Festival Timitar signes & Culktures

Europe  / Morocco /

Agadir 13-16 Juillet 2016

Bringing the salsa genre to another level… where it must be!!

By: La Clave Spain There are constantly talks about La Salsa is dead, that there are no new values, among several other negative “statements” about genre which are discussed in the context of the collective consciousness, usually not very positive, which does not mean they are absolutly right, nothing further from reality.

It is true that, in the case of young people, they are looking for new and fun things like youth at last, and what they hear on the Salsa radios are the legends and glories from the past, who deserve all our respect obviously, but there are no promotion nor “special radio programs” on the new values who are there, despite not receiving the necessary support, so young people bow down more on those genres or pseudo-genres that offer fun and novelty they are seeking and need, not in salsa as it does not give novelty to them. This is an issue that deserves a separate article because this one is on a rather more positive path, in another direction to the above mentioned, but wants to point out these matters to see clearly what we talk about below.

Obviously Salsa Congresses, including Salsa Live, should in no way be underestimated because they are places where to show the energy released in a concert to an audience who already knows the genre though, few congresses have live musical performances mainly focused on dancing that, actually, is the complement of the musical genre. Nor underestimate the large settlement of latin people, in Europe for example, whose show promoters organize Salsa live concerts but only focused on the legends and glories above mentioned without providing opportunities to new artists.

Now, what it is all about is to bring this exciting musical genre to another level, a higher or more popular one, and to other public too so that then the salsero movement grows and become truly international as other musical genres because saying that La Salsa is already popular and international is not the truth. Dancing Salsa up in Tibet does not mean that, as a musical genre, it has spread there. Dancing is a complement and only “live concerts” shown what it really is winning loyal followers who go along Salsa way everywhere, not just as a short time hobbie.

Based on the above we focus our attention on an event internationally recognized as the Timitar Festival held between 13 and 16 of July 2016 in the city of Agadir-Morocco, where the Venezuelan salsero singer Jose Luis “El Gato” Moran, based in Madrid-Spain, will offer a concert supported on stage by the Salsa Spanish All Stars band.

International Festival Timitar www.festivaltimitar.ma is a renowned World Music Festival which is among the top 25 in the world (Songlines Magazine-UK) where Amazigh artists welcome others coming from everywhere and an affluence of public of more than 500,000 people. Four (4) magic nights to listen or to discover Amazigh (Berbers) artists and intemational ones who agree to create bridges between different worlds and turn them into one through music, showing the way to future generations.

The Timitar is primarily an event where it’s faithful public comes every year to see and live together in a spirit of celebration and opened to all music from there and elsewhere.

During thirteen (13) years the Timitar Festival has sought and found the bridges mentioned under the artistic direction of Brahim El Mazned, considered one of the most influential person in the culture of the Mahgreb, who is also the creator and director of Visa For Music www.visaformusic.com the first event and meeting place for music & art professionals from Africa and the Middle East which is held every year in mid-November.

A titanic effort from Brahim El Mazned whose main reward is a job well done and that, together with an extraordinary and effective team under his direction, they build those musical bridges between different worlds to finally be one, one world talking the same language through Music and Art. The permanent Timitar Festival theme is “signs and cultures” and for editing 2016 the public will get a good dose of both, including Salsa.

Agadir in Morocco is also a beautiful and modern city internationally known as a tourist destination, with a population of 1,000,000 inhabitants aprox. A city located in the southem part of Morocco owes its interest mainly for its location as it is surrounded by the Anti-Atlas, the Sahara Desert, natural parks and quality secluded beaches very easily accessible from the city. An interesting culture and a friendly city, something that truly characterizes the people from Morocco.

A true paradise that, during four days, will be full happiness and where you can enjoy performances of artists such as, to name a few, Ahidous Tighassaline & Ahawach Bani Tata (Amazigh), Laila Lamrini and Samia Ahmed (Moroccan Clasical), Ahouzar and Inouraz, tuareg sounds with Bombino, the mauritanian Maalourna or algerian Sidi Bémol, among dozens of other World Music interpreters who will meet there in mid-July 2016.

As a postscript, La Salsa will be at the Timitar Festival by the hand of Jose Luis “El Gato” Morån and Spanish All Stars Band. Singer born in Maracaibo-Venezuela with more than 20 years on stage having shared them with artists like Oscar D’Leon, Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz, Larry Harlow and even the late Cheo Feliciano without neglecting support to new figures like Canary Islands settled La Candela Salsa Orchestra or Calle Mora Band from Madrid, among others. Nominated to the Latin Grammy, his Salsa has been included in films awarded at intemational film festivals and he himself received an award for taking his music to “Places No Traditionally Salseros” as it has been the case of Russia, Sultanate of Oman at the Persian Gulf and more. For these reasons also was named “Ambassador of Caribbean Culture” (Latinos in London Magazine). The orchestra accompanying him on this occasion is composed by a selection from among the best Latin musicians based in Spain and even national musicians, so creative and interpretive rhythm amalgam is unique.

It is easy to understand that La Salsa is part of the World Music by the strong influence of the sounds of Africa to the Caribbean area during the despicable era of slavery and percussion, so typical of this continent, is the basis of its sound, magic and rhythm. There are still some “experts” of music that still do not recognize this unquestionable fact believing that genre is proper and exclusive of Latin America, but the reality is that the ancient musical influence above mentioned coupled with the own Caribbean indigenous and Europe influences, among others, assure La Salsa a privileged place in the wide variety of sounds from world music, no doubts.

Giant steps like these ones are necessary so that another generation of Salsa fans born and continue to grow while maintaining passion in those veterans who, for many years, have enjoyed the flavor and rhythm that Salsa gives to them. Transmit that passion to a new audience eager to learn could be, as In this case, the mission of every salsero artist who necessarily would come out of the comfort zone performing not only to the public ever since consolidated which, in fact , will provide great satisfaction to the artist himself.

The Timitar Festival in Agadir-Morocco and “El Gato” Moran are a clear example.