With Miksi, Antibalas, Dafne Kritharas, Christine Salem and Patrick Duval.
Continuation and end of our peregrinations in Métis Music Festival and the now famous Angoumois Live sessions!
#SessionLive Miksi at the RFI_Angoulême studio
Training Miksi, composed of refugee musicians and local artists, was born within the framework of a European project supported by the Palmer’s Rock. Without speaking the same language, but finding in the notes an ideal means of communication, the five musicians of Miksi got to know each other during a first residency at the Rocher de Palmer in September 2020. Brought together by the European project Migrants Music Manifesto, they drew up a first repertoire inspired by traditional Albanian, Kurdish or Syrian pieces rearranged by the group’s coordinator, Nicolas Lescombe. Meeting regularly for new residences and new concerts, the artists now form a solid, luminous, virtuoso group, which transports us to a world where borders are collapsing, where dialogue between peoples is finally possible.
Songs performed by Miksi
Moj el Bahar (Syrian trad) violin clarinet, see RFI video
Moj e Bukura More (trad Albania) guitar and accordion, see RFI video.
Musicians
Yamen Al Yamanicello (Syria)
Artur Zeqiriviolin (Albania)
Thomas Mazellierviolin, beat maker
Nicolas Lescombeaccordion clarinet
Ebrahim Ahmaddaf (perceived) Kurdish
Then Chico Man pops into the studio and gives us news ofAntibalas.
Collective based in New York, Antibalas (which means “bulletproof” in Spanish), initiated by Martin Penacontinues the work initiated by the late Fela Kuti by distilling one of the most dynamic Afrobeats! It’s an explosive cocktail of jazz, funk and African rhythms, where festive spirit and political considerations collide. With a solid brass section, a gang of expert percussionists, a funky rhythm and lyrics sung in English, Spanish and Yoruba, Antibalas has the firepower of a cruiser ready to breathe new life into scorching afrobeat!
latest album Fu Chronicles (Daptone 2020).
#Dafne Kritharas Live Session at the RFI_Angoulême studio.
This Franco-Greek singer draws her repertoire from the convergence of cultures that lived together under the Ottoman Empire. His voice, impressive, flows from a pure source. Strong and clear, ample and supple, it vibrates in the treble, resounds in the bass. Dafne Kritharas uses it as an instrument to create virtuoso sounds. She does not just interpret this repertoire, but gives it a modern breath, borrowing from jazz or electro, surrounded by high-flying musicians. Together they build a rich, subtle and powerful sound.
latest album Varka (Lior Editions – 2021).
Titles performed by Dafné Kritharas
O Peristeronas (Dafné Kritharas) see video RFI
Kastellorizo.
Line up Dafne Kritharas
Dafne Kritharassong
Paul Barreyreguitar-voice
Pierre Antoine Despaturesdouble bass
Leaving the studio, I come acrossChristine Salema glass of champagne in hand, let’s go…
With her very personal way of bringing songs to life, Christine Salem captivates us with her deep and suave voice, the maloya at the foundation of her songs, cemented by a powerful blues. Christine Salem, and you can hear it, loves this music born from the earth, pain and history. For his new album, Thank you, she chose the violin as a common thread. In the groove of the percussions the flights of his melody, of classical, even folk inspiration, are tangled.
Album Thank you (Blue Fanal – 2021).
Sound: Mathias Taylor
Video: Dominique Fiant.