Tarika's 1997 album Son Egal was a further helping of the exuberant, infectious, buoyant music of Madagascar's internationally popular roots music adventurers, brought to a new peak by sought-after producers Simon Emmerson (Baaba Maal/Afro Celt Sound System) and Martin Russell. But it also had powerful central themes about historic reconciliation and current political corruption. In the 19th century, the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar was already a highly developed civilisation, rich in human as well as natural resources - a desirable prize for European powers. In the mid 1890s, the French forcibly colonised the country, exiling their last queen in 1897. 50 years later there was a huge uprising which the colonial power put down. To do so, they used 'Tirailleur S&eacutenegalais', African troops trained in Senegal. To the Malagasy, they were all simply 'Senegalese', and to this day the Senegalese are demonised because of terrible atrocities which took place. Tarika's leader Hanitrarivo Rasoanaivo (Hanitra) realised that 1997 significantly marked both the 100th anniversary of the last queen's exile and the 50th of the 1947 uprising. It's a period of history that has almost been taboo, because of course some influential Malagasy co-operated with the colonial power and the affair coloured the rest of the indepence struggle up to its granting in 1960 and beyond. So while Tarika took a well-earned break in 1996 after 4 years non-stop touring, she set about researching what really happened in 1947. She made exhausting field trips deep into the Malagasy countryside to interview now-elderly first-hand witnesses, talked to historians and combed archives. She learned the true stories about the 'Senegalese'. Surely, she reasoned, after 50 years it was time for healing the wounds of history, for the sake of younger generations. But the lessons of history have been trampled by corrupt politicians and businessmen who have driven the country to its knees: it's now one of the poorest on the planet. So Son Egal was inspired by all of this. It's a plea for reconciliation that even had Senegalese musicians from Baaba Maal's band guesting on it. It's strongly critical of the men in suits. To say the least, it was a hot potato in Madagascar, gaining saturation airplay for quite a while after its release. But being Tarika it was also business as usual. Even their songs that go for the political jugular make you want to dance like crazy. Those unmatchable harmonies piled on top of the energised sounds of updated Malagasy traditional instruments continue to make this one of world music's most accessible bands.
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A compilation of pure flamenco, on the inside cover of which one can read: “Sabicas constantly lives among flamencos, whether he is in New York, travelling or in his house in Mexico City. He spends the days and evenings playing, and he likes to receive visits from other guitarists. He does not show guitarists´ traditional wariness when it comes to showing his original falsetas (variations) to others at all, but rather, he spends hours teaching them. Nonetheless, as one guitarist complained after one of these sessions: “he knows perfectly well that no one apart from himself can play his variations properly”.
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Reinhold Westerheide (1958) studied the guitar (with Antonio Pereira Arias) and percussion at the Royal Conservatory The Hague, graduating as a performer on both. More than that he took masterclasses with Abel Carlevaro, AlbertoPonce, Hubert Käppel and Leo Brouwer (guitar) and Leigh H. Stevens and Michiko Maekane (marimba). He has since been active on sevral musical fronts. As a member of the Circle Percussion Ensemble he performed with the Nederlands Dance Theatre on tours in Europe, Indonesia and Japan, where he played with the Kodo percussion group. Prominent Dutch and foreign composers have dedicated works to Reinhold Westerheide, many of which he has recorded on CD. Apart from performing as a soloist, he specializes as a song accompanist and plays in several smaller ensembles. Westerheide is also a composer, writing for his own instrument and for orchestra, chamber music as well as music for films and the theatre. His great versatility enables him to collaborate in multimedia projects and in dance, litarary and film production. Reinhold Westerheide lives and works in Utrecht, the Netherlands and Bielefeld, Germany.
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A stunner of a collection of psychedelic funk from all over the world -- incredible material with the spiraling atmosphere and free spirit of the psychedelic scene -- and the furious sense of groove learned from the funk movement! Psych Funk 101 sets out to be a definitive overview, and makes a heck of strong case for itself as such -- with a couple recognizable names (including Mulatu, who simply could not be overlooked, on a compilation with aspirations of serving as a psychedelic funk standard bearer) and more from Istanbul, Athens, Paris, Beirut, Cairo, Paris, Lagos, Moscow and beyond! Pummeling funky drums & percussion, hazy organ drones, middle eastern rhythms & melodies, fuzzy guitars and more -- disparate material with relative psychedelic funk atmosphere!
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Sur le royaume du groove, Tony Allen règne incontestablement en maître. Avec Fela, il invente dans les 60's une musique puissante qui trouve ses racines dans les mélopées traditionnelles africaines et son dynamisme dans les rythmes noirs-américains. C’est la naissance de l’afrobeat, courant dont la dimension politique finit par diviser ses créateurs : alors que Fela se radicalise politiquement, Tony Allen préfère approfondir ses expérimentations musicales. Ouvert à toutes les influences, il se tourne vers le jazz puis l’électro, opère un retour aux sources avec son album « Lagos no shaking » en 2005, puis se laisse séduire par le groupe improbable « The Good, The Bad and The Queen », monté de toutes pièces par Damon Albarn. Les Nuits Zébrées vous offre une occasion immanquable de venir acclamer ce musicien hors pairs : la Bellevilloise va trembler, assurément !
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