Note: Hailing from Guinea, Sékouba Bambino has enjoyed a brilliant career, working alongside the griots Kandia Kouyaté and Bako Dagnon, but also as a singer with the legendary Bembeya Jazz National, the flagship of the cultural revival in Conakry, with the unforgettable “Télégramme”… Signed by the late producer Ibrahima Sylla, founder of Syllart Records and the musical memory of Francophone Africa, this charismatic performer ultimately embodies this part of the continent well, as evidenced by his taste for Latin rhythms—particularly salsa—an affinity he would showcase with the Senegalese group Africando…

Magnetic, Sékouba Bambino kicks off this concert at the Petite Halle with a welcoming song bordering on praise. The piano is deliberately understated, the balafon delivers fascinating sounds, and the powerful vocal timbre draws the audience into a journey tinged with lyricism. After this introduction, the band delivers an incredible performance propelled by intricate rhythmic structures. This is the case with the hypnotic “Kassouma Ma” or the gentle “Mbambou.” But it is this astonishing cover of “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” one of James Brown’s hits, that steals the show with its incandescent tone and seamless bridge between Africa and America.