text: With Love From Africa: 31st Festival International Nuits d'Afrique, 2017 - Page 2 of 3 - World Music Report
  Photo credit: Bohdan Kiszczuk
  They are already in Montréal, Québec, Canada – the people of Tunisia, Guadeloupe, Guinée-Bissau, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Algeria, Senégal, Cameroun, Le Réunion, Madagascar and elsewhere in Africa. But between the 11th of July and the 23rd of August, 2017, during the Festival International Nuits d'Afrique, with the help of the artists – including those from France and from Québec itself – life will get loud again for the 31st time. So whether you live in downtown Montréal, elsewhere in the city and its surroundings, elsewhere in Québec, or in Canada, or, indeed anywhere in the rest of the world, be brave and hop onto the steamy Metro and come over to Le Village des Nuits d'Afrique and experience what Lamine Touré created from his singular vision of building a cultural bridge between Africa and the rest of the world in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. You wouldn't be the first to be wowed by what Lamine Touré was able to achieve from his humble beginnings as the founding impresario of Le Club Balattou, which is still a fabled venue for Le Festival International Nuits d'Afrique, which he co-founded with Suzanne Rousseau, who is also the Festival's Managing Director.
  In 2017 Le Festival International Nuits d'Afrique is bringing together more than 700 artists from Africa, France, and The Caribbean and from Canada. The 31st edition of the Festival will also feature The Dizzy Brains from Madagascar, the bluesy Mû Mbana from Guinée-Bissau, and Mamselle Ruiz from Québec (via Mexico) and the Admiral T from Guadaloupe among others. The 2017 press package also announced that the festival will also be graced by Rendezvous Mandinque with Benkadi, accompanied by doudoum, djembe, balafon and acrobatic dancers. Moreover in a rousing homage to African storytelling through music, the 31st edition of the festival will also present Les Griots de Montréal, a sensational group of artists who perpetuate the tradition through the passage of time. Artists from 34 countries and hundreds of thousands of festival-goers are expected to converge on Montréal from July 11 to 23, 2017, and judging from the compilation of music on the CD preview an unforgettable experience is guaranteed for all at Le Festival International Nuits d'Afrique, the greatest of world music gatherings.
  This 31st season mirrors the stimulating effervescence shaking up world music. For example, there are Amadou and Mariam, the famous Malian couple performing at the official opening concert with their 1970s Afro-disco, followed on later dates by French soul master Ben l'Oncle Soul paying tribute to Frank Sinatra, the truly libertarian Tunisian electro artist Emel Mathlouthi and the much awaited Madagascan rockers The Dizzy Brains. In fact it may indeed be safe to say that the 2017 festival consists of a "Hybrid and Borderless Programme". Outdoors on the TD-ICI Musique Stage, large-scale concerts include those given by Nigerian artist Seun Kuti, the worthy son and successor of the great Fela, the Congolese band Mbongwana Star, representing the wildest of what Africa is producing these days in terms of music, and Sidi Wacho, a happy blend of the most emancipated cultures. A total of 145 concerts and events are being presented on indoor and outdoor stages during the festival's 13 days.