Salif Keita at the Kriol Jazz Festival: “Music is my medicine, without it I wouldn’t be here”

Salif Keita will perform in Cape Verde this Friday, and yesterday at a press conference he recalled his relationship with Cesaria Evora. He states that he is very happy to be in Cape Verde, where he will be working for the first time. Because of the landscape, he always considered Cape Verde to be another planet. For Salif Keita, singing with Cesaria Evora was pure heaven. “She was very sensitive and adapted to African music. She wasn’t surprised, but I was surprised by her. Because she was really brilliant,” says the Malian singer, who recorded a song with the “barefoot” diva Yamore. and of which he has the best memories, including his culinary skills.

Regarding activism, Salif Keita explains: “Music is my medicine, without it I wouldn’t be here.” The singer is in Cape Verde for two concerts. This Friday he will be at the Kriol Jazz Festival (KJF) in the city of Praia, and the next day he will be on the island of São Vicente, where there will be a concert featuring some voices from Cape Verde, including the singer Seuzani.

The festival was opened by the Spanish duo Jorge Pardo and Armando Corbon, combining a combination of jazz and flamenco with classical music. Rounding out the evening was Cape Verdean guitarist Soren Araujo, who joined fellow guitarist Helder “Pelada” Rodriguez and drummer Alex Figueiredo. KJF today, in addition to the Malian musician, will perform on stage with the North American Steve Coleman, the singer and composer from the island of Mayo Tibau Tavares and the Afro Cuban Jazz Project, in which the Cuban singer will perform. Emilio More, who belonged to the famous Habanero Septet. On Saturday, Pret and Bronk will take the stage with the voices of Jennifer Solidade, Kriolatino, Ghana’s Santrofi and Brazil’s Hermeto Pascoal.

The Atlantic Music Expo (AME) concluded yesterday after many “presentations” and a wide variety of beats from around the world. On Wednesday the day began with a concert by Zubiquilla Spencer, the Cape Verdean singer’s music is heavily influenced by traditional music, but jazz, blues and soul are still present in her repertoire. The second performance of the day was for Anna Setton, a singer-songwriter from Sao Paulo, Brazil, but who now lives in Lisbon and brings to Cape Verde the work she has done in recent years and songs from the album she will release in 2023.” . Oh Futuro, it’s more beautiful.” “I think I could describe my music as a connection between jazz, bossa nova and samba,” says the singer, whose “showcase” featured Nancy Vieira. On Wednesday evening, Canadians Le Panda, Venezuelans Insolito Universo, Italians Giuliano Gabriele, rock band from Cape Verde Primitive, Gabriela Mendez from Cape Verde and the colorful and cheerful group Brown Rice Family from Japan performed.

The last day of AME began with two concerts by singers from the country of Morabeza. First Maura, and then Katia Semedo, who presented the album “Caminho de São Tomé”, which tells the story of the singer and her family who went to São Tomé in the 40s.

The evening began with Angolan music by Claudio Hoshai and continued with Jocelyn Balu from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ellie Paris from Cape Verde and closing AME, also Cape Verdean Gerson Spencer.