On Friday night, Le Ministère was buzzing to the sounds from Soul of Zoo’s album Connections, which we told you about a few months ago when it was released on the Cosmovision Records label.
With an opening DJ set by Argentine DJ Nat Barrera—who got the crowd moving with his electronic grooves infused with world music influences—the evening continued with a performance by the great Malian griot Djely Tapa, who had just finished her show a few minutes earlier at Club Balattou for the special Griots night.
She kicked off the show with a remarkable performance, blending her powerful voice with Soul of Zoo’s electronic sounds while adding her own percussion. For the occasion, she was accompanied by Adama Daou on the djembe and another Ivorian percussionist on the conga. Together, they set the room on fire, and the audience seemed to appreciate this unusual mix.
Without a break, Alradik, a singer and guitarist from Niger—who also appears on the album Connections on the track “Je vis pour le moment”—took the stage. Just like Djely Tapa, Alradik demonstrated his versatility by incorporating electronic music into his musical style, thereby breaking down the barriers between these different genres.“It was important to me to play only my original compositions tonight,” Soul of Zoo told me before the concert. “It’s a first—let’s see how it goes.”
To wrap up his set, he brought Djely Tapa back on stage for the grand finale and a powerful closing, before handing the stage over to Mixwell’s DJ set—an artist I was discovering for the first time—and the flamboyant Papish, who kept the party going with the same energy.
All in all, it was a festive evening; the audience danced the whole time, and a group of young people right next to me seemed like pros—they were improvising dance routines on the spot, inspired by the beats they heard. A successful venture for this first collaboration between the Nuits d’Afrique International Festival and the many “Connections” created by Soul of Zoo.
