Tiken Jah Fakoly le Peuple a le Pouvoir

Balaphonics is a collective of nine musicians specialized in Afro-fusion. Their name comes from the African percussion instrument, the balafon, also known as “bala” or “balani,” a kind of xylophone that has a very important place in Mandingo music. All kinds of balafons exist in different African regions and therefore the choice of this instrument is anything but insignificant, bringing together the whole continent. This brass band from Paris mixes funk, jazz and traditional African music, passing through groove and highlife. Their drums and guitars offer vibrating, frantic rhythms. Since the success of AfroMassivSoundSystem, released in 2016, the musicians have participated in many festivals, from France to Malta, through Cyprus, London and Bamako.

“Beyond all stereotypes: The new album of the Franco-Nigerian Aşa tells about Africa in the globalized language of pop.“

The latest in Hervé Niquet's 'reinvigorations' of French operatic music from the Baroque and beyond for Glossa is Rameau’s 1747 'Les Fêtes de l’Hymen et de l’Amour'. A ballet heroïque in a prologue and three entrées, the whole work was designed to comprise a complete theatrical spectacle. Music for dancing – as befits a ballet – is given a prominent role and Rameau is able to create especially expressive symphonies and to give the choruses – even a double-chorus – an integral role in the action. Added to this are supernatural effects, and plots for the entrées which explored the then uncommon world of Egyptian mythology (including a musical depiction of the flooding of the River Nile).

After Polyeucte (1878), Gounod tackled the operatic genre for the last time in 1881 with what is probably his most ambitious work, Le Tribut de Zamora. The action takes place in ninth-century Spain – from Act Two onwards, on ‘a picturesque site on the banks of the Guadalquivir before Córdoba’. Here Gounod – finally noted more for his neoclassical pastiches (Le Médecin malgré lui and Cinq-Mars) and his ardent Romanticism (Faust and Roméo et Juliette) – was given an opportunity to display his talents as an orchestrator and colourist in an exotic setting. He produced an epic in the tradition of French grand opéra, with numerous ensembles and showpiece airs.

Le Peuple de l'Herbe is a French band playing electronic music, afrobeat and dub.