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Sheikhs Shikhats & B’net Chaabi RELEASE: Still to Come - 23/11/2022

Sheikhs Shikhats & B’net Chaabi RELEASE: Still to Come

The Sheikhs Shikhats & B’net Chaabi drop a first single from their debut album: Still to Come. With this captivating song, Laïla Amezian, Laurent Blondiau and the 16 other group members transport you with a big bang to the rich musical universe of the shikhats and ghanayats. The full album will be released in March 2023 via Zephyrus Records and will be accompanied by a release tour in Belgium and the Netherlands.

 

 

The Sheikhs Shikhats & B’net Chaabi is a colourful and exuberant ensemble led by Laïla Amezian. Through this project, Laïla wants to pay tribute to the shikhats and ghanayats, female singers who fought for freedom of expression in 19th century Morocco through popular ‘chaabi’ songs. 

 

To reinterpret extracts from these traditional repertoires, she surrounds herself with Laurent Blondiau for the musical direction and 16 other renowned musicians and vocalists, including jazz saxophonist Toine Thys, tubist Michel Massot, trumpeter Pauline Leblond, young trombonist Nabou Claerhout and female singer-percussionists of the Sultanats B’net Chaabi. Together, they offer an exciting mix of jazz, urban ethno and traditional Moroccan songs.

 

 

For this first single Still to Come, Laïla and Laurent were inspired by a traditional Moroccan song that addresses the universal theme of the human condition. Life has its share of happiness and misery in store for us, and we never know what tomorrow will bring. Fortunately, we can always draw strength from our inner selves, friends and family, or the dynamics of a group of like-minded people. A captivating song that plunges us into the heart of the rich musical universe of the shikhats and ghanayats…

 

Do you love this song, but think the best is still to come? The full album will be released in March 2023 via Zephyrus Records and will be accompanied by a release tour in Belgium and the Netherlands. Sit tight for their alluring melodies, enchanting vocals, breathtaking brass instruments and an explosive chaabi groove.

 

CONCERT DATES
03.12 DE SINGEL – Antwerp (PRE-RELEASE)
03.03 Senghor – Etterbeek
04.03 CC Zwaneberg – Heist-op-den-Berg
08.03 30CC – Leuven
11.03 CC Sint-Niklaas
18.03 De Factorij – Zaventem
02.04 ICAF Festival – Rotterdam (HOL)

 

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