Interviews – Page 3

A proud son of the Éwé people, a citizen of the world influenced by Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Youssou N’Dour and Sting, Yawo promotes peace, dialogue and tolerance with self-sacrifice, generosity and optimism. His talent for composition and musical arrangement, his ease on guitar, bass and transverse flute, his travels around the world and his desire to propel an international movement for innovative Togolese music, have led him to explore with a jazzy tendency the confines of ancestral sounds by adding afrobeat, afrofunk, afropop and reggae rhythms. Keithy Antoine sat down with him for PAN M 360 and concocted this interview, featuring several musical passages.

Publicité panam

Every year, the Nuit de la kora, a highlight of the Nuits d’Afrique international festival, honors the virtuosos of the Mandingo tradition. This Sunday, July 13 at the Gesù, 8pm, humble guardians of memory will bring the kora to life – an instrument as majestic as it is symbolic. Among them, Zal Sissokho, an emblematic figure on the Montreal world music scene, shines for his authenticity and his ability to bring together the actors of his culture and the others with whom he now exchanges.

Nominated for the Gala Dynastie 2025, he likes, in his own words, “to marry his reality with the cultural baggage of the kora”. Alongside him, Senegalese kora master Toumany Kouyaté impresses with his precise playing and stage presence. Griot and musician on Cirque du Soleil’s O show – seen by over 20 million spectators – he perpetuates, string after string, the soul of an ancestral heritage. An unforgettable rendezvous under the banner of beauty and transmission. For PAN M 360, Keithy Antoine chatted with Zal Sisshoko to whet our appetites!

Publicité panam

Wesli has taken part in the Festival international Nuits d’Afrique countless times. This ambassador of Haitian music is proud to take part every year, and to offer us memorable shows every time. This year, we’ll be treated to some firsts, unreleased songs from his forthcoming album, and for the occasion, he’ll be joined by special local and international guests. He reveals some of them in an interview with Keithy Antoine, for PAN M 360.

Publicité panam

You may have discovered him during his participation in the Kalmunity Vibe Collective project several years ago. Fabrice Koffy hasn’t stopped slamming since then, with his guitarist Guillaume Soucy, who has been with him since the beginning. But for the 39th edition of the Festival international Nuits d’Afrique, he will be with his full band, with saxophone, clarinet, drums, guitar and double bass. Our collaborator Keithy Antoine spoke to the poet-slammer a few days before his performance at Club Balattou on Monday July 14.

Publicité panam

Mateus Vidal was a member of the famous Brazilian samba-reggae group Olodum for almost 30 years. Today, he has settled in Montreal and started a new project, the Axé Experience, named after a style of Afro-Brazilian music born in Salvador de Bahia, where Mateus Vidal hails from. The new Québéco-Brazilian told our contributor Michel Labrecque about his background and his new life in Montreal. He also tells us about his festive concert, presented at Nuits D’Afrique on July 17 at 5pm on the Scène Loto-Québec.

Publicité panam

One of the world’s most sought-after vocal ensembles in the world, with over 90 concerts a year, and winner of two Grammy Awards, the Chanticleer Vocal Ensemble’s first visit to the Festival de Lanaudière offers an overview of the choral tradition spanning five centuries, from the Renaissance to the present day. With works by composers ranging from Guillaume de Machaut to Roland de Lassus, Jean Sibelius and Pete Seeger, the singers of this 12-voice a cappella ensemble will present a panorama of vocal polyphony at the Amphithéâtre Fernand-Lindsay on July 13.

PAN M 360’s Alexandre Villemaire spoke to Tim Keeler, the ensemble’s musical director and the architect of this program, which the ensemble’s singers will perform autonomously.

Publicité panam

On July 13, 14 and 15, Montreal Latino band Less Toches, winners of the 2024 Sily d’Or competition, will perform three different concerts, with different special guests, at 11pm at Club Balattou. Michel Labrecque spoke to Daniel Rodriguez, one of the members of this Colombian-Mexican-Argentinian quintet, who make cumbia resonate in a variety of forms.

Publicité panam

Kitchen parties are a tradition in themselves among Quebecers of all backgrounds. Eli Levison, a.k.a. DJ Oonga, also known for coordinating the artistic direction of the Mundial Montréal event, professionalized the kitchen parties in his own apartment next to Parc Jeanne-Mance, memorable private parties that gradually evolved into the Sauce Piquante Sound System.

Under the impetus of DJ Oonga, this line-up of variable-geometry artists unfolds this Saturday at Le Ministère, from 10pm until 3am on Sunday morning. What a party!

All the spices of Sauce Piquante Sound System can be found in this global cuisine! It’s ska, rumba, calypso, funk, hip-hop and even punk. DJ Oonga will be joined by singers and rappers KC and Gioco, not to mention instrumentalists, guitarists, percussionists and other motivated voices. And all in French, Spanish, English and Portuguese… Babel Montréal has never been better!

Publicité panam

The innovative Montreal ensemble Collectif9 will be at the Lanaudière Festival on 12 July for a concert based on the principle of folklore. Of course, knowing this string orchestra that does nothing like the others, we can already anticipate some crazy, surprising and perhaps even iconoclastic visions of the clichés and stereotypes it imposes. The groove, the beat, the rhythm, is also likely to be part of the show, in a daring way of course, because Collectif9 is a group of learned music, certainly, but of its time. On the programme: Nicole Lizée, a brilliant creator of eclectic worlds ranging from high art to pop culture. Also: John Zorn, the unclassifiable, Vijay Iyer, a genius of contemporary jazz, and many others. Find out more in our interview with Collectif9’s Andrea Stewart and Thibaut Bertin-Maghit.

Publicité panam

A well-kept secret? Daby Touré became a Montrealer a few years ago, and is now embarking on a new cycle in his public life. An atypical African author, composer and performer, integrating elements of folk, rock and Western-style pop, Daby Touré got off to a flying start when he was spotted by Peter Gabriel and signed to his Real World label, touring with the celebrated British artist.

Two decades later, Daby Touré’s career has been a little more confidential than advertised. From his native Mauritania and the Senegal from which his famous paternal family descended (father and uncles of the famous Touré Kunda group), Daby Touré has continued to transhumance across this land, becoming an authentic citizen of the world. After returning regularly to West Africa, he lived in Paris before settling in Montreal. His albums include Diam (2004), Stereo Spirit (2007), Lang(u)age (2012) and Amonafi (2015).

Daby Touré hasn’t recorded an album in 10 years, but claims to have plenty of new songs up his sleeve. He’s back in action this July 11 at Nuits d’Afrique, who have booked the Fairmount Theatre for his professional comeback. It seems that he has completely rearranged his classics and will be offering us a few previously unreleased songs from his new repertoire. Before that, he tells Alain Brunet the ins and outs of his new Montreal cycle, which may take him to stages around the world.

Publicité panam

Las Karamba is an all-female group from Barcelona, made up mainly of Latin American immigrants.

Two Venezuelans, two Cubans, one Argentinean and one Catalan. After two albums, Las Karamba will be at Nuits d’Afrique for the first time on July 20, at Scène TD in the Quartier des Spectacles, at 8:15pm. Free admission. Michel Labrecque spoke, in Spanish, with two members of this festive yet militant group. Natacha Arizu, Argentine and keyboardist, and Ayvin Bruno, Venezuelan and singer, answer his questions.

PANM360: Tell me about the genesis of this women’s group, how did Las Karamba come about?

Ayvin Bruno: I can say I’m the initiator, it was 2018. In Barcelona, there’s a whole open music scene, which allows jam sessions, where lots of people from many different countries can meet. It was in this context that we formed this all-female group, to tell our stories of migration, from Latin America to Europe. We quickly realized that we had a lot in common, even though we came from different countries. In 2021, Camino Asi, our first album, was released, and in 2024, our second, Te lo Digo Cantando, will be much of what we present in Montreal.

PANM360: It seems to me that the musical denominator between the six of you is a love for Cuban music: salsa, rumba, son, etc. Am I right?

Natacha Arizu: No, although I’m Argentine, I grew up listening to a lot of Cuban music, and it’s the same for the others. There are also two Cuban musicians in the group. So that’s our musical base, but after that, each of us brings a bit of the color of her country and her personal experience.

Ayvin Bruno: But we all have this affinity with the Cuban sound. It’s a dance music that’s recognized internationally. And that unites us.

PANM360: Your music is danceable, but you also want to make people think. What do you want to say in your songs?

Ayvin Bruno: You know, on the whole, Latin music is written from a masculine, even patriarchal, perspective. Because the vast majority of composers were men. Our songs tell our side of the story. They tell of our struggles, our daily lives, our lives as mothers, our anxieties, and also the perspective of our mothers or our ancestors. I think it’s a social necessity to do that.

We also wrote a song in Catalan, since we live in Barcelona and it’s the language of the majority. But, apart from a Catalan woman who’s with us, we tell the story from our perspective as migrants, coming here to tame a new society and offer it the best of us. And now we have the opportunity to tell our stories on an international scale by shooting abroad.

PANM360: As Latin Americans, why did you choose to immigrate to Spain rather than the United States, as so many people do?

Natacha Arizu: For my part, I was attracted by the cultural similarities and the common language. For me, the United States didn’t necessarily represent an ideal. Argentina is largely populated by European immigrants. And what’s happening in the United States at the moment reinforces my choice.

Ayvin Bruno: For my part, I’ve had an Italian passport since the age of 9, thanks to my grandmother. It was much easier to come to Europe. That’s why my sister, who’s also part of Las Karamba, and I have been here for almost 20 years. I have a lot of Venezuelan friends who live in the United States, and their situation is very complicated right now with the new administration. I’m very happy with my choice.

PANM360: And right now, the Spanish economy is doing quite well, and the country seems very happy to welcome immigrants with a common language and culture. Let’s get back to the music: what will you be presenting in Montreal?

Natacha Arizu: These will be 100% original compositions. You’ll be able to dance and think at the same time. It’s a mixture of things.

Ayvin Bruno: You’ll also feel our complicity, our solidarity, which we’re living to the full because we’re constantly together on this tour. Our first in North America.

PANM360: See you in Montreal, at the TD Stage, on July 20!

Publicité panam

This will be a Montreal and Canadian premiere for Blaiz Fayah, an artist who will be bringing us shatta, dancehall from Martinique, as well as reggae and its other derivatives. For the occasion, he’ll be accompanied by his two dancers and his musicians for a festive evening, as he intends to set the place alight. With the release of his album Shatta Ting this year, his notoriety is well established, especially in Latin America, but now it’s Canada’s turn to discover this man who multiplies his hits. Our journalist Sandra Gasana joined him in Paris by videoconference for PANM360.

Publicité panam