In February of this year, Angélique Kidjo, the great African singer, won her third Grammy for Best World Music Album "Sings". In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Montreux Jazz Festival, "Mama Africa" Angélique Kidjo from Benin brought along a few singing friends on Sunday evening and showed Montreux how joie de vivre works in Africa.
The bundle of energy Kidjo danced on the big stage right from the start, her African, floor-length dress shimmering in pink and all colors - Angélique Kidjo, that is pure joie de vivre and rhythm. But on this evening, the great African singer also gave other women a place on stage: the young Asa, Dobet Gnahoré, the trio Teriba and the fantastic Lura gave Africa a voice. "I'm here to show the power of Africa," Kidjo explained at the beginning of her powerful concert.
Like Kidjo, Trio Teriba comes from Bénin and got the crowd dancing with traditional, polyphonic songs. The charismatic singer Lura from Cape Verde, who resembles Angélique Kidjo with her enormous voice and charisma, sang a captivating duet with the recent Grammy winner.
João Bosco is the sea breeze of Brazil
The second half of the evening belonged to the crème de la crème of the Brazilian music scene, starting with Hamilton de Holanda, the ambassador of choro, who was then joined by the accomplished king of samba, Martinho da Vila. When the beautiful Vanessa de Mata entered the stage in a floor-length, light and flowing dress, the charm and lightness of Brazil came onto the stage with her. The singer known as the "Fräuleinwunder", who had her international breakthrough in 2009 with a duet with Ben Harper ("Boa Sorte"-Good Luck), filled the stage with soft, flowing movements and her crystal-clear voice.
Joie de vivre and the lightness of being with Brazil's legends
The second part of the Brazilian dream was dominated by old master João Bosco, Ivan Lins and the great singers Ana Carolina, the legendary Maria Rita and, at the very end, Brazil's queen of forro, Elba Ramalho, in a light blue, short dress, while the outstanding folk musician and jazz composer Ivan Lins was surprisingly announced on stage by Quincy Jones.João Bosco, Brazil's great singer and songwriter, embodies the Brazilian attitude to life like no other: with his soft yet incisive voice, he conveyed a lightness on this sparkling evening that made you feel the Bahian sea breeze directly. A night of pure joie de vivre.
