Take the energy of Lauryn Hill, the consciousness of India.Arie and the mystique of Erykah Badu and you got Dobet Gnahore’. This dancing and drumming songbird hails from the homeland, Ivory Coast, West Africa, and is currently on a North American and Canadian tour.
Gnahore’ stops in St. Louis at the Touhill Performing Arts Center to pull the curtains on the UMSL’s International Performing Arts Series.
The concert begins at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 6, in the Touhill’s E. Desmond and Lary Ann Lee Theatre on the campus.
“It’s a great way to bring performers to St. Louis who probably would not be here otherwise, and it’s a wonderful opportunity to bring the world to UMSL and the community,” said Bob Ell, coordinator, programs and special events at the Center for International Studies at UMSL.
Gnahore’s brand of Afro-pop music has earned her rave reviews as she blesses cities with her unique, powerful and uplifting performance.
The Chicago Tribune said if there is any justice in the world, Gnahore’, a singer, dancer and percussionist, is going to be very famous.
“If Gnahore’ had done nothing more than wrap that voluptuous, supple, nimble, octaves-leaping voice of hers around her listeners’ ears, she would have earned cheers and standing ovations that greeted her work, but she also moved like a dream, expressing the undulating rhythms and buoyant melody line of her pan-African source material with extraordinary physical grace and poetry,” The Tribune wrote.
“Add to that the startling emotional range of her music – which spans plaintive laments to ebullient dance pieces – and you have a performer who is practically a theatre piece unto her self,” The Tribune continued.
Gnahore’s tour supports her sophomore album Na Afrika, a follow up to her 2004 debut CD,Ano Neko.
Gnahore’ describes her new CD as personal vision of Africa today. It’s performed in a number of different African languages, addressing social and political issues: the struggles of women in African society, the exploitation of children, the impact of greed and violence on family.
Her biographer writes that she calls upon Africa to seek solutions from within and draw upon its own vast resources to create a better future. She sings of love and loss, as well as joy and celebration, using a wide variety of rhythms and styles that reflect her unique pan-African approach.
Gnahore’ added to her bio in 2006 when she earned a Newcomer of the Year nomination from the BBC World Music Awards.
While Gnahore’ sings in seven languages, one doesn’t have to know the lyrics coming from her mouth to be moved and even captivated by one of Africa’s latest gems.
Her music is soothing yet empowering and commands sort of a ritual-like engagement.
The Los Angeles Weekly summed her music up like this: “If sweetness and light is all you seek in your pan-African musical dish, don’t bother sound-checking Dobet Gnahore’ or her new CD.”
The weekly, which called her a warrior-princess, continued, “But if you crave emotional breath and unfettered soul, fierceness leavened with tenderness, angry sociopolitical rants balanced with gentle heartstring pulls, then sup from Gnahore’s potent sonic stew.”
Tickets are $15 for general admission and $7 for students. More information is available at (314) 516-4949.
