Popular musicians from Nigeria and France took time to display thier talents for three consecutive nights during this year's Kano Music Festival, tagged Kamfest 2009.

The event, organised by the French Cultural Centre in collaboration with Alliance Française, Kano, featured Seun Ransom Kuti, Nilda Fernandez, Mezcal Jazz Unit, Shantu Musical Troupe and Koroso Dance Group.

The show opened with the Koroso Dance Group from Kano who amused the crowd with unimaginable dance steps and different acrobatic performances, courtesy of the Kano State History and Culture Bureau. After the koroso performance, Seun Ramson Kuti, son of legendary music maestro, Fela Ransom Kuti, took over the stage.

With the energetic and booming voice for which his father was well known, though exhibiting clear influences of hip-hop, Seun serenaded the audience with his tempestuous rhythm. His songs resonated with lamentations on corruption, poor leadership, ignorance, pollution, and many other ills that ravage contemporary Africa, the same themes his father was preoccupied with. The bitterness of the situations could easily be noticed with the rhythmic thrust of his lyrics.

While on stage, Seun said that he, as usual, must talk about happenings at the level of leadership in Africa even if it would cost him his life.

"African leaders don't care about the masses; they are rulers not leaders and this is reflected in their attitudes. I want to beg them, but sarcastically because this is what they deserve, let them please respect our lives in Africa", he said.

During his several hours on stage, Seun sang different songs addressing issues that affect the masses and even played one of his father's most popular songs, "Zombie".

On the second night of the festival, Nilda Fernandez serenaded the crowd with his guitar in a lively and joyful presentation. His was simply a reflection of the desire to give the audience his best.

Influenced by the love for music his father had, Fernandez started to learn music theory, guitar and piano when he was seven years old. By the mid 1980s, Fernandez had formed a group with which he started to travel to many European countries; it was during one of such trips that he had the opportunity to stage his first music show with a song titled, "Madrid, Madrid".

Fernandez recorded his first album in nine months, an album that sold 500,000 copies in a year. In 1991, Fernandez was nominated five times in the Victoires de la Musique award for the "best album", "best song", "best clip", and "revelation of the year".

By the year, 1994, Fernandez's career in music became international; he became popular in Argentina, USA, Canada, Cuba, Mexico and many other countries around the world.

The Spanish and French musician enthralled the audience at the festival even though most of the people in attendance did not understand the language.

The festival was rounded up with a wonderful joint performance by an indigenous Hausa musical troupe, the Shantu Group and the French Mezcal Jazz Unit.

The two musical groups first came together during Kamfest 2008 and, with the aim of bridging the gap between the two cultures-Nigerian and French-the groups came up with a wonderful musical presentation using the traditional musical instrument shantu (long hallowed and decorated calabash with openings at both ends) and the modern instruments used by the French group.

The Mezcal Jazz Unit is known for its regular interaction with musical groups from all climes and also for its ability to blend with different musical groups in a single performance.

The Shantu group, on the other hand, draws its inspiration from everyday life and, being aware of the importance of music in Hausa society, it often brings social issues into popular discourse through its performances. The Shantu group performs on several occasions and is able to tune its presentation to be in accordance with the theme of the event.

The two groups, even though they come from different backgrounds, are said to drink from the same spring of melodies; sometimes in a simple manner and at other times in a sophisticated way.

Speaking during the opening of the show, the Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Mr Jean-Michel Dumond, said that the aim of the festival was to strengthen the relationship that exists between Nigeria and France through music as well as to appreciate the great hospitality accorded the French Embassy in Nigeria and Kano in particular.

Mr Dumond added that the festival, which was the fifth in the series and had the motto, "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow", was also aimed at entertaining people from the two friendly countries in a way that would enable them to appreciate the two cultures.