Under the evocative title Sahravane — a reference to the Saharan landscape — this concert brings together two artists from very different musical worlds: Souad Asla, a leading voice from southern Algeria, and Cuban pianist Omar Sosa, a tireless ambassador of Afro-Caribbean traditions. Together with her ensemble Lemma, Asla performs the threatened folk repertoire of her native Souara region, blending it seamlessly with Sosa's harmonically rich, panoramic piano style.
The encounter between the complex desert rhythms and feminine vocal traditions of the Algerian South and the Afro-Cuban roots of Sosa's music is described as immediate and self-evident — a timeless, telluric and luminous connection across continents.
The full ensemble features Souad Asla (vocals, gumbri, artistic direction), Omar Sosa (piano, artistic direction), Csaba Palotaï (guitar), Aziza Tahri (vocals, derbuka, t'bal, bendir, karkabu), Mebrouka Brik (vocals, bendir, karkabu), Gustavo Ovalles (percussion), Rabia Boughazi (percussion, pilon, choir), and Sabrina Cheddad (bendir, derbuka, choir).
The concert takes place at Amphi d'O in Montpellier at 21:30 and is presented as part of the Arabesques Festival.