Earlier this week, we posted Banning Eyre’s first take on the 2025 Nuits D’Afrique festival in Montreal, with promise of more to come. Now, here’s our man Ron Deutch’s report. Ron has the advantage of living in the city, so he caught more of the action than we did. As always, we’re grateful for his keen eyes and ears!
Thumbnail image Defmaa Maadef. Banner image Bab L’Bluz. Both images © M Bellmellat 2025
As summer continues to roll (and often broil, these days), mid-July is a special time for us at Afropop Worldwide. For over a decade we’ve been coming to – and also being involved with – the Nuits d’Afrique festival here in Montreal. Nuits is literally the premiere and largest festival celebrating the music of the African diaspora in the Western Hemisphere. And, of course, Montreal is a perfect home for such a festival with its incredibly multi-cultural population, with established communities of immigrants from up and down the Americas, the Caribbean, and of course, from so many African countries. This year, its 39th, the festival ran for 13 days, from July 8 to July 20, with 120 concerts and activities. The first week was just indoor concerts, mostly at the festival’s home base, Club Balattou, but often having simultaneous concerts in a handful of other venues within walking distance. The second week was focused at two stages in a park within Montreal’s downtown entertainment district, though there were also nightly concerts at Club Balattou as well. Once again, it would be impossible to catch all the acts, but we’ll focus on those that we saw and we most impressive.
As Banning and Sean noted in their coverage, also one of my top three acts this year was Tyrane Mondeny from Ivory Coast. She has a powerhouse of a voice, great stage presence, and she rocked the house. I joined Banning to interview her after her set and immediately adored her. She was so humbled and honored by our praise, she nearly began to cry. She’s been working cabaret shows back home and had the opportunity to come to Montreal and perform at Club Balattou during the winter. Suzanne Rousseau, the festival co-founder and executive director, told me that after her performance that night, she was as equally impressed by her as we were, and told Mondeny she definitely wanted her to come back for the festival.
During the indoor, first week for the festival, my absolute favorite discovery this year was by Senegalese guitarist Sahad. It was an evening of severe African funk and soul. Sahad has, of course, an Afrobeat vibe (it’s gotten redundant these days to say an African musician is influenced by Fela Kuti, like it would be redundant saying a rock band is influenced by Chuck Berry), but, also of course, toss in some James Brown vibes. With two horn player, the arrangements reminded me of classic soul horn sections. But there also seemed something Brazilian in the mix as well, which I would probably credit to local keyboardist extraordinaire David Ryshpan. Rhyspan has recorded with both Marisa Monte and Jorge Ben. And both Ryshpan and Sahad’s trumpeter Remi Cormier are members of Afropop Worldwide favorite Vox Sambou’s band. In fact, Sambou got on stage to join Sahad for one song in his set. While Sahad has been performing for a decade now, the show at Balattou, with the band he had backing him up there, was so much more visceral and exciting than what he’s been able to capture on record or video previously.
So those were our two big discoveries this year, but there many acts we were already familiar with whose performances will stay with us. For starters, during the first week of the festival, whenever we have a chance to see Daby Touré, we know we will not be disappointed. Touré started his life in Mauritania, but then moved to Paris as a teen, and has split his time between Montreal and Paris for many years now. He released several albums on Peter Gabriel’s Real World label in the 2000’s. His last release was in 2015 on Cumbacha Records, and he is apparently working on a new release. He’s a folk singer, and to see him in concert, if you close your eyes, you can imagine yourself chilling on a backyard porch on a lovely day and Touré is there just playing his beautiful songs. And coincidentally, we found a video of him pretty much doing just that.
Opening the festival this year was an indoor concert from Brazilian singer Flavia Coelho, who has been based in Paris and got her start busking in the Paris Metro. And those skills she learned then continue to serve her now. She really puts on a show – prancing and dancing around the stage, playing guitar, then drums, and even trombone at one point. We first interviewed her way back in 2017. As a local critic said to me in conversation, Coelho is: “la plus Française des Brésiliens” (the Frenchiest of Brazilians), and truly the Francophone audience adored her.
It was also great to reconnect with French/Moroccan rockers Bab l’Bluz after their electrifying set at Babel Music Expo in Marseille back in March. We’ve said it before and it still holds true, Yousra Mansoor is a rock star. You can read the interview we did here.
Then we were fortunate to again see a performance from Les Mamans du Congo, who we interviewed in 2024 at WOMEX. Not to denigrate them in any way, but they are not a band, they are best described as a theatrical production. You are watching a performance that has a story to it. the impetus for this project was born first out of the desire to call attention to the imbalance of women’s place in Congolese society, who are generally relegated to domestic duties and second-class status. Many of their songs are from what might be called “children’s songs,” songs that parents sing to their children to teach them a life lesson.
During their performance, we were standing next to Naxx Bitota, who we discovered (and now love) at Montreal’s Jazzfest, who remarked to us that when she growing up in Congo, her mother often sang some of these songs to her. Speaking of Bitota, we should note that their set at Nuits d’Afrique had Kizaba on the drum kit. And speaking of Kizaba, he took over the DJ set one evening, playing tracks but also drumming at the same time. It was very cool. And check out the interview we did with him, as well, earlier this year.
We were also happy to see Defmaa Maadef (formerly known as “Def Mama Def”), the duo of Senegalese hip hop singers Mamy Victory and Defa. We first caught them at WOMEX in 2023 and they’ve only gotten better. As well, we keep falling deeper in love with Malian-Quebec Djely Tapa. Her mix of Mandingo songs, Sahel blues and Afro-futurist electronics is so of the moment, but also with a direct line to the past – she is the daughter of Malian griot extraordinaire Kandia Kouyate.
Another daughter of a great musician, Reunion Island singer Maya Kamaty, daughter of legendary maloya musician Gilbert Pounia, leader of the band Ziskakan. Kamaty did a late-night indoor set that we sadly missed, but we did get to catch up with her during one of the daytime outdoor workshops, where she discussed the history of maloya music in general and specifically about how the kayamba is made and played. The kayamba is a flat handmade instrument of sugar cane reeds. Maloya was the music of the slaves who were brought to the island by French colonialists. They would gather and dance to the traditional, rhythmic blues sound in secret locations, as it was banned by the slave owners and the church. After the workshop, we sat down with her for a brief interview we’ll post shortly.
Turning to the headliners, we were very happy to see Labess. For the uninitiated, Labess is sort of the stage name of Algerian-born Nedjim Bouizzoul. Sort of, in the sense, that he may have a group of musicians with him, or maybe just performing solo. Over the years, we have seen him in many different configurations, but always feel like we’ve had a good time. He relocated to Quebec when he was 18, started busking shortly thereafter, and since then has released four albums. He is someone who truly plays “world music,” because from one song to the next, or even within one song, you may hear influences ranging from flamenco to chaabi, from Cuban son to Gypsy jazz. Labess has matured into real class act and I would highly recommend finding an opportunity to see him live.
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Another returning headliner who closed the festival, and with charisma that lit up the stage was Meiway, who though is from the Ivory Coast, his fame has stretched throughout the continent for three decades now. And if he and his band’s performance wasn’t enough, the crowd that filled a city block was like a sea of waving white handkerchiefs, which is a tradition for his fans to demonstrate their love of him. The festival couldn’t have asked for a better closer.
Last, but not least, the female sextet known as Las Karamba stole our hearts. Based in Barcelona, their members come from several countries: Venezuela, Cuba, Argentina, and of course Spain. And so of course, their music spans boleros, salsa, rumba, cha-cha, and more. While they are all excellent performers, we’ll give a shout-out to their flautist to Maria Gil, from Valencia, Spain who had some great solos.
Other acts that deserve honorable mention were Haitian-Canadian Jean Jean Roosevelt whom I always enjoy and recently learned he is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador; the action-packed dance party from (also Haitian-Canadian) group Baz Kompa; the dozen members of the Chaabi Orchestre de Montreal just filled outdoor stage with classic chaabi during one afternoon that was a feast for both the ears and eyes; and finally, Femi Kuti who was like a rocket flying through his set with his band, the Positive Force.
We look forward to next year’s 40th anniversary festival, which we are sure will be very special indeed.
