This evening, travel to West Africa from Florida with the concert of the Sahariennes, four ladies from the four corners of the Sahara.
The Sahara has a particular power in the collective imagination; we imagine that fantastic things will happen there, a magic worthy of the Thousand and One Nights. The women who live there are often seen as objects of fantasy, exotic and mysterious creatures…wrongly, and the Saharan women are there to shake up all these clichés. Noura Mint Seymali, Dighya Mohanned Salem, Souad Asla and Malika Zarra all come from different backgrounds. The first is the great Mauritanian voice of his generation. The second, looking to the future, likes to update the Sahrawi musical repertoire. Souad Asla draws from the Algerian musical heritage, and Malika Zarra enjoys mixing soul and jazz with Moroccan sounds.
All four celebrate the secular or sacred traditions of West African music. Several heritages merge in one and the same family: Berbers, Tuaregs, Gnawa. The four women deliver original compositions, as well as traditional tunes evoking ancestral stories, parties, marriage. In addition to singing, Noura Mint Seymali plays arsine, a variation of the kora (a West African string instrument). On stage, they are accompanied by experienced musicians. Guitars, banjo, mandola, percussion, cajon, and also instruments with rarer names, such as the guembri or the karkabou (the equivalent of castanets, used as percussion).
This plurality of styles adds to the richness of the sound of the Saharans. Their voices mingle and merge, unite as if to put an end to the conflicting relations between their respective countries. They offer us a celebration of their culture and history.
To see at 8:30 p.m. Information on +33 5 53 47 59 54.
