Category Archives: interview

Singing is a way to resist – an interview with Rokia Traoré

interview, ,

Even though there will be elections in Mali on 28 Juli, the situation remains insecure and dangerous. Lots of Malian musicians are touring around the world. Not only because they are very successful, but they also need to spread the message of solidarity and unity. One of those artists is Rokia Traoré. She was at the Babel Med 2013 to receive an award and to participate in a conference about Music in Resistance with Olev Reitov (Freemuse), Mariem Hassan, and Gennardo de Rosa (Musica Contre le Maffia). At one moment she was saying something about women in polygamous marriages who expresses themselves through singing. There wasn’t much time for her to elaborate on this subject, but afterwards she found a moment in her tight schedule to tell me more about it.

Continue reading Singing is a way to resist – an interview with Rokia Traoré →

The story of El Gusto – an interview with Safinez Bousbia

interview, , ,

It all started with a mirror… The reunion of the Algerian Jewish and Muslim musicians has been made possible by Safinez Bousbia, a woman who got interested in the stories of the musicians torn apart after the Algerian Revolution (1954 – 1962). Without any experience she made a beautiful documentary (2011) and these days the Orchestra El Gusto is touring successfully around the world. Unfortunately not with all the original musicians, some had to be replaced by younger musicians, but some of them appeared in the film. Music journalist Bas Springer interviewed Safinez Bousbia, and asked her how it all began, the difficulties she encountered, and the emotions they all felt.

Continue reading The story of El Gusto – an interview with Safinez Bousbia →

“I can understand the boycott on Israel, but you have to play fair” – an interview with Dubi Lenz

interview, ,

Marseille – At Babel Med Music, held in March 2013, News & Noise spoke with Dubi Lenz, broadcaster, artistic director of the Red Sea Jazz Festival, and man of many other virtues. Lenz would rather not politicize music, but as the pressure on artists who want to play in Israel is increasing, there is no way to keep out of the discussion. Instead, he prefers to think of building bridges and tries to show that music can be a peacemaker. How does Lenz deal with artists who hesitate to come to Israel and is it possible for Israeli artists to perform in Muslim countries. The interview reflects some interesting thoughts and new insights.

Continue reading “I can understand the boycott on Israel, but you have to play fair” – an interview with Dubi Lenz →

“We tend to forget that censorship is around us” – an interview with Ole Reitov

interview, ,

Ole Reitov is the program manager of Freemuse, the World Forum on Music & Censorship. Freemuse, founded in 2000 in Denmark, acts as an information and monitoring platform. They have put in place a number of strategies in order to alert the media, politicians and the people at large of the abuses of censorship (Babel Med guide).  Journalist Jaïr Tchong had an interview with Reitov during Babel Med Music conference in Marseille, March 2013.

Continue reading “We tend to forget that censorship is around us” – an interview with Ole Reitov →

“It is the music that bonds us, not the politics” – an interview with Ousmane Ag Mossa

interview, , , , ,

– Utrecht. On the 31st of January the Sahara Soul ‘caravan’ with Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba and Tamikrest (without Sidi Touré) ended up at the world music venue Rasa in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Before the press conference with Bassekou Kouyaté started, we spoke to Ousmane Ag Mossa of the Tuareg group Tamikrest. The Sahara Soul project stands for solidarity and unity of Mali. Bassekou is a great proponent of this, but Ousmane explains to us that the situation is much more complicated.

Continue reading “It is the music that bonds us, not the politics” – an interview with Ousmane Ag Mossa →