SOUNDS OF SENEGAL: KAIRA BA + CHEIKH IBRA FAM | AfroPop
Schedule
Sat, 29 Mar, 2025 at 08:00 pm
UTC-04:00Location
3108 West Cary Street, Richmond, VA, United States, Virginia 23221 | Richmond, VA
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Two extraordinary Senegalese artists - on stage together for the first time - perform an exhilarating fusion of modern and traditional AfroPop.Diali Cissokho (Kaira Ba's founder) was born into a rich ancestry of Manding griots (jalis). Diali has been playing traditional West African music for as long as he can remember. While his greatest love is the kora, a 21-stringed West African bridge harp, he is also an accomplished singer, songwriter, and percussionist. Cheikh Ibra grew up in Dakar singing spiritual songs in the Baye Fall tradition, heard Afro-Cuban music on the home stereo and fell in love with the voice of Otis Redding. Later, he became enamored with hip-hop and released 3 albums under the stage name Freestyle. After 6 years singing with the legendary Orchestra Baobab, Cheikh Ibra Fam launched his solo-career in 2022 with his album Peace in Africa. This one-time-only showcase at Révéler brings these two accomplished African artists together for the first time anywhere.
Kaira Ba ecstatically explores the spiritual songs, stories, and rhythms of Senegal’s millennia-old Mandé culture. Bandleader Diali Cissokho chose the name “Kaira Ba” (meaning “The Great Peace”) because it elegantly reflects a core value that he and his band aim to express when they perform. Cissokho comes from a long line of prominent hereditary griots – people who are entrusted to maintain a West African village’s genealogies and important ceremonial affairs through song. But he is much more than a preservationist. Cissokho and his band effortlessly integrate the traditional sounds of the kora, the 21-stringed bridge-harp, with a modern rush of electric guitar and an exuberant rhythm section.
The band formed in North Carolina in January of 2011, shortly after Cissokho’s immigration to the US. Kaira Ba has produced three full length albums, toured extensively in the US, and traveled twice as a band to Senegal. In 2014, Kaira Ba was nominated for the prestigious continent-wide All Africa Music Award (AFRIMA) in the category “Best African Group” for their album The Great Peace. In 2018, the band released its most ambitious album to date, Routes, which was recorded alongside a broad cast of guests in both North Carolina and Senegal. The album was met with critical acclaim upon its releases, being favorably reviewed by Afropop Worldwide, The Financial Times, OkayAfrica, the famed rock critic Robert Christgau for Noisey/Vice, and Songlines who wrote, “ This album is up there with the groundbreaking recordings of Thione Seck, Baaba Maal and Youssou N’Dour.” Kaira Ba has performed and taught at Universities, appeared in front of large festival audiences and shared stages with some of Africa’s most prominent international artists, including Angélique Kidjo, Vieux Farka Touré, and the late Khaira Arby.
Cheikh Ibra Fam is a multidimensional artist whose nearly 15 year career has demonstrated a free and futuristic spirit, well anchored in his Senegalese roots. He introduced his first international album in the Spring of 2022 entitled 'Peace in Africa' for the French record label Soulbeats Music. He is also a singer for Orchestra Baobab, a famous Senegalese Afro-Cuban jazz band. Cheikh is an RFI Talent, part of the Putumayo World Discovery Program and a socially involved artist who has collaborated with the UN Refugee Agency, Association Monégasque Internationale pour L’Art Africain (AMIAA), and Innovation: Africa.
Cheikh Ibra Fam’s first solo album, 'Peace In Africa’, is the Afro-pop fruit of this musical impetus, it is as much anchored in Africa as it is open to the wider world, connected to his ancestral roots and resolutely contemporary. “Before, I was searching for myself,” the singer confided with a sense of relief and satisfaction that hints to his quest for an artistic identity.
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With only 100 seats, shows at Révéler are intimate and immersive. A romantic venue with exquisite sound and dreamy vibes, Révéler offers a unique selection of cocktails, wines, beers, bubbles, and non-alcoholic beverages. Our kitchen delivers small plates crafted with care.
SHOW NOTES
Admission: $25
Doors: 7:00pm
Music: 8:00pm - 11:00pm
21+ / 16+ must be accompanied by an adult
General admission. Seats are selected upon arrival and cannot be reserved in advance.
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Where is it happening?
3108 West Cary Street, Richmond, VA, United States, Virginia 23221Event Location & Nearby Stays:
