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| New generation Malian blues and rock dished out with great style by Vieux Farka Touré. |
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October 25, 2007
Womex 2007 Day 1
The sun was shining in the clear Andalusia sky for the first in this 4-day marathon trade fair. Weighed down by the impressive collection of magazines, CDs and pamphlets in the official bag, the delegates began mingling, hand-shaking, card-swapping and making a general brouhaha. With over 2,500 registrations and 531 stands filling two halls, this year’s is a mammoth-sized Womex.
A trade fair with a difference, alongside the stands and showcases, Womexers have a rich programme of conference sessions to attend, be it ‘Back to the future’ discussing the current crisis facing the music industry and possible solutions, or the presentation of the DISMARC programme of music archives, amongst others on offer today.
The Womex film market also kicked off with a rich selection of documentary films, ranging from Bronx tales in “From Mambo to Hip Hop” to stories of a gypsy caravan in “When the road bends…”.
But what about the music? No less than 15 showcases were programmed in three main venues throughout the day.
Leading the way, the young genius from Brazil on his 7-string guitar, Yamandu Costa and his trio, took our breaths away with the wealth of sounds and colours on display, evoking the folklore of his native Southern Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay subtly mixed with more modern sonorities. A virtuoso in the art of “mixing in a pure way” as he deftly put it.
To start the evening’s festivities, delegates had a choice between the blues of American band Hazmat Modine or the Nigerian (hard) rock dished out by Toumast.
The main event of the day arrived thanks to a last-minute change in the programme that put Vieux Farka Touré on stage, proving without a doubt that he is much more than a younger version of his legendary father. Groovy guitar riffs with rousing rhythms from the calabash and drums backed uplifting vocals in a high-energy performance of his particular style of Malian rock and blues.
Back in the more intimate Teatro Lope de Vega Russia’s Ensemble “AltaiKai” enchanted the audience with their throat-singing typical of the mountainous Altai Republic in front of an artistic backdrop of projections.
Shanbehzadeh Ensemble (Iran/France) were next in line with a splendid celebration of traditional music from the Persian gulf, both visually entertaining and musically inspiring with a special mention for the very young dammam player, following in the footsteps of the master Saied Shanbehzadeh.
Back in the pavilions of the Plaza de España, the delegates were about to be blown away by the power performance of the Balkan Beat Box, by far the most lively of the bands performing today. A group with a mission, that of knocking down political and cultural boundaries, their explosive fusion of raga, hip-hop with sounds from the Balkans and Mediterranean left no-one indifferent.
The evening’s showcases were brought to an end by Canadian Tanya Tagaq’s completely otherworldly performance, her exceptional vocal talents and sense of drama creating a unique musical and emotional atmosphere.
Time for bed. Tomorrow is another day.
Marushka
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videos are in Flash 8 format
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The Mondomix team in Sevilla (Spain) :
Journalists Benjamin MiNiMuM, Marushka Vidovic
Video Nicolas Sardjveladzé, Margot Vincent
Web Elise Kamm
Production Marc Benaïche, Laurent Benhamou, Laurence Gilles, Christophe Lebreton, Catherine Zbinden
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The Womex Webcast is produced by MONDOMIX in association with WOMEX
© 2007 - All rights reserved l Designed by Le Studio Mondomix |
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