2024-02-13 07:52:30
Les Amazones d’Afrique, 2024. © Karen Paulina Biswell
To advance the women’s cause and lead mentalities to evolve, the Amazones Afrique express themselves through Musow Dance, the third discographic part of a collective with variable geometry, but constant in its commitment for almost ten years.
Looking closely, the myth of the Amazons of Africa began to fascinate well before that of the warriors of Dahomey became known: in the Universal Dictionary of Moral, Economic, Political and Diplomatic Sciences or the Library of Man of The State and the Citizen, one of those encyclopedias in several volumes published in the wake of Diderot’s in the 18th century, they are there. Before the word “embassy”, alphabetical order is required. Mentioned since Antiquity, located in Libya, these feared warriors then played, following becoming mothers, another role in their society: “they exercised magistrates and public offices”, leaving the men at home to take care of their offspring .
In 2015, the legend of the Amazons of Africa left the yellowed pages to be heard this time in music, embodied by a handful of singers and musicians from the continent with remarkable careers. First on stage, with among others Oumou Sangaré, Mariam Doumbia and Mamani Keïta, the formula was extended in the studio, in 2017 with République Amazone and three years later with Amazones Power. Over time, the numbers have evolved. Initially made up mainly of Malians, the band expanded, in terms of nationalities, in order to better represent Africa.
Dobet Gnahoré and Alvie Bitemo, experienced “newbies”
For Musow Dance, the new recording episode of this adventure, there are six of them playing the main roles – live, it all depends on each person’s availability. Alongside Mamani Keïta, oldest member of the project, the German-Nigerian Nneka present on the first album, the Burkinabe Kandy Guira and the Beninese Fafa Ruffino, both arriving on the next one, the group therefore welcomes two “new ones”. The Congolese Alvie Bitemo, with her multidisciplinary profile as a singer and actress, has already distinguished herself in concert with the team. Just like the Ivorian Dobet Ghanoré, trained in the artistic nursery of the Ki-Yi village of the Cameroonian Were Were Liking and who has six albums to her credit.
Through this casting, the militant dimension of the collective emerges, essential to honor the name they share in common. Including when the group performs in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where issues related to the status of women are sensitive. “I had to calculate my words, be careful, but I said what I thought. We wanted to defend women’s rights, but also to take the plane home” confides Fafa Ruffino.
Their visit to a festival can also be an opportunity to shed light on other initiatives led by women. In Essaouira, last year, they collaborated with the Moroccan Asma El Hamzaoui, a rare representative of Gnaoua music and guembri player.
Jacknife Lee’s giant puzzle
To respect the DNA of the Amazons, its members still need to go “in the same direction” in the new songs they share, notes Fafa Ruffino. Nothing is obvious, even if the theme of solidarity tends to emerge naturally and everyone works on their own on the basic instrumentals they have received (“we have a tone, a mood”). What’s more, in different languages!
However, in the end, everything makes sense. Director Jacknife Lee (U2, REM and Kenyan Muthoni Drummer Queen) has been there, with his machines and other analog synthesizers. To succeed the avant-garde Doctor L., the choice fell on the Irish multi-instrumentalist who recently worked with Rokia Koné (who joined the ranks of the Amazons) and appreciated their repertoire. “They combine a powerful cultural, political and social message with an exuberance and joy that are addictive. I wanted to put myself at their service,” he summarizes.
With what artistic intentions? “I wanted to hear an unusual, fresh, upbeat, electronic, energetic dance record that would translate easily into their live performances. The first track we finished was Kuma Fo, and it set the tone for the rest of the album” , continues the fifty-year-old.
More than by a style, the man is distinguished by his sound signature, very rich, commensurate with his experience and the eras he has lived through. “A lot of the rhythm of the album was developed on the computer and eventually I started playing everything on synths, whatever was at hand. I didn’t want it to sound digital. So this process introduced quirks, anomalies and a timelessness into the sound,” says Jacknife Lee, who sees the work as “an exciting puzzle.”
On his method and the result, Fafa Ruffino puts other words: “It’s magic”, believes the singer. In the legendary history of the Amazons of Africa, the irrational has its place.
The Amazons of Africa Musow Dance (Real World) 2024
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