We got down to New Art Exchange to check out the amazing Rafiki Jazz...
Made up of both native and migrant members, Rafiki Jazz’s music features the mesmerizing quartet of Sufi, Hindi, Egyptian and Senegalese vocals, and a variety of instrumentals, remix root music with modern-day stories.
On their Up Close tour, with seven dates, it’s the band’s first time in Nottingham, but somehow the acclaimed artists seem at home and so do the audience, as the compelling music reaches out with no qualms of a language barrier and connects with each person in the room, with everyone clapping and tapping along to the beat.
From rapping the Hebrew version of the Declaration of Human Rights in aptly named song Insaaniyat; an Urdu word meaning humanity, to breaking gender stereotypes in their performance of hit song Dam Mast Qalandar, a male-dominated Punjabi music genre Qawaali, all of the group’s music comes with a strong message, and every song has a story behind it.
Celebrating unity in diversity, the group recently released a CD named Har Dam Sahara which translates to “companionship in every moment” and, with an amalgamation of instruments like tanpura, santoor, guitar, tabla and many more, the sound produced is exactly that. Comforting, homely and meditative, it’s the kind of music that melts away the stress of a long day and provides you with the warmth of companionship. It’s music that makes you stop, listen, and take a moment for yourself.
Rafiki Jazz’s music takes me back home, to a place of familiarity, and for that they’ve managed to achieve a special place in my heart. I’ve been listening to their beautiful music on repeat ever since.
Rafiki Jazz played New Art Exchange on Thursday 18 October 2018
New Art Exchange website
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