Africa Fair

Dramane Dembélé "Popimane" takes us on a journey in which the Peul flute and the voice come together in a surprising way: the breath of the Peul flute blends with other West African instruments such as the N'goni, the tama and the barra, conveying the sweet scents of the Sahel while recounting their origins, in a festive yet sometimes melancholic atmosphere.

A globe-trotter well known in the world of African music, "Popimane" launches a new stage of his career with this solo project. It is the project of a virtuoso musician of the Peul flute, whom he presents here in a new light.

His ambition is to push the limits of his instrument, giving it a sound fully anchored in our century: the Peul flute.

The flute is the instrument most representative of the Peul people, mainly because of their nomadic status.

It is made from reed (a small palm of the rattan family) or from PVC, whose slightly protruding side mouthpiece makes it an intermediary between the transverse flute and the end-blown flute. It is an oblique flute with three holes, offering a diatonic range of one to one and a half octaves.

Also called tambin or fulé, the Peul flute has had various functions throughout its history: the flute is the instrument of the solitary. The herder, often alone in the bush with his animals, could pass the time with his instrument, which was also easy to carry.

In this context the flautist plays a great deal in the low register. When the herder had finished gathering the herd, he would sit by the fire to spend the night, another occasion for him to play his flute. Africa Fair's ambition is to revisit the traditional West African repertoire through the prism of contemporary music, open to sound and aesthetic experimentation, in search of harmony between bush and city, tradition and modernity.