Artists

Dekula Band from Stockholm, Sweden will be replacing Blossom in the Fest Afrika concert at Klubi on Saturday, August 3rd. Dekula Band plays Soukous which is very popular in East and Central Africa. The band is multinational, with members from Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, like the singer Lady Neema (Neema Mårsen).

The band leader Vumbi Dekula, the maestro of Congolese Rumba, is very active in the African music scene in Sweden. Currently, he and his band entertain fans on weekends in Little Nairobi (Lilla Wien Restaurant).

Guinean-Finnish trio Lanyi consists of N’Fanly Camara, Outi Kallinen and Abdoulaye Condé. They have been working together for a long time already, e.g. in the group Wonuwali led by N’Fanly, but Lanyi is quite a new band. The name Lanyi comes from the susu language and means mutual understanding.

The trio playes traditional Guinean music in their own arrangements. Their repertoire includes beautiful love songs, funny stories and fierce rhythms spiced with energetic dancing. There are more instruments than musicians: balafons, krins, kora, gongoma, djembes, dunduns and many other percussions!

Photo: Sara Estlander

Among the main acts of Fest Afrika 2013 is a young, talented singer from Namibia. Blossom, or Ruusa Ndapewa Munalye, has charmed her home country with her debut album Komuthima Gwomeya. The album has been praised by the press and it has won several prices. Blossom herself was recently voted female artist of the year in Namibia.

Blossom’s soulful songs connect local musical traditions to current styles of urban pop music. Their lyrics talk about everyday life in Africa from a woman’s viewpoint: many of them plead for the less fortunate, but beautiful love songs  are of course also included.

The dance production The Rise of the Queens by Menard Mponda & friends combines in a unique way traditional East African dances and Afro-Brazilian capoeira, songs, music and Menard’s own choreographies.

In many traditional African mythologies, natural forces are represented as deities or spirits that have an important role in people’s lives. Through the slave trade these mythologies and beliefs spread to other continents. In Brazil, African traditions and mythologies developed into Afro-Brazilian religions, which are still practiced in many parts of the country, but they can be found in different forms from all parts of the world where people of African origins are present.

(more…)