Africa / Afropop / Gospel / Hip Hop / Reggae

PAN M 360 at Nuits d’Afrique 2024 | Joyce N’sana On The Rise

by Keithy Antoine

One of the most eagerly-awaited acts in the downtown area was Friday’s performance by Congo-Quebec artist, songwriter and performer Joyce N’sana, who was named Révélation Radio-Canada 3 years ago.

She gave us a wild set on the big TD Radio-Canada stage! I was won over by the rhythm and the commitment of the people around me too! This little woman with a big voice performed her best songs with her proverbial energy and wisdom, driven by her love for her audience, her catchy sounds and her beautiful blend of styles – reggae, gospel, hip-hop, jazz, all topped off with the blues. Not for nothing does she call it afrobluehop!

The Festival international Nuits d’Afrique de Montréal is a celebration of our diversity, culture and music,” says Joyce N’sana, who is on the rise. And rightly so!

On Friday evening, the 38th Festival international Nuits d’Afrique de Montréal was in full swing, aided by fine summer weather. A perfect balance of inclusion and diversity through its 6-day program of free outdoor shows in the heart of the Quartier des spectacles, featuring well-known names and those yet to be discovered. The 38th Festival international Nuits d’Afrique de Montréal runs until Sunday, July 21! Check it out!

photo credit: André Rival

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Africa / Afro Latin / Afro-Antillean / Afro-Electro / afro-soul / Afrobeats / Afropop / Caribbean

PAN M 360 at Nuits d’Afrique 2024 | Listening to Club Sagacité

by Alain Brunet

In front of an almost empty room, at least from 10.15pm to 12.15am, the artists of Club Sagacité, an extension of Moonshine, still allowed us to devote ourselves to them. Listening attentively for lack of atmosphere. Whether it was a question of context or timing, the content was clearly not attractive to the current Nuits d’Afrique market.

Whatever the case, Club Sagacité is not to be missed. DJs San Farina and Fanella, the first two artists on the program, offered convincing selections of the present and future of Afro-descendant DJing. Completely global, with some very special peaks.

Club Sagacité, as we understand it, is a Moonshine school club, a successful concept developed by Pierre Kwenders, Hervé Kalongo and other Afro-descendant leaders such as San Farafina.

We heard afrobeats, soul/R&B, jazz groove, konpa, excerpts from Creole songs, Central African music, reggaeton and more, all melted into a notorious electronic melting pot. The diversity and integration of references is a fascinating reflection of the trends currently marking this generation of twentysomethings and thirtysomethings who find themselves consuming the content emanating from such collectives.

It’s more global than Western, less focused on American or European musical production – which is nonetheless very present in the vibe. In short, our musical world is changing, and all these Afro-electro waves are shaping the Montreal landscape. And for the better. Thank you Club Sagacité.

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Maghrebi / Musique Kabyle / Rock

PAN M 360 at Nuits d’Afrique 2024 – Numidz: When Kabylia Rocks!

by Michel Labrecque

Numidz is a band from Algerian Kabylia who chose to immigrate to Montreal. Don’t confuse Berber Kabylia with Arab culture. Although deprived of a country, Kabylia has its own flag, present on stage, and its own language, recognized very belatedly by Algeria.

Numidz consists of five musicians and one singer. Although influenced by traditional Kabylian music, the band also likes to rock, drawing inspiration in particular from an old Kabyle underground group, Les Abranis.

It’s this aspect that really sets the band apart from what you might hear from Algeria. And that’s what appealed to the very mixed crowd, with a minority Kabyle and Algerian component, but very present with its repeated “youyouyou”.

Understandably, their decision to immigrate was not an easy one, but the members of Numidz are thriving in Montreal. They were clearly delighted to be performing outdoors, as well as to be welcomed by the public.

Numdiz is a committed group: we heard a feminist song, a tribute to Nelson Mandela, a hymn to the freedom of peoples, as well as a song by Idir, the great emblematic singer of Kabylia who left us a few years ago.

But it’s when he rocks intensely that Numidz really stands out and displays his intensity. I couldn’t help but think that at the same time, in Milwaukee, USA, Donald Trump was about to address his Republican party, denouncing the wave of immigration that is driving up crime in his country. An assertion contradicted by the statistics.

For on the Nuits d’Afrique outdoor stage, just as Numidz launched into a danceable rock-funk set, five Asian women began to dance frenetically, smiling. Nearby, the father of a racially mixed couple was teaching his little mixed-race daughter to dance. A lesbian couple gazed into each other’s eyes, right next to veiled girls waddling along.

Poor Donald Trump. Clearly, the crowd here is not on his side…

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Africa / Bikutsi / Makossa / Pop-Rock

PAN M 360 at Nuits d’Afrique – Valérie Ékoumè: A Multicultural Afro-Rock Party

by Michel Labrecque

On July 18, a large natural fan ended the Montreal heatwave in a matter of hours. But it was very hot at the concert by Franco-Cameroonian Valérie Ékoumè, because the lady knows how to turn up the heat during her performance. And not just about!

As the singer told my colleague Frédéric Cardin in an interview, she likes the way Montreal and other parts of Canada welcome her. And she returns the favor. After fifteen minutes, she had the crowd in her pocket and could make us dance and sing to her heart’s content. The former collaborator of Manu Dibango and Youssou Ndour is now flying high on her own wings.

The singer, sometime keyboardist and drummer, is surrounded by two musicians in red suits with elephant-head masks, a guitarist and a drummer with a no-holds-barred attitude, using pop-rock techniques as much as Makossa, Bikutsi and Esséwé rhythms. We’re immersed in pulsating Afro-pop, as evidenced by his latest album, 2022 Monè.

But it’s Valérie Ékoumè, with her powerful yet nuanced voice and stage presence, who reigns over the crowd like a queen. But a benevolent and committed sovereign, notably against inequalities in Africa.

She sang a beautiful ballad, which she then translated into French. It tells the story of a family of African migrants who lost a child on their illegal immigration journey. An Italian woman, who took in the little girl, managed to find the family and give the child back to them. “It’s a beautiful story, isn’t it,” Valérie told us.

On stage, the musical arrangements are less subtle than on record. But the trio’s incredible energy makes up for this. I went to the front of the crowd to see that the party was firmly underway. Once again, a multiracial, multigenerational crowd dancing their hearts out.Some of Quebec’s nationalist politicians would do well to pay a visit to Nuits d’Afrique. There was a crowd there, overwhelmingly French-speaking, who perhaps spoke another language at home.

During a break, a Quebec woman of Haitian origin confided in me that, following certain recent statements by Quebec politicians, a racist space has opened up. That she sometimes hears people spitting when she’s out and about; she doesn’t think it’s a coincidence.

Nuits d’Afrique is an antidote to all that. So is Valérie Ékoumè.

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Africa / South African traditional music

PAN M 360 at Nuits d’Afrique 2024 | BCUC, the South African pow wow

by Alain Brunet

Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness (BCUC), from Soweto, South Africa, was one of the nuggets on the Nuits d’Afrique 2024 program. Essentially based on percussion, voice and the expression of South Africa’s 11 official languages and cultures, BCUC is a kind of African-style pow wow, committed and unifying.

The line-up includes Nkosi “Jovi” Zithulele, Kgomotso Mokone, Thabo “Cheex” Mangle, Mritho Luja, Lehlohonolo “Hloni” Maphunye and Skhumbuzo Mahlangu, Mosebetsi Ntsimande. The rhythms of the drums and hand percussion, as well as the patterns of the electric bass, support the continuous singing and vocal sounds – one woman and two men, sometimes solo, duo or trio. Melodies, harmonies, declamations, onomatopoeia, vocal percussion, nature calls and more.

Several distinct elements of South African voices and rhythms unfold on stage. Transcended by this extremely dynamic collective, capable of transcending its cultural heritage, this Southern African stall is more than interesting, and different from what we’re used to hearing from this end of the planet.

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Africa / Afrobeat / Dancehall / Downtempo / Hip Hop / Reggae

Festival International Nuits d’Afrique : L’Entourloop / Queen Omega & The Royal Souls

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Country: Trinidad and France

This show is part of the Les Grands Événements series presented by ICI Musique.

Description:

«The Entourloop and Queen Omega & The Royal Souls will first succeed each other on stage for a double program that will end in apotheosis!»

“L’Entourloop

It is not so much the mystery that hovers over their identity as their crazy vintage universe straight out of the popular and irreverent French cinema of the 70s and their jubilant sound, amalgam of Reggae, Dancehall, Dub, Ragga, Downtempo and Hip-hop, which make that, since 2013, They have hundreds of millions of streams on the Internet and fill the biggest venues. The casual seniors of the Entourloop take a ride on this side of the Atlantic before paying the Olympia in Paris, in the fall, to present their third album, Clarity in Confusion (2022). “Viciously effective” (Nova, 2023).

Queen Omega & The Royal Souls

«True icon of Reggae-Dancehall» (RFI, 2023), Queen Omega draws its energy and humanity from the Rastafari movement. The one who fights against all forms of oppression, advocating in particular the liberation of women and the independence of peoples, made a great return in 2023 with the album Freedom Legacy. His undeniable stage presence and his incredibly rich voice give him a strong aura as much as his riddims with multiple influences, both New roots, New soul, Afrobeat and Dancehall.”

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This content comes from the official website of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique and is adapted by PANM360.

Africa

Festival International Nuits d’Afrique : Alpha Yaya Diallo

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Country: Guinea

This show is part of the Les Incontournables series presented by ICI Musique.

Description:

“As the Bafing, the river whose band is named, the music of Alpha Yaya Diallo, recipient of several Juno awards, flows from the heights of Fouta-Djalon, Guinea, throats the rhythms of Mali, to jump into the immensity of the rhythms of the world, from Senegal. The fluidity of its guitar lines, sometimes electric, sometimes acoustic, enhanced by the echo of drums, balafon, kora, ngoni, bass and drums, gives birth to a nomadic and generous West African sound. Expected for 13 years, his 8th opus, Doye Doye (2023), more committed, confirms a borderless approach to his roots.”

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This content comes from the official website of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique and is adapted by PANM360.

Africa / Afro-Electro / Électro

Festival International Nuits d’Afrique : Mr Touré! invites Don Barbarino and Bellavie

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Country: Guinea, Haiti, Togo, Nigeria, France, Quebec

This show is part of the «Nuits d’Afrique sound system» series and is presented by CISM.

Description:

“He did not fall far from the tree. alias Sagewondah is the son of the founder of Keur Samba, the other Afro-tropical bar in Montreal, who helped to promote world music in the 1980s. But we get lost… Key figure of the electro scene, the DG-DJ of the Ausgang Plaza shares the internship with his acolytes Don Barbarino, old fox of the revolving tables of the metropolis and elsewhere, ardent promoter of Haitian culture, and the sensation Bellavie, a new muse for Montreal’s dance floor, during an evening celebrating diversity and synthetic rhythms.”

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This content comes from the official website of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique and is adapted by PANM360.

Africa / Afro Rap / Afropop

Festival International Nuits d’Afrique : Def Mama Def

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Country: Senegal

This show is part of the Global Beats series presented by CJMD Lévis 96.9.

Description:

“Def Mama Def. Or Defmaa maadef. In wolof, it means “karma”, “give and take”. No room for interpretation. We immediately guess who we are dealing with: lionesses who do not give up and lead the way! Def Mama Def are their two names, “the combined energy of Defa, the singer, and her accomplice Mamy Victory, the rapper, who fill the space both physically and vocally” (RFI Musique, 2023). Almost covering the drums they strike with vigour, the strong voices of this leading duo of Senegalese Hip-hop carry a powerful word, which defends social values and denounces the condition of women.”

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This content comes from the official website of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique and is adapted by PANM360.

Africa

Festival International Nuits d’Afrique : AfirkA invite Soirée Raï with Zaki Dziri DZ514

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Country: Algeria

This show is part of the Les Étoiles Nuits d’Afrique series presented by the Fabrique culturelle de Télé-Québec.

Description:

“Pivotal to AfirkA’s project, the generous sharing with the public of the sweet memory of carefree and warm evenings filled with joy and laughter; unifying, liberating and uninhibited parties, punctuated by the popular music of Algeria, challenged by the long enthusiastic youyous. Authentic and energetic, relying on an instrumentation composed of the darbouka, mandole, guitar and violin, their passionate covers of success to the Rai intonations, Chaoui and Kabyle are reminders of how cosmopolitan their country’s rhythms are.”

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This content comes from the official website of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique and is adapted by PANM360.

Baile Funk / Bossa Nova / Brazilian / Forró / Jazz / Samba

Festival International Nuits d’Afrique : Bïa & Maracujá

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Country: Brazil

This show is part of Les incontournables series presented by ICI Musique.

Description:

“Captivating, teasing and fiery Bïa. Totally invested in her relationship with Brazilian groove, on stage, she exudes a luminous aura that envelops the audience. His association with the aptly named Maracujá quartet, which means «fruit of passion» in Portuguese, is a beautiful story of poetry and energy, spontaneity and complicity. Explosion of joy and sweet melancholy, all emotions are declined in this review of the rich Brazilian popular repertoire. From Samba to Bossa Nova, from Forró to Maracatu, with touches of Jazz or Funk: you feel alive.”

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This content comes from the official website of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique and is adapted by PANM360.

Brazilian

Festival International Nuits d’Afrique : Alberto Salgado

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Country: Brazil

Voices of the World presented by TV5.

Description:

“From his first love, Capoeira, Alberto Salgado, who began his career in 1999, has retained this quest for balance that still drives him today. By linking the raw and organic sounds of berimbau and atabaque to those of classical guitar and electronic rhythms, Alberto Salgado seeks to illustrate the challenges that development poses to the preservation of nature, and especially water. Winner of the 28th Brazilian Music Prize in 2017, this author, composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and performer, who has collaborated with Chico Buarque and Chico César, is giving new life to the popular rhythms of Baião and Xaxado.”

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This content comes from the official website of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique and is adapted by PANM360.