Financial Gazette (Harare)
Stanley Kwenda
8 May 2008
column
Harare — IN a unique lap of elegance, she appeared on a dimly lit stage and threw a tentative greeting to an audience she was meeting for the first time in her fledging music career.
"Bonjour savvier", she said as she extended greetings to a huge army of music fans, which was waiting with bated breath for the athletic artist to kick off her performance.
"Bonjour", shouted a visibly drunk reveller responding to her greeting in French.
This wild shout from the reveller seemed to have been what Dobet Gnahore, the rising Ivorian France-based instrumentalist, vocalist and performer, needed to raise her spirits.
Immediately she got down to the business of the night, throwing herself into a musical trance and unpacking her deep spirit of song.
Not much of the lyrics could be understood by those from an English background, as she sang in French. But as is the case with international artists, she nevertheless made sure that she took the audience on an unforgettable musical journey, which lasted one-and-a-half hours, during which any language barriers were forgotten.
Her musical presentation was a class act, justifying the pre-performance hype.
Before the show, plaudits had singled her out as one of the festival's main attractions.
The Ivorian diva has been touted as the rising African female music star and looks certain to follow in the footsteps of Angelique Kodjo, who has since assumed iconic status.
There are several similarities between the two France-based musicians. Both have a unique performing style, are a bundle of energy on the stage, possess rare crowd interacting skills and a flair for showmanship.
Gnahore performs with a four-man trans-cultural band comprising a Togolese drummer, Tunisian drummer, Ivorian vocalist, French and Ivorian guitarist.
Her performance at HIFA took the huge army of revellers off their seats in appreciation of the rare West African talent.
"She is just too good, I am sure she is going to be the next best female act to come out of Africa," said a woman in the audience.
The organisation of her music repertoire was excellent.
The arrangement was so awesome that even those who could not understand French and other African languages that she used, found it easy to decode the message from the lyrics to suit their own tastes.
After an hour of performance, she started engaging the crowd, which had warmed up to her eccentric and energetic dances.
Like an athlete, she twisted and turned her body, rolling on the stage like a possessed person while intermittently putting her athleticism on show with sudden bursts of runs, much to the amazement of the crowd.
She also demonstrated her mbira, congas and flute playing skills.
On stage, she is this vivacious bundle of energy, blessed with a powerful voice that comes straight from the stomach.
"She is the brightest new Afro-pop star on the horizon", that is how influential American newspaper, the Seattle Times described her.
Taking a multi-faceted approach to music incorporating song, dance, percussion, theatre and the ability to sing in different languages, her approach to music comes out as "defiantly diverse, musically and linguistically", making her the sought after star she has become in just four years.
Her 2004 debut album Ano Neko, loosely translated meaning let's create, got her noticed internationally.
And it was no surprise that a huge army of her new fans lined up to buy her latest 15-track offering Na Afrika.
It was also not a surprise that some of the many fans who wanted to lay their hands on the priceless product ended up paying in South African rands and United States dollars, all for the love of the West African brewed sound.
Showing her determination to follow in the footsteps of Angelique Kidjo, who is listed as one of the UNICEF Goodwill ambassadors, she said adios to her Zimbabwean fans with a message to protect themselves against HIV and AIDS.
"Let's protect our children, let's protect ourselves from HIV," said Gnahore.
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