For our first hangout of the year, globalFEST spent Saturday evening with our friends at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival. Bombino and Femi Kuti were set to hit the stage that night, but before the show started we set up blankets on the lush Prospect Park lawn and invited the globalFEST community to come hang out with Eric Herman of Modiba Productions, Bombino’s manager. As the sun set on the hottest day of the year, we gathered with new and old friends to hear about Bombino’s culture and musical history.
Eric Herman talking about Bombino’s history
Eric Herman of Modiba Productions and Bombino’s manager
Eric began with a brief anecdote of Omara “Bombino” Moctar’s childhood, explaining that he joined his first band at the young age of 14 with renowned Tuareg guitarist, Haja Bebe. This is where Omara got his Bombino moniker, which he still uses to this day; his bandmates would call him Bombino after the Italian word “bambino,” which means little child. After the Tuareg Rebellion in 1990, Bombino started teaching himself guitar, specifically looking to Western guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and learning their styles from videos. Eric explained that most of Bombino’s songs are political and sung in the Tuareg language Tamasheq. His latest album, Azel, on Partisan Records, is a swift mixture of Tuareg blues, dub, rock and roll. After some questions from the crowd, we said goodbye to Eric and settled in as Bombino took the stage.
Co-founders Bill Bragin and Isabel Soffer
Hanging out after the discussion
The crowd at the Bandshell welcomed Bombino with fierce applause. By his second song, no one at the #gFhangout was sitting. As we passed around snacks and danced, Bombino played songs from his latest album and even a few from 2013’s Nomad. Femi Kuti’s band played an explosive set after Bombino with a special appearance by #gFartist Seun Kuti, who was covered in traditional Yoruba body paint by artist Laolu Senbanjo. Femi ended his set with a special cover of Fela’s “Water No Get Enemy,” that had everyone dancing.
gF friends
gF friends
The night ended with worn out feet and new friends. We packed up our blankets and followed the crowd out on to the streets humming our favorite tunes of the night.