"Debademba" (Mali), "Nour Eddine" (Morocco), Dino d'Santiago (Cape Verde/Portugal) and Primitive Reason (Portugal) are four more artists who will participate in the 2014 Med Festival, which will take place in the historic center from Loulé from the 25th to the 28th of June. Loulé Chamber, which organizes the event, announced more names this Wednesday and lifted the veil a little more over the festival poster, long closed.
In the case of Nour Eddine, it is a return, as the Moroccan singer and multi-instrumentalist was at the first edition of the MED, in 2004. The musician, who is one of the most admired North African artists in the international panorama of World Music, has fixed the his residence in Italy and became a singer and author of several works on the desert and the Mediterranean. Nour Eddine performs on June 27, at Palco da Cerca.
«Debademba» bring together virtuoso guitarist Abdoulaye Traoré, Malian singer Mahamed Diaby and other Parisian African musicians to play modern and lively music. “They play all kinds of West African music and are ambassadors of universal crossovers, which mix traditional influences with jazz, blues, funk, salsa and rock,” describes the organization. The group from Mali will perform at Palco da Matriz, on June 26th.
The Câmara de Loulé will also bet on the silver of the house and will call the Loulé native Dino d'Santiago to the Palco do Castelo. The Portuguese-Cape Verdean, born in the municipality and where he still lives, was recently awarded two Cape Verde Music Awards. Operates on the 28th of June.
Also from here, but used to playing in various parts of the world, are «Primitive Reason», a formation that celebrates 2014 years of existence in 20 and which made it a reference, indoors and outdoors. The Portuguese band, which is inspired by styles such as ska, rock, reggae and funk, will go up to Palco do Castelo on the 26th.
In addition to these four bands, Gisela João (Portugal), Mercedes Peón (Spain), Bomba Estéreo (Colombia), Celina da Piedade (Portugal), Jupiter&Okwess International (Congo) and Turtle Island (Japan), Bombino (Niger), Graveola and Polifônico Garbage (Brazil) and Winston McAnuff & Fixi (Jamaica/France), Jahcoustix (Germany), La Selva Sur (Spain) and Batida Balkanica (Portugal) are the names already announced and will be at the MED Festival, where the « World Music» is celebrated.
The Artists:
DEBADEMBA (MALI)
Debademba was born from the meeting of guitar virtuoso Abdoulaye Traoré and Malian singer Mahamed Diaby. Debademba means “large family” in Bambara, the national language of Mali.
The duo team up with other Parisian African musicians to play modern and lively music, playing all kinds of West African music. Universal crossover ambassadors blend traditional influences with jazz, blues, funk, salsa and rock.
For years, Debademba was one of the most hidden secrets of the Parisian music scene. It is through sweeping concerts from Olimpyc Café, to Katé Blue through music events in the Sainte Marthe area, always with packed halls, this “big family” (as Debademba said in Bambara), that people started talking about them.
The band had a successful start with the release of their first album in 2011. In 2013 they released their second album named “Soleymane”.
A native of Burkina Faso, Abdoulaye Traoré began touring West Africa in the early 1990s, and has collaborated with big names in the region, including Victor Deme and Les Go de Koteba.
In 2001, these meetings brought him to Europe, and crowned him with glory and recognition for his talent. He is a virtuoso guitar and guitar artist and masters a wide range of African musical genres, both as a rhythm player and a soloist.
His style manages to be free and precise, incisive and relaxed, his virtuosity and sense of hearing make him an exceptional improviser.
In 2002, in France, he formed Debademba (large family) in order to work on his own compositions. In Paris, he collaborated with internationally renowned musicians such as Fatoumata Diawara and Hindi Zahra.
But it was 2009 that a decisive meeting took place with the young Malian singer Mohamed Diaby; this meeting is decisive for the future of Debademba.
Mohamed Diaby grew up in Côte d'Ivoire with his mother, the famous griotte Koumba Kouyaté. Raised in the great tradition of the griots of Mali, the young singer was discovered in 2007 in a Mali television program, Case Sanga, a Showcase program focused on launching new talents, which takes place under the watchful eye of Oumou Sangaré.
Diaby also became a popular griot in Abidjan and Paris during the great African festivals.
This allowed him to develop his extraordinary vocal ability, his formidable ability to improvise and his highly tuned sense of always having a musical response ready.
It added its distinctive sound enriched by a voice that is both soft and raw. His talent is only matched by his charisma and his ability to captivate audiences with a theatricality that brings to mind the great oral tradition of the African storyteller.
The duo also collaborated on Le Bal de l'Afrique enchantée (The Enchanted Africa Ball), with the great African Collective Les Mercenaires de l'Ambiente (The Mercenaries of the Atmosphere), a show created on the initiative of renowned radio host Soro Ground.
NOUR EDDINE (MOROCCO)
Extraordinary Moroccan singer and multi-instrumentalist of Berber origin, much appreciated in the international panorama of World Music. His music brings together sounds and atmospheres of deep spirituality to the rapturous rhythms of the ritual feast, when percussions are the absolute protagonists: the result is an engaging collective healing for the mind and body. Despite being born into a family of musicians, he never studied in music schools and everything he learned was given to him by his family, from the experience of tradition. It was from his father, of Berber origin, who inherited the musical culture of the Gnawa traditions. Author of many musical works in the styles of the desert and the Mediterranean, he founded several music groups, performing concerts in several countries around the world.
In 1993, he moved to Rome, Italy, where he founded an association with the intention of spreading Gnawa and Jahouka oral culture. When he started singing and playing in Italy, he imported the music of his origins and later incorporated it into the sounds of the Mediterranean. He plays various instruments such as lute, percussion, guitar, ghayta.
His love for Italy, his second country, inspired many of his recorded works, but it was thanks to the album “Coexit” that his work became known to a wider audience. It is the album of his artistic maturity and integration into other musical styles. During this period, he composed several pieces with the group ” Trascendental ” and collaborated in the creation of soundtracks for films such as ” Il Bagno Turco”, which won a Golden Globe, ” Marilyn and Elvis”, ” El Alamain ” and ” L ' Apartment” . His passion for cinema led him to make a documentary “Sound of Marocco”, produced by the Luce Institute, which was based on my life as an immigrant and on the music of Morocco.
He was the first Muslim composer to bring his own music to the Vatican classical music archives. In 2009, he participated in the international work “Alma Mater”, to which Pope Benedict XVI lends his voice. His composition “Advocata Nostra” was selected for the London 2010 Classic Prize, and in London gave him the opportunity to enter Westminster, where he worked with the Royal Philharmonic, and obtained a contract with Universal London for the publication of the work” Alma Mater”.
In 2011, he founded the “Arab Spring Orchestra”, which he performed for the first time in Valderice, Sicily.
DINO D'SANTIAGO (CABO-VERDE/PORTUGAL)
Claudino de Jesus Borges Pereira – Dino d'Santiago – was born 30 years ago, in Quarteira. The eldest of three children, from an early age he got used to attending the rehearsals of the choirs that his parents, catechists, taught. Music ran in his veins, but for most of his adolescence, he wanted to be a painter.
If chance exists, Dino came across him the day he went to accompany a friend in a casting for the television program, Operation Triunfo. It was 2003. Unexpectedly, he did the casting and was selected. Turned out to be one of the finalists. In music, in addition to the choirs, Dino brought the experience of a Hip Hop group, Opinião Pública, a band he founded and was part of.
In a flash, life changed, and Dino, who already loved music, embraced it wholeheartedly. In 2004 he was part of the Jaguar Band, the group of musicians who accompany Expensive Soul in live concerts.
In 2008, under the pseudonym Dino SoulMotion, he released his first solo album: “Eu e os Meus”, with the collaboration of renowned artists such as Virgul and Pacman (Da Weasel), Valete, Sam The Kid, Ângela Pais, AS2 and by Tito Paris, in the theme “Mum”.
The following year, he teamed up with Virgu (Da Weasel) and founded Nu Soul Family. With “This Is For My People”, the band conquered the public and won the MTV award in the category of Portuguese Best Act.
Aware that his family is his centre, Dino set out in search of his roots and, with his father, deepened his knowledge of his origins, visiting “his” Santiago Island, in Cape Verde. The impact was so strong that it would shape its path. Now, joining the hot African sounds, to Fado, in a singular fusion.
Defined the new direction and, as a tribute to his family, the musician took on a new artistic name: Dino d'Santiago, and traveled. On his return, he brought experiences, sensations, influences and a maturity that allowed him to delve inside himself, so that he could better reveal himself. “Eva” was the result: “This record is me, it's the result of what I see, what I feel. I'm looking for simplicity and love. That's what I believe.”
The album features the participation of Cape Verdean singer Jay, in the theme “Nôs Tradison” and Angolan singer and composer Paulo Flores, in “Pensa na Oji”. Cape Verdean Creole and Portuguese are the dominant languages, in a perfect blend of unique Lusophone sounds.
The production of their new CD features Sara Tavares, Jorge Fernando, Rolando Semedo, Hernani Almeida and Diogo Clemente.
With the work “Eva”, Dino D'Santiago won two Cape Verde Music Awards 2013 (CVMA), in the category of Best Voice with the theme “Nôs Tradison” and in the category of Best Batuku/Kola SanJon with “Ka Bu Tchora”.
PRIMITIVE REASON (PORTUGAL)
Since 1993, they have provided their audience with a sound that crosses the styles of ska, rock, reggae and funk, being pioneers and unparalleled in this sound in Portugal. Between 1996 and 2007 they released five original albums and two EPs, always consistent, always original. Primitive Reason are a reference band and have never let their followers down.
For the most dedicated fans, the wait for the sixth album of originals was long, but it ended last year with the edition of “Power to the People”, mixed in New York by “Bassy” Bob Brockmann and edited through the band's label, Kaminari Records.
A prolonged maturation process, perfectionism or the need for time to ferment creativity may explain the six years of waiting, but they also justify the quality and inspiration of the new work. You feel Primitive Reason are what they've always been – young, irreverent, challenging, energetic – but you also feel they're alive and explosive as never before.
This year, his concert celebrating 20 years of his career, “Celebration”, filled S. Jorge with an appreciative audience made up of several generations, as well as several special guests in a truly unique show.
Primitive Reason are now hitting the road to continue their “Power to the People” tour, with new singles Seeds Among the Rain, Set Your Ash Down as well as other all-time hits: Seven-Fingered Friend, Hypocrite, Kindian, between others.
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