Sonic Pluriverse Festival: Bass Culture - Ti Moris, Mokoomba

In the organizer's words:

Ti Moris

Like Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles, La Réunion was also colonized from Africa, Asia and Europe. The island was completely uninhabited until the middle of the 17th century. Only then did the French colonizers bring enslaved people from Asia, especially India, Madagascar and East Africa to the island, mainly to cultivate vanilla and sugar cane. A unique culture developed from this mixture of different places of origin. Above all, the music absorbed influences from all directions - Maloya was born, a tradition of music and dance that only exists on La Réunion, with its own repertoire of stories of work and struggle, oppression and longing, as well as its own percussion instruments, above all the single-headed cylinder drum called the rouler and the kayamb, a large raft rattle made of sugar cane and filled with seeds. Maloya has often been compared to the blues of US cotton pickers due to its origins in the sugar cane fields. From the 1960s until the 1980s, this practice was suppressed and banned by the French colonial power because it was suspected of having seditious potential. It was not until the 1970s that it was rediscovered and popularized by Danyèl Waro, who became an emblematic figure of Maloya. Ti Moris also played in his group and is now himself a guardian and keeper of the Maloya tradition and sees himself as a link between the ancestors and today's audience. He sees music as a family affair. Many of his relatives play in his group, singing the songs of their ancestors and creating a link between memory and hope, tradition and innovation - now for the first time in Germany.

Mokoomba

Mokoomba is a six-piece Afro-fusion band from Zimbabwe. In the more than 20 years of their existence, they have played at all the major festivals in Europe, Africa and the USA. The six musicians are at home in Victoria Falls, the town on the border with Zambia, where the world's largest waterfalls are located and where the mighty Zambezi plunges into the depths. "Mosi-oa-Tunya" or "thundering smoke" is the name given to the waterfalls there because their spray is visible for up to 30 kilometers. This natural spectacle attracts visitors from all over the world, who naturally bring their music with them. As teenagers, the six friends came into contact not only with music from neighboring Zambia, but from all parts of the world and created their unmistakable mix of Zimbabwean rhythms, Afrobeat and rock. Their first album Kweseka was released in 2009, and their breakthrough came in 2012 with the album Rising Tide, produced by Manou Gallo.

Ti Moris

Like Madagascar, Mauritius, and the Seychelles, La Réunion was settled by Africans, Asians, and Europeans. Until the mid-seventeenth century, the island was completely uninhabited. Only then did French colonizers bring enslaved people from Asia (mainly India), Madagascar, and East Africa to work on plantations growing vanilla and sugar cane. These differentiated origins gave rise to a unique culture and music in particular absorbed various influences that resulted in maloya, a tradition of music and dance that exists only on La Réunion. Maloya incorporates its own repertoire of stories about work and struggle, repression and longing, as well as distinctive percussion instruments, especially the rouler, a single-skinned cylindrical drum, and the kayamb, a large raft rattle made of sugar cane filled with seeds. Due to its origins in the sugar plantations, maloya has often been compared with the blues, a music originating from enslaved cotton pickers in the US. From the 1960s until the 1980s, the music was even suppressed by the colonial French authorities because they suspected its rebellious potential. It was rediscovered in the 1970s by Danyèl Waro, who popularized it and became a prominent figure in maloya culture. Waro's group also featured Ti Moris, who is now a guardian of the maloya tradition himself, acting as a link between ancestors and today's audience. He views this music as a family affair-many of his relatives play in his group, singing the songs of their ancestors and creating a connection between memory and hope, tradition and innovation. This is their first concert in Germany.

Mokoomba

Mokoomba is a six-strong Afro-fusion band from Zimbabwe. In the course of their twenty-year career, Mokoomba have played major festivals throughout Europe, Africa, and the US. The band's six musicians all come from Victoria Falls, a city in Zimbabwe close to the border with Zambia that is home to the world's largest waterfall on the Zambezi River. The waterfall is known in the Lozi language as Mosi-oa-Tunya, a name that describes 'a smoke that thunders on account of the waterfall's rising mist that can be seen from up to thirty kilometers away. This natural spectacle draws visitors from around the world, who bring their music with them. Thanks to this influx of visitors, the six young friends who would later form Mokoomba came into contact with music not only from neighboring Zambia but internationally, using these influences to create their unmistakable mix of Zimbabwean rhythms, Afrobeat, and rock. Their first album Kweseka was released in 2009 and their breakthrough came in 2012 with the album Rising Tide, produced by Manou Gallo.

Price information:

https://tickets.kbb.eu/hkw.webshop/webticket/shop?event=15143&language=de