Zanzibar diva Bi Kidude : a giant amongst men


WOMEX 2005 closed before participants were truly aware it had begun. That’s a bit of a trademark for these whirlwind events where a year’s business is done in the space of five days. With the trade fair packed up, the weary attendance dragged themselves to Hall One for the two-hour climax: the WOMEX award, the closing showcase by Algerian pianist Maurice El Médioni, and the BBC Radio 3 Awards. I’ll pass on the last item since it was presented by yours truly. Just a word to say I developed a mysterious bout of Parkinson’s disease in my left hand as I read the list of nominees for these prestigious prizes…due, perhaps, to the fact I was walking in the footsteps of such prestigious artists who had graced that stage over the past days: amongst them Robert Plant, Hermeto Pascoal and Ljiljana Buttler.

Another name to add to that prestigious list was soon to appear in the diminutive figure of Bi Kidude. And what an emotional moment was shared by all then. The tiny barefoot pioneer has braved the better part of a century to stand proud for her embattled islands of Zanzibar. She answered a five-minute standing ovation with a belting song from her vast repertory of taarab music. The 95-year-old graciously accepted the Mother Goddess statue that represented fertility in a region of modern-day Turkey about 6,000 years ago. Since 1999 WOMEX and its jury nicknamed the Seven Samuraï have presented various outstanding figures with this popular award, but there were few more popular nominations than the diminutive Bi. But did they know just how potent this day was? Were they aware that it coincided with one of the most important elections in Zanzibar’s troubled history? Whatever the answer, it was just another example of the link between music for the people, and the politics that govern us.

And so, as the rain came finally down on Gateshead, it was left to the bespectacled Maurice El Médioni to bid farewell to the 2,100 professionals and 500 professional musicians of this intense gathering. The 77-year-old’s gracious Oriental playing of the piano has made him a legend from Oran to Aleppo. Médioni’s cocktails stretch from Cubano “son” to Arab Andalusian harmonies. And so the link to the next WOMEX in Spain was made… “Hasta Sevilla, amigos”!

Daniel Brown