Somi
»ZENZILE – The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba« – Reflektor Angélique Kidjo
Tribute to Miriam Makeba
It was one of the secret special moments in the Elbphilharmonie’s inaugural weeks, when the singer Somi made her Hamburg debut in the Recital Hall in April 2017 with a trio of almost unknown jazz musicians. Her album »Petite Afrique« had just been released, on which the young, Illinois-born singer-songwriter expressed her attitude to life and that of many Afro-Americans in the US both sensitively and astutely – e.g. in her reworking of Sting’s »Englishman in New York« as »African in New York«.
The daughter of East African parents most recently brought out a cleverly thought-out tribute to the great South African singer (»Pata Pata«) entitled »Zenzile: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba«. Makeba had a similarly strong influence on Kidjo to the latter’s own influence on many female African singers of subsequent generations, whom she has inspired and encouraged. It was an honour for her to sing in one track on Somi’s Makeba album. She she makes use of her enormous popularity to give Somi the opportunity at the »Reflektor« to gain a well-deserved boost in popularity herself.
So six years after her debut in the Recital Hall, Somi finally retuns to the Elbphilharmonie, this time to the Grand Hall. She is accompanied by a quartet that includes her pianist of many years, Toru Dodo, as well as guitarist Liberty Ellman, whose freethinking and inventive playing last delighted Hamburg music lovers in Myra Melford‘s Snowy Egret at »Jazz Piano« in the Laeiszhalle.
Performers
Somi vocals
Linda Sikhakhane saxophone
Liberty Ellman guitar
Toru Dodo piano
Ben Williams bass
Otis Brown III drums
Programme
»ZENZILE - The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba«
Estimated end time
21:30
Festival
Reflektor Angélique Kidjo