Djely Tapa and her band live @Music Meeting 2022 in Nijmegen

Singer Djely Tapa is a female griot and singer, and is defending the place of black women in a modern egalitarian world. A great energetic set during a rainy Music Meeting in Park Brakkenstein in Nijmegen. Djela Tapa - vocals/ percussion, Assanne Seck - guitar, Jonathan Arseneau - bass, Donald Dogbo -drums

Songs:
0:00 Pachagon (Author: Djely Tapa, Composer: Djely Tapa/ Caleb Rimtobaye
06:22 Amafamu (Author: Djely Tapa/ Composer: Djely Tapa/ Diely, Mori Tounkara
13:19 Djoudjonko (Author: Djely Tapa/ Composer: Djely Tapa/ Diely, Mori Tounkara)

When Djela left for Bamako at age 11, she embraced western culture and decided to pursue studies that she hardly imagined possible, given her social mission as a griot, which maintains ancestral values and culture and conveys the history of the Mandinka people through song, dance and traditional tales.
 
After earning a bachelor’s degree in science, she dreamed of becoming an airline pilot, and she settled in Montreal to study mechanical engineering and aeronautics at the École Polytechnique. Her dream did not come to fruition, and, since the African community lacked a female griot in Montreal, she felt the call of tradition and took up the mission inherited from her parents.

Barokan, the singer’s first album, was produced by AfrotroniX on the Disques Nuits d’Afrique label and was released early in 2019 to immediate critical acclaim. The 11 songs, performed in the Mandinka, Bambara and Kassonke languages, pay tribute to the strength of African  women and to youth, together with calls for the protection of water resources. The singer’s powerful voice is backed by auras of Sahel blues and electro sounds skillfully measured by AfrotoniX.

Crew:
Editors: Melchior Huurdeman, Aad van Nieuwkerk, Sakti Khedoe, Kaya Belfor
Camera & lighting: Marijn Zurburg, Ramon de Boer, Wim Adam
Sound: Marc Broer, Ruben Kieftenbelt
Producer: Vivian Vrolijk/Joppe Fakkeldij
Director/Editing Reinier Bruijne


This video was recorded for VPRO Vrije Geluiden and Music Meeting.
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