Kalibé, The Multicultural Buena Vista Social Club, Rip Up the World Music Rule Book

Posted on by noflyzone

Related Post

Artist: Kalibé
Title: Mae Da Lua
Release: Out now
Lead Tracks: Punu-Punu, Poção Musistica, Aldeia

We’re all familiar with the concept of world music – artists from countries generally overlooked by mainstream Western media outlets, playing indigenous music on traditional, local instruments. Kalibe may reflect these tenets but they determinedly take it to the ultimate destination – a place where musicians from very different cultures and backgrounds play music which, though perhaps alien in origin, comes together to create an almost overwhelmingly life-affirming sound.

Watch “Tudo Gira” from the Mãe da Lua Album

Though the production methods are entirely 21st century, Kalibé’s music is created by skilled musicians from all corners of the Earth: instruments from across Africa, Persia and South America blend effortlessly together, whilst the singers bring together languages as seemingly disparate as Indian, Hebrew and Amazonian tribal dialects with ease.

On the track “Aldeia”, the sounds of the rainforest are underpinned by Tuvan throat singing, an ethereal female voice drifting between the two; on “Punu-Punu”, India Mãe da Lua’s vocals carry a traditional melody of the Brazilian Kamayurá tribe through an achingly beautiful and trance-like fusion of plucked African kalimba and flourishes of guitar. These combinations may look on paper as though they’re artificially forced, but the transcendent joy of the music is taken to new levels by the meeting of cultures bound by universal emotions and experiences.

Kalibé’s first album, “La Danse d’Harmattan”, conveyed the shared feelings of the musicians relating to human migration – often sombre but extremely poignant songs which carry a message to people of all nations, whilst their new release, “Mãe da Lua” (named after the voice of the album, environmental activist and poet, India), explores spirituality, leading to a collection of songs which have a hypnotic allure and a calming quality that perfectly encaptures the aim of the project – to bring together people from all cultures through the power of music, whilst celebrating their ancestry and looking positively to the future.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6Jt6cYg3W1OX7iPNrwt7MG

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kalibemusic/

Leave a Comment