Interviews
Les mamans du Congo mix tradition, rap and electronica with brio. These women from Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, have teamed up with French beatmaker and producer Rrobin to concoct an original musical sauce. They’ll be in concert at Nuits d’Afrique this Wednesday, July 16, on the free outdoor Loto-Québec stage in the Quartier des Spectacles’ quiet Esplanade.
Our journalist Michel Labrecque spoke with Gladys Samba, the group’s founder and singer, and her two arranger acolytes.
We don’t usually interview artist couples at PAN M 360. But that’s what we did with Manamba Kanté, daughter of Guinean legend Mory Kanté, and her husband and superstar Soul Bang’s. Both are part of the program for the 39th edition of the Festival international Nuits d’Afrique, offering us an indoor concert (for Soul Bang’s) and a concert on the big stage (for Manamba). Guinea is set to shine this year. Our journalist Sandra Gasana caught up with the duo, who are much compared to Beyoncé and Jay-Z, as they prepare to deliver two distinct shows that will leave a lasting impression on festival-goers.
On Tuesday 15 July at Balattou club in Montreal, Senegal’s Sahad, a great friend of the city and festival Nuits d’Afrique, will be back on stage to present a concert in which we’ll have the chance to hear a preview of some of the tracks that will be on his forthcoming album, African West Station, due out this fall. I spoke to Sahad about the concert, but also about his various projects, such as running a music label and setting up an experimental eco-village.
PAN M 360: My colleague Sandra Gassana did a great interview with you last fall. In it, you talk a lot about your musical career. I won’t go over the same ground again, and will leave readers and listeners to consult the interview in question (see below). So I’ll dig elsewhere, like hearing you talk about your designation by some critics as ‘the embodiment of the revival of Senegalese music’. What are your thoughts on this? Is it a burden?
Sahad: Senegal has long had a history of musical and artistic quality. There was an explosion in the 70s and 80s, with Baaba Maal, Youssou N’Dour, Ismaël Lo, Cheikh Lo, and so on. Then, there was the period of the 90s and 2000s when hip hop was mostly being produced. At least, that’s what the labels wanted to sell. Alternative and independent music lost a bit of visibility. But the young people who are fans of it did not let themselves be erased and started creating all sorts of very diverse products, even if they had to do it without support. I joined this movement and I am happy if my success gives visibility to this generation of musicians. So, no, it’s not a burden, but rather a responsibility.
LISTEN TO SANDRA GASSANA’S INTERVIEW WITH SAHAD (in French)
PAN M 360: You even created a label, Stereo Africa 432. What are the advantages it provides, and what are the challenges for this type of business in Senegal?
Sahad: The advantage is that it allows us to tap into an exceptional pool of young artists. 75% of the population of Senegal is under 25 years old. They have things to say, these young people! They want to express themselves! The abundance is impressive, so it becomes a pleasure to take the most interesting ones and help them produce albums. And then it opens minds and removes certain blinders that exist. The challenges, of course, are financial in nature. The Senegalese state does not support artistic creation, like in Quebec. So, we have to work hard to reach an international standard and recreate optimal conditions, like in the West. But it must be done. We have a duty to offer the art we create to the whole world.
PAN M 360: You also contributed to the creation of an eco-village in the Senegalese countryside. It is based on principles of fair organic farming. Have you encountered difficulties, like Dicko Fils who also got involved socially but had to leave his native Burkina to settle in Montreal after threats to his safety?
Sahad: There are difficulties, of course. When we want to change mindsets or deeply rooted ways of doing things, some people object to it. What is most important is to decolonize economic habits and mindset. The eco-village offers alternatives based on indigenous knowledge. It is therefore a Senegalese model by Senegalese people. Thinking organic is a decolonization of the mind. In this sense, it resonates better with some minds, as it is a continuation of the struggles for independence from the 1960s.
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW WITH DICKO FILS (in French)
PAN M 360: And what assessment do you make of it?
Sahad: The village itself is a success, but it’s especially the impact on the entire region that pleases me. Many other surrounding villages are forming a relationship with the eco-village, and all of this is becoming a much larger network. It is also a matter of the residents taking responsibility, who do not wait for government assistance, but rather take matters into their own hands and ensure their development according to biological, equitable, and cultural principles. I think it’s healthy.
PAN M 360: Who to expect for the concert on July 15th? The latest album (Lumma) dates from 2023…
Sahad: A new album is in preparation for this fall, so we will present some new tracks. The album will be called African West Station.
PAN M 360: Ah, a great opportunity then to have some privileges if we’re present at Balattou. In Montreal, you are at home, in a way. You have many friends here. Will there be some on stage with you, like Ilam for example?
Sahad: PAN M 360: It’s very possible, yes!
PAN M 360: We’ll have to be there to enjoy it. Thank you!
Just before crossing the south-western tip of Lake Harrington, on route 327 north in the Quebec Laurentians region, the crossroads is there, easy to miss. It’s Cammac Road, which leads to the music camp of the same name. You may never have heard of it, but it’s been lighting up amateur musical hearts for over 70 years. Cammac Music Camp was founded in 1953 by brothers Carl and Everett Little with the mission of providing summer training for amateur musicians of all ages. Today, every of the eight weeks of the summer season (residencies last seven days), around thirty children and sometimes as many as 80 adults can stay there at the same time. Some sing, others play an instrument. Single adults, couples and even whole families come here to benefit from the teaching of experienced teachers and renowned professional artists, such as flutist and musical director Francis Colpron, soprano Jacqueline Woodley, baritone Julien Patenaude, flutist Vincent Lauzer, violinist Olivier Breault, conductor Julien Proulx, cellist Noémie Raymond, jazz bassist Adrian Vedady, pianist Kate Wyatt, harpist Anabelle Renzo, harpsichordist Geneviève Soly, and many more…
Even John Rutter
Artistic director Guylaine Lemaire told me that some summers, visiting international artists are invited to spend some time here. Imagine being an amateur chorister and getting a few tips from… John Rutter! It’s happened. There was also the Gesualdo Six vocal ensemble. ‘’The boys took the opportunity to do some very Canadian things, with canoe trips on the big lake, right there. They got their money’s worth, as they capsized and got very wet!’’ No need to rub it in, let’s not add insult to injury, haha. Because, you know, what happens at Cammac stays at Cammac.
There are also themed weeks, such as early music week, chamber music week, jazz week and so on. The summer music camp runs for eight weeks, which of course makes it the busiest season of the year, but weekends and activity weeks are also available occasionally during the rest of the year (for spring break, Thanksgiving weekend, a Bach+ weekend in May, etc.).
Related activities include hiking, canoeing (on nearby Great Lake MacDonald, which gave trouble to the guys from gesualdo Six), yoga and more. Some people rent rooms, while others set up on a piece of land with just their camping gear (cheaper, of course). Participants can opt for a package including meals, or make do with their own food and picnics. There are plenty of ways to spend the week.
Sunday pro concerts
Summer is also a great time to organise a series of concerts called Musical Sundays. It was during one of these concerts that I visited Cammac for the first time. There are regulars, of course, but Guylaine Lemaire told me that there are quite a few newcomers, over 20% this year. And the number of requests has been rising in recent years. ‘’It’s funny, because I meet local people who don’t even know the camp exists, and at the same time we’re starting to turn down applications because we’re full some weeks. We’re not very well known, but word of mouth works well for us’’.
Musical Sundays take place in the concert hall built in 2006 on the site of the old building that used to host events, but which had aged quite a bit. The current hall is quite simple, adjoining the reception desk, the cafeteria and the kitchen (which serves brunch after the concert, depending on the package you choose). Square, with large windows overlooking the lake, the sound is pleasant and adequately reverberant for small ensembles or solo performances. I was there for the Quartom male vocal quartet, who gave an eclectic concert ranging from Renaissance songs to Mozart, Leonard Cohen and Gilles Vigneault. The complicity and beauty of the four voices (Julien Patenaude, Philippe Martel, Benoît Leblanc and Joé Lampron-Dandonneau), combined with a touch of friendly humour, is a recipe for success, especially as it is no substitute for the excellent quality of the performance.
Still to come in the Sunday series 2025, if you happen to go by there (an hour and a bit from Montreal): the excellent Quatuor Cobalt, Denis Plante and his bandoneon, Kate Wyatt’s jazz trio with a tribute to Oscar Peterson (very high calibre!), Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du soldat, musical theatre with Marc Djokic, violin, Simon Aldrich, clarinet, Maxim Shatalkin, piano and Peter Duschenes, narration, and then the finale with Les Boréades conducted by Francis Colpron, celebrating their 30th anniversary with English baroque music.
DETAILS OF THE MUSICAL SUNDAYS SERIES
The hall will be fully paid for in 2026, prompting the artistic director to say that after that, other investments will be made, for example to refurbish other buildings in the area (the Lake Lodge, for example, which is next door), where many campers stay. I visited it, and it’s clean and well-maintained, but it shows its age. And with visitor numbers on the rise, the time has come to move up a gear.
All in all, then, this small (but not so small) music camp, the only one of its kind in Canada if I’m not mistaken, is holding its own in the music world, and is even tending to flourish! It’s a shame that it’s still relatively unknown. Let’s try to change things a bit, and make it essential to increase the venue’s capacity! A happy problem to solve for the administrative team.
Boubé has been living in Montreal for a year, but this is already his third appearance at the Festival international Nuits d’Afrique. This time it’s a special one, as he has an album to present, Voyager, which tackles a number of themes including love, betrayal and friendships, among others. This desert nomad, who finds inspiration in his daily life, sings mainly in the Tuareg language, Tamachek, but also inserts French. He will be accompanied by bassist Carlos, Vincent on rhythm guitar, Ibrahim on traditional percussion and Sylvain on drums, while he will be on vocals and guitar. Keithy Antoine spoke to him just a few days before his long-awaited concert.
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.
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!
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.