A Night of Ideas: From France to GNV via Zimbabwe

This will be a roundtable discussion with the artists along with a performance. 

From the artists: 

We are two Creole artists dedicated to upholding and developing the music of our native lands. Coming respectively from Guadeloupe and Réunion, the essence of our musical history is rooted in colonization and slavery.

However, we have developed an artistic vision that goes far beyond one locally specific style, using funk, hip hop, jazz, and freestyle, and infusing music with our sensibilities, vocabularies, and unique characteristics.

In the past few decades, we have shared the stage with many artists, performing both on the road and in studios. Most of the time when we are asked to play, it is out of a desire to bring our own distinctive voice into the creation.

We are also actively involved in education and cultural outreach, areas that see us working in a variety of settings among diverse publics (from children to incarcerated individuals, people with disabilities, and more).

Early on in our journey, we became aware of the importance of spotlighting the various musical genres of our regions. Steeped in European dancing music and African drumming, the colors and rhythms of our styles have distinctive features both in content and in form, which we feel are essential to bring to light.

Indeed, modern urban and electronic music has its origins in traditional and freestyle music. We are passionate about all these different genres, which we incorporate into our creations when creating both hybrid musical repertoires and other works. Our hope is to get across the idea that our music styles are fueled by encounters and travel right from the moment of writing.