Reopening and discovering the music of West Africa with Alex Boicel

Alex Boicel was in Abidjian when the COVID travel restrictions were put in place, just as the MASA festival concluded. He remained in West Africa during the lockdown, in Abidjian, and late moving to Dakar, where he remains. During this time he has become immersed in the culture. Alex shares with us videos made over the two year long stay. This is an ongoing project as Alex has relocated permanently to West Africa. He is often present in some intimate settings as the artists played for themselves or small audiences.

Most recently he spent time in the Casamance region of Senegal where he attended the 14th Koom Koom Festival in Ziguinchor. Festival President Khalifa Sall holds two days of conferences discussing regional issues, ranging from environmental concerns to preservation of traditions. Alex presented the idea of bringing in artists from the diaspora in the future. Three day of music followed from local musicians and from neighboring Guinee Bissau and Guinee Conakry.

Alex explains that Casamance is known for its drumming and mask dances and women’s music. He also discovered an artist - Lansada Sadio who played an instrument similar to the gombri of Morocco, and felt a connection to the Black African roots of gnawa music.

Many of the artists he recorded appeared in his production, Le Festival Mondial de Musique des Femmes. North American audiences may be familiar with the festival that Charly Maiwan has produced for 10 years in Montreal. This year, due to travel restrictions, the event was held in two Abidjan venues April 23-25th. Contact Alex at (221 78 351 80 28)

Lamine Cissokho founded the KORA FESTIVAL, small festival in Casamance, 7 bands from the region performed. Currently he resides in Sweden where he teaches kora.

Suxaat - ( pronunced Surat) is a group led by by Issa Dial that can play Senegalese and a fusion of african styles 

Stepping onto the stage Estel Mveng transforms from a modest woman to a majestic figure. Every gesture rivets the audience’s attention, and every movement weaves a spell, as can be seen in this clip from the recent Festival de Musique des Femmes in Abidjan. Her voice beckons the crowd with a low whisper that builds into a gut-wrenching wail and floats back down like a feather on a still day. One does not need to understand a word, in fact not knowing may heighten the impact of her stage presence and vocal mastery. Enjoy!

Vivi Makado, in 2019, stepped out of her role as lead singer for the group Bella Mondo to record his first solo album “Ayiyalo” (The Time Has Come in the Dan language. Vivi is Ivorian from Gbatta located in the Tonkpi region and both her parents are singers. “the Tematé Jazz” is what she calls her musical style blending Dan rhythms with afrobeat and words sung in Yacouba a language found in the area she comes from.

Coumbis performs at the festival April 25th. She invited Alex to a December show in Dakar, an outdoor show, she performed with her percussion-heavy full band. The show had great energy, it was a spontaneous event Alex tells us, almost not happening because of COVID 19. She dressed casually, a short top, boots, and shorts embracing a more open approach that was also evident in her music. Young people are fusing the traditional and more contemporary styles, indy, world music, reaching beyond just Senegalese music styles. In fact that she was doing something different, she is from Casamance, Mbala is the mainstream music of Dakar, it is a different way of playing, still Senegalese.

When Alex Boicel traveled to Abidjan from New York in early March, he had no idea he was turning a new page. The biannual MASA arts festival was underway when COVID 19 hit. A ban on international travel due to COVID-19 shut down flights from Cote d’Ivoire just after the festival closed left him and a handful of performers are still in Abidjan. He has spent the last year traveling in West Africa where even though public gatherings had been banned, artists were still making music. He shares a glimpse of what he has seen in Dakar, Senegal where he made new discoveries and met with old friends.

Congolese vocalists Eva and Blandine (who performs April 24th), with Solo Mignon on guitar, perform an acoustic version of the Soukous Abeti Masikini’s “Viens Mon Amour” a Zouk inflected Soukous classic she recorded in Paris in the 1970’s recorded by Alex Boicel.

Cameroon is home to dynamic new generation of female vocalists. Estel Mveng, Mabel Fa and Isis Kingue will e represeting at the Mondial Musique de Femmes festival.

Nicole Obele, an artist who pours her heart into every performance is one of the bright stars of the contemporary scene. Growing up, she became familiar with a number of the cultures found in her native Cameroon. That experience contributes greatly to the foundation of her music. Alex Boicel takes us to the Abidjan’s Zone 4, the reknowned Parker Place to share a few minutes of the intensity she brings to the audience on this selection “Za’a” a new work she debuted at MASA. It will appear on her upcoming album.

Della Hayes performs two nights, 24th and 25th. She is perhaps the most well-known artist in the festival. Della was already an established vocalist in 2009, when she brought female musicians together to create her band “Women of Color”. As an all female band they have a ground breaking place in Ghanaian music. They went on to win awards for their mix of Ghanaian High Life and Afrobeat with what they call “hippidippip” which can be heard in this clip recorded in the Palais De La Culture during MASA. Della says:  “Though we appreciate different cultures we want the world to know we are Africans and accept us as such”.

“Mariaa and I first met at Visa for Music” Alex tells us, “I invited her to Montreal where I really got to know her. She is also from Casamance. Nominated for a Victoire de la Musique award, she has a strong international following. Mariaa has performed in Europe and Canada and Morocco (MarocFolies, Festival des Nomades, Festival Mondial des Femmes de Montréal). Her first album was Asekaw released in 2019, 8 songs touchinng onn mbala, reggae, acoustic. she will be perfoming in the Festival de Mondial Musique des Femmes, Abidjan April 23-25th”..

Vivi Makado appears April 25th. In 2019, she stepped out of her role as lead singer for the group Bella Mondo to record his first solo album “Ayiyalo” (The Time Has Come in the Dan language). Vivi is Ivorian from the town Gbatta located in the Tonkpi region. Both her parents are singers. “The Tematé Jazz” is what she calls her musical style blends Dan rhythms with afrobeat, sung in the Yacouba language.

 Awehi Titiana from the Lôh-Djiboua region of Cote d’Ivoire singing a song from her release “Born To Rule” an album of songs in which she revists singing the spiritual music that is the foundation of her work since she was a child. She performs April 24th.

Sona Sonko is a background vocalist for many artists, including Ida Samb and sings better than many of them. Here is Sona singing an original song at home. Alex has known her for years, this he says is traditional Mandigue style from Dakar. She has a wide range and strong voice with ab natural sound and is currently working on material for a solo album