Sunday, 31 January 2021

Noura Mint Seymali - 2015.Aug.19 Berlin FHE

Noura Mint Seymali - live 2015 [source: srw.de]

Noura Mint Seymali is the daughter of famous and respected Mauritanian musician Seymali Ould Ahmed Vall who was responsible for modernizing much of Mauritanian music. His daughter now holds that position, she learned from many other family members, including her step mother, the beloved national singer Dimi Mint Abba, with whom at age 13 she began her career as a supporting vocalist.
From a very early age, she was trained in instrumental and vocal technique by her grandmother, Mounina, mastering the ardine, a harp reserved only for women, and singing at weddings with family. Noura Mint Seymali currently drives the legacy forward as one of Mauritania's most adventurous young artists, her music is rooted in the intensely complex classical music of Moorish North Africa.
In Mauritania, there are five modes to the music and traditional artists move in a kind of "melodic orbit" through the modes during a performance. Each mode has multiple under-modes that are referred to as black or white. It's a kind of coloring to the music that helps bend the mode in a certain direction, either black which lends violent tension, or white, which lends a softness or elegance. The push and play between these helps transform each mode. One needs a degree in ethnomusicology and years of study to really get at the heart of what is made to seem effortless.
Noura together with her husband Jeich Ould Chighaly on guitar formed their first "fusion" band in 2004 after working together for many years as a duo in the local traditional circuit. Jeich's unique sound, mirroring Noura's vocal lines and refracting their melodies into the either, was born out of years of practice presiding over wedding ceremonies where solo guitar or tidinit directs the dance. Two albums released locally in Mauritania - Tarabe (2006) and El Howl (2010) - marked initial efforts at adapting a "modern" style.
Eventually joining forces with bassist Ousmane Touré and drummer/producer Matthew Tinari, Noura Mint Seymali distilled a core sound and began working as a quartet from 2012 onwards. With a rhythm section firmly in place, Noura Mint Seymali’s quartet sound was built around a deliberate return to Moorish roots, led by the raw music of the "azawan," a word in Hassaniya that refers to the ensemble of traditional instruments in Moorish culture; the ardine, tidinit, guitar, t'beul. After releasing two experimental EPs with this ensemble, Azawan (2012) & Azawan II (2013), both recorded locally in Nouakchott. The band's first full-length album for the international market - Tzenni - was released in 2014 June, combining refurbished tracks from the Azawan EPs and new material recorded in Brooklyn, NY. In 2016 September followed the album Arbina.
Through performances at major international venues and collaborations with well-known artists the band exposes Mauritanian roots music to the world. In a rare merger of cultural authority and experimental prowess, Noura Mint Seymali applies the ancient musical traditions of the griot with a savvy aesthetic engagement in our contemporary moment, emerging as a powerful voice at nexus of a changing Africa.
summarized from bio at nouramintseymali.com


Listen to Ghizlane [live]


NOURA MINT SEYMALI - 2015.Sep.19 Berlin FHE


rec.2015.Aug.19 Kantine Berghain, Berlin / bc.2015.Sep.09, FunkHaus Europa World Live 
setlist: 1.Ya Demb / 2.Ghizlane / 3.Hebebeb / 4.Richa / 5.El Madi / 6.Tzenni / 7.El Mougelmen / 8.El Barm 


Multi Media with Noura Mint Seymali

Discography

2006: Tarabe [local album]
2010: El Howl [local album]
2012: Azawan [digi EP]
2013: Azawan II [digi EP]
2014: Tzenni [CD/LP/digi, Glitterbeat] - bandcamp
2016: Arbina [CD/LP/digi, Glitterbeat] - bandcamp


NEVER EVER FORGET:

"il faut me pardonner - you must forgive me"

Pap Djah's last words before left on his own in the Sahara desert (in Niger)

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