The singer Dobet Gnahoré, in the dining room, and the pianist Macha Gharibian, in the theater, this Wednesday 19, show the strength of ancestry also looking to the future
Macha Gharibiandaughter of guitarist and bouzouki player Dan Gharibian of the klezmer Bratsch band, she is an Armenian pianist who has lived in New York for over ten years. Dobet Gnahorésinger and percussionist from the Ivory Coast, she is the daughter of singer Boni Gnahoré and the granddaughter of a grandmother who sang for the dead while working in the rice fields.
Macha and Dobet have never seen each other and have not sung together, but their stories of origin and the musical result of their lives can well sum up some characteristics of what this neo-jazz of the 2020s would be, increasingly distant from the obligations to play. masculinized and within US bases. Double that they will do in their shows this Wednesday, 7pm, at Jazz section – Macha performs at 8.00 pm, at the Pompeia Theater, and Dobet, at 9.30 pm, at the Comedoria – is an opportunity to listen to two beautiful voices from these worlds.
Macha reached her best language in 2020, when she released the album Joy Ascencion, after drawing inspiration from the traditions of the Caucasus to make Mars, in 2013, and broadening her horizons with experimentalism in 2016, with Extended trans. Her voice is full of body, warm and deep, and his piano creates intense moods with just a few notes. Georgian moodfor example, it’s a fast, almost pop, theme while Sari Siroun Yar find Armenian, Russian, Greek and Serbian traditions.
Dobet slightly reconfigured its sound in 2021 when it launched couleur. More urban than the other four albums, it brings more pressure from electronic resources. But Dobet must base his presentation on themes that have become more solid in the repertoire, such as those of In Africathe 2007 album that introduced her to Palea, and singing up to pearlswhich she recorded with India Arie and earned her a Grammy for Best Performance in 2010.
Dobet’s Africa is not that percussive – and here is the first narrative dilution of an Africa that we always hope to hear. Unlike her father Boni, she wants strings and melodies, with percussion gaining ground at the right moment. “I really like acoustic music, without percussion, and I like it when I can surprise and bring the listener into my universe.” And what would the musical universe of the Ivory Coast be like? “A lot of typical things like bolooui, temater and aloukou, but also urban and modern music like cut shift and zouglou.” Good surprises for those who think they can get to know the planet through Spotify.
Where does the most vibrant jazz come from? Some speak of Eastern Europe, others speak of a new generation of Africans. Macha Gharibiam states: “The best jazz comes from where the musicians hear what is happening and together they try to create something personal. It is the music of the moment, no matter where it comes from. When people connect with the sound, there is no they are lies. ” His answer could also be “from ancestry”, given that Macha, Dobet and above all the new generation speak of the need to connect to the past to create something original. “I went through a whole process to find my voice to create Joy Ascension. Going back to my Armenian roots was a process that made me delve into something very profound. The more I dive into it, the more I feel like I’m in my place. “
No one in the world of jazz sheds the weight of tradition. “I grew up in west-central Ivory Coast and was looked after until the age of five by my grandmother, who sang for the dead and grew rice,” says Dobet. Boni Gnahoré, her father, took her to a village of Pan-African ideals called KI YI M’bock, in Abidjan, the economic capital of the Ivorians. There, in an experience that Latin America has never had, Africans from across the continent came together to create and practice dance, theater and music, charting the fates of their projects across Africa. Ray Lema, Youssou N’Dour, Salif Keita and Lokua Kanza were some of the illustrious patrons. “She used to train every day, from 5 in the morning to midnight. My childhood was like this,” says Dobet. This is her jazz: “Jazz is evolution and intersection, the music that my soul loves”. L
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Source: Terra
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
