Stereo Africa Festival – A Journey Between Africa and Latin America

All Guineas were represented at this year’s Stereo Africa Festival. After a small preview performance with Nelida Karr of Equatorial Guinea at the opening on May 6, David Pereira and his band proudly represented Guinea Bissau, while the Lumière d’Afrique group honored Guinea Conakry.

David Pereira and his band, consisting of a bassist, guitarist, and a cajon player, opened the show at the French Institute in Dakar. With an album planned for 2026, this quartet is based in Senegal, like many of the artists we met at the festival. Dakar is likely a hub attracting African artists from across the continent, who come to pursue their artistic dreams in this ideal setting.

Next came the Lumière d’Afrique group, featuring the lead singer with his kamele ngoni, a bolon player, another with maracas, and finally a bongo. Unfortunately, this match coincided with a soccer match, so the audience was split between good live music and intense soccer moments. This is one of the hazards of organizing events where you don’t always have control over all the parameters.

Then, it was time to head to the Institute’s main stage for the second part of the evening, with three other bands scheduled on the bill.

First of all, we were treated to a trip to Latin America with an Argentinian duo/couple who sing in several languages: Spanish of course, but also Portuguese and the language of the Philippines. Beto Caletti on guitar and vocals, accompanied by his wife Mishka Adams on vocals and multiple percussion instruments. We discovered rhythms from Uruguay, Venezuela, but it was especially bossa nova and baiao that I particularly liked, given my passion for Brazilian music.

After Latin America, we returned to the African continent with the great kora player Lamine Cissokho, who lives in Sweden. Coming from a family of griots, the guardians of Mandingo oral tradition, he was accompanied by Ibou on the calabash, a Central African bassist. “My father always told me to stay modest even if he was teaching me the kora,” he tells us before the song Modestie.

The headliner of the evening and my favorite was the artist Tafa Diarabi from Senegal who set the French Institute on fire with his full band. After 8 years without releasing an album, this reggae singer, but not only, sang his greatest hits that the crowd knew by heart, but also other songs from his new album. He sang in English, French, Wolof, but always with this beautiful stage presence that pleased the increasingly large audience. He even did a cover of Bob Marley but put his own spin on it. He is talented but also generous since he brought a woman and a man on stage to give them the chance to shine for a few minutes. This is how the evening ended, as several festival-goers rushed to the back of the stage to share a few words with the artist.

We ended the evening back at the Bazoff for a second Jazz Up and this time, I took my courage in both hands to do a little improvisation with the talented musicians who were there. And I don’t regret it at all.

Crédit photo: Bertin Leader