balattou, Wednesday, July 9, 10 p.m. $15). The second sub-theme is music from Madagascar, a place that's been scoured of late by world beat labels. Part one of a double bill of artists from the island features accordion player Régis Gizavo, from the southwestern Tuléar region of Madagascar, where the instrument has religious undertones and its players make it speak in new tongues. And part two showcases the open tunings of acoustic guitar picker D'Gary in a trio that taps more traditional and percussive Malagasy instruments (Club Balattou, Tuesday, July 8, Gizavo at 8:30 p.m., D'Gary at 10:30 p.m. $15 gets you in to both shows). In a separate concert, Malagasy stars Tarika hit the stage with their bubbling and percussive blend of not only south-meets-north but also an array of styles from within the island's cultures. Suffice to say they've crossed over to the CMJ/Afro-Celt crowd (Club Balattou, Thursday, July 10, 10 p.m. $15).
Last but not least, to coin a phrase, the 11th Nuits d'Afrique festival will also include performances by key local players, with a couple of strategic double-teams in the line-up. Cameroonian vocalist Coco M'Bassi will do duets with Québécoise singer Sylvie Tremblay (Club Soda, Friday, July 11, 9:30 p.m. $15), and an intra-Montreal show happens when local Brazilian Assar Santana and her group Shamell join forces with singer-songwriter-guitarist Geneviève Paris (Club Soda, Wednesday, July 9, 9:30 p.m. $20). Also, the great El Kady should come correct with his mix of West African, Portuguese and gypsy styles (Club Balattou, Monday, July 14, 10 p.m. $15), along with Moroccan-Montrealer Saïd Mesanoui, representing the North Coast of Africa (Club Soda, Sunday, July 13, 9:30 p.m. $15) and Ramon Tambora & Orquesta, who come straight out of the salsathèques of Montreal via the Dominican Republic (Club Soda, Saturday, July 12, 9:30 p.m. $15). All of them are out of Africa--one way or another. Le Festival International Nuits d'Afrique takes place July 7-20. 790-ARTS, 499-9239 |
With 23 concerts over 15 nights, the 11th edition of le Festival International Nuits d'Afrique is as wide and long as the continent whence it comes. Actually, it's even bigger, if you consider that virtually all of the artists who perform at the festival are either from Africa or outposts of its diaspora--whether that's the Caribbean or Quebec. Nuits d'Afrique does not purport to be a "world beat" festival, nor a "folk music of the world" festival: it stays true to its name, and that's more than enough music.
No, there are no big names at this year's Nuits d'Afrique that Real World casuals will recognize, but if you're looking to check out the big pop show it's certainly that of Wasis Diop, a Senegalese superstar following in the footsteps of world dominator Youssou N'Dour. An indication of his penetration: you've probably seen his video on MusiquePlus (Medley, Monday, July 7 & Tuesday, July 8, 10 p.m. $20). Other semi-big names (and usually solid performers) this year include the return of fellow Senegalese star Ismael Lo (Medley, Wednesday, July 9, 10 p.m. $25), Algerian räi prince Cheb Mami (Medley, Thursday July 10 & Friday, July 11, 10 p.m. $25), the jazz-inflected singing of ex-Zap Mama vocalist and percussionist Sally Nyolo from Cameroon (Club Balattou, Monday, July 7, 10 p.m. $15), and Reunion's gran-daddy, the 64-year-old Granmoun Lélé, accompanied by some 14 percussionists (Balattou, Wednesday, July 16, 10 p.m. $15).