Bahidorá is the name of a Mexican music festival held every year in Las Estacas, in the state of Morelos. Africa Express is the name of a collective spanning several continents, initiated by British keyboardist Damon Albarn, who is known for rock bands such as Blur and Gorillaz.
Africa Express Presents…Bahidorá stems from the 2024 festival, where African, American, British, and Latin American musicians came together in the same place. There were discussions, jam sessions, and from these many encounters came this album and twenty-one songs. After landing in South Africa in 2019 and Mali in 2014, the collective is taking a decidedly Latin American trajectory in 2025.
The result is not perfect; some tracks could have been worked on more or left out altogether. But this musical odyssey, featuring around seventy artists, will delight fans of what was known in the 1980s as “world music.”
From Africa, there’s Baba Sissoko, Fatoumata Diawara, and the unmissable Jupiter & Okwess. From America and Europe, there’s Django Django, Joan And The Police Woman, Nick Zinner, and Damon Albarn. From Mexico, there is Camilo Lara, aka Mexican Institute of Sound, trans singer Luisa Almager, rapper Mare Advertancia, and La Bruja de Texcoco. These are gems to discover in their solo careers.
That’s also the strength of this collaborative album: it takes us down new paths, whether African, Latin American, or Western. When reggaeton, bolero, African rhythms, trap, and electro fit together or sometimes clash. And when we get to the last song, Adiós Amigos, in which an African, a Mexican, and an American say goodbye to each other. And we are sad that this journey is coming to an end.
Next time, Africa Express will undoubtedly take us to another world. In the meantime, let’s enjoy this one.
