Respect plus 2007
Fanfare Ciocarlia / Romania
22. 2. - Palác Akropolis, 19:00 / Respect Plus
A brass band? While the Central European ones preach musical idiocy, their peers on the Eastern side of the continent spark with energy, brisk rhythms, and fire. Their breathtaking music is powered by home-made slivovitz and Gypsy feeling - and there is still more to discover.
Tinariwen / Mali
8. 3. - Palác Akropolis, 19:30 / Respect Plus
Soul Rebels of Desert Blues "This was the music I've been looking for all my life," says Robert Plant about these poet-guitarists-rebels from Sahara. Plant's guitarist produced their next album to be released by the British label Independiente. Tinariwen performed at Glastonbury, Roskilde, won the BBC World Music Award, and their previous album was a hit in World Music Charts Europe. Last year, at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Carlos Santana introduced them: "From Tinariwen, I hear the beginning of the music of the Mississippi and of Muddy Waters... they are the originators." "Nurtured in exile, raised in conflict, and driven underground, where they achieved legendary status, Tinariwen are the kind of band that generations of western rebel rockers could only dream of being." - The Guardian (UK)
Sidi Goma / Indie
10. 10. - Palác Akropolis, 19:30 / Respect Plus
If you think you’ve seen it all, think again: this is a rare opportunity to discover the joyful and exuberant devotional music and dance of the hidden community of Sidi African-Indians from Gujarat, India. The Sidis of Gujarat are a tribal Sufi community of East African origin which came to India eight centuries ago. They carried with them their exceptionally rich musical tradition and kept it alive and flourishing through the generations, unknown to the rest of the world. The programme presents an overview of Sidi ritual performance, from the traditional muezzin call to prayer to a staged ritual performance. The dancers perform virtuosic feats of agility and strength, climaxing in a coconut-breaking feat.
The Skatalites / Jamajka
21. 11. - Palác Akropolis, 19:30 / Respect Plus
SKA, ROCK STEADY, REGGAE: IT ALL BEGAN WITH SKATALITES, JAMAICA'S GREATEST BAND... In early 60's, when Beatles made their first albums, a similar revolution started in Jamaica. Skatalites were a band of highly skilled musicians, who backed most of the top stars of the day, including not yet discovered Bob Marley. The line-up lasted only one year, but in the 80's Skatalites reformed. Today their old masters timeless grace can be matched only by Buena Vista Social Club. In 90's they were twice nominated for Grammy, their "Hi-Bop Ska" was elected as the best reggae album by the National American Independent Record Distribution. After 40 years they still deliver steaming hot licks without losing an inch of their youth. Since Bob Marley passed away, Skatalites are the last survivors of classical era of Jamaican music.
Tcheka / Kapverdy
29. 11. - Palác Akropolis, 19:30 / Respect Plus
Following the eruption of Cesaria Evora and other great women singers from Cape Verde, along comes a new sound from a young man named Tcheka. While the world has heard the female voice emanating from the Cape Verdean islands, Tcheka, fed and nurtured by these women, brings a new perspective. As a young boy, he performed alongside his father, a popular violinist at the island's village dances and festivities. But it was the songs of the women that appealed to him. He was enchanted by the beat of batuque, a traditional style rich with collective memory and popular identity, originally developed by Santiago's women to get around the ban on drums by the Church and the Portuguese colonial authorities. "Nobody knows where Tcheka's style came from," says Paris-based Jose da Silva, who manages both Tcheka and Cesaria Evora and has done much to bridge Cape Verdean music with the rest of the world. "His town has one bar and nobody there sounds like Tcheka. It is a mystery."
Cibelle / BrazĂlie,UK
8. 12. - Palác Akropolis, 19:30 / Respect Plus
"More interesting that Morcheeba, more curious than Beth Orton" (Mojo). The Brazilian singer Cibelle records for the prestigious Belgian label Ziriguiboom, along with other renowned Brazilians Zuco 103 or Bebel Gilberto. Besides exploring the chilling combination of bossa nova and electronica, she's also attracted to the freak-folk of the New Weird America phenomenon. This February Cibelle performed along with CocoRosie, Devendra Banhart and others in Carnegie Hall in the Welcome To Dreamland concert, curated by David Byrne, her video Green Grass was seen during the first 3 weeks on YouTube by more than 315 000 viewers.
