The Montreal orchestra Tribu Salsa Band won the Syli d’Or 2023 last Thursday evening, the grand prize in the competition for music from elsewhere, from here, organized for the sixteenth time by Productions Nuits d’Afrique. The outcome of the evening between three finalists probably did not give too many headaches to the jury made up of professionals and the public gathered at the La Tulipe theatre: the Tribu offered a performance that was simply perfect compared to those of the inexperienced, but promising, Abondance (silver Syli) and Lil K HPB (bronze Syli).
The Tribu Salsa Band was formed less than two years ago, but put together, the experience of the musicians can be counted in decades. The origin of the project was summarized for us as follows: in the midst of a pandemic, musicians came together to share their love of salsa dura (or salsa brava), this sound engraved in history by the legendary New York label Fania Records , founded in the 1960s by the no less legendary conductor of Dominican origin Johnny Pacheco.
However, by observing this small dozen musicians take their places (brass and percussion section, four singers, imagine the impressive deployment), we quickly understand that the pandemic has brought together the crème de la crème of musicians from the Montreal salsa scene. These guys are in complete control of their craft, right down to the stage costume and the dance steps that go with every song in their repertoire of classics and original compositions.
In no time, the parterre was transformed into a dance floor, the couples forming and the others fidgeting like neophytes by their side. The energy, the enthusiasm, the execution regulated to the quarter of time, the puncture of the brass, this meticulous and groovy bassist, the piano which sparkles between the puffs of timpani, it was obvious: it will be unbeatable, the Salsa Tribe Band.
We had less of the delicacy to have the orchestra play at the end of the evening, which made the other two competitors look better. Second to tread the boards of La Tulipe, Abondance also bet on the festive and dancing aspect of its proposal, more modern than that of the recipients. “Electro-Caribbean,” the orchestra was tagged. The marriage “of the sound of the islands with the sound of the city”, as the host of the evening elegantly presented. Abondance claims its Martinican and Guadeloupean influences (the respective origins of the two singers), but brings them closer to house – or, on stage, the electronic bill of the group’s sound is not really highlighted. Let’s talk more about a crossbreeding between disco-soul, zouk and gwoka.
It was joyful, if not to the point, the rhythm not always right, nor the harmonies. The project is still green, but the proposal seduces: the smile in the voices of the performers, the invitation to dance, the groove that ends up finding its balance. Abondance even allowed itself a treat by taking over the classic It makes the birds laughbut slightly modifying the harmonic progression of the original to better link the success of the Compagnie Créole, zouk and house — very successful!
The young rapper and singer of Burundian origin Lil K HPB opened the evening by offering his repertoire, mainly sung in English and French, accompanied by four musicians. Although he launched his first songs five years ago, the stage experience is still to be perfected for the musician visibly influenced by the Afrobeats wave from Nigeria and who, in addition to shining internationally, inspires a whole generation of singers from the African continent.
His repertoire of love songs, mostly sung in English, has the pop attributes of the hits of Davido, Wizkid and Burna Boy, albeit subtly tinged with the rumba colors of Burundi’s neighboring giant, the Democratic Republic of Congo. We felt Lil K HPB cautious, even embarrassed, in the interpretation of his first songs, his voice broken, not always on the note; thus, the musician seemed in his best element in the middle of the performance, when he abandoned singing to return to rapping, and in his native language (Kirundi, it is presumed). So, there, that was it: gestures, prosody, insurance, we would have preferred a full concert of rapped texts.