ViBeJuice Review - Dobet Gnahore

Twenty-five year old Dobet Gnahoré, West African singer from Cote d’ivoire gave a captivating performance at Yoshi’s Jazz Club in Oakland July 2008. Having never seen nor heard the singer, I ventured along with a friend Jet to hear what’s new in afro-world beat.

People from ages twenty to seventy, a mix Americans, hip, old and young crowded into the venue with a palpitating excitement, most whom Jet and I thought were the least likely to attend a show on a Thursday night to see the African songstress. We pondered how did these ticket holders know of the headliner? How had they been introduced to this type of music? I though perhaps some of the younger ticket holders had served in the Peace Corps in Africa and was exposed to local culture of political instability, disease, food and music; well at the least they looked like the type.

The show began on time, while late comers scampered to find the few remaining seats. There was a tense anticipation as the three musicians walked on stage: bass guitarist and singer from Tunisia, Nabil Mehrezi, and guitarist from France, Colin Laroche de Feline; and Togolese drummer Boris Tchango.

The intro music began with a throbbing and pulsing rhythm as Dobet gracefully entered the small stage with her powerful scales of melodic chants then burst into afro-operatic bellows. Her small shapely and strong frame was draped in a black with skirt worn over pants and a black leotard; hair tied with a black scar and sculpted high like a crown, while her face boldly pronounced and beautifully adorned with paint, gold, and jeweled like a Dogon mask.

Gnahore is a youthful relentless performer. She is a powerful dancer with rhythmic sways, complex footwork from bent knee and sudden jumps into incredibly high kicks while occasionally freezing abruptly on a hard downbeat …stop….pause in a warring pose… break into a fast deep rhythmic dance that had you dancing along with her from your seats, applauding and shouting in amazement. (YouTube)

Gnahore played the Congo drum, not typical or tradition for female performers. One song in particular, she sat on the far right of the stage and sang out a beautifully scale of melodies in one of the seven dialects she speaks while she played a gourd. Dobet’s stage presence is gracious in every since of the word which can only be described as beautifully enigmatic. (My Space).