On the day of our interview, at the beginning of November, Nedjim Bouizzoul, creator, leader, singer and guitarist of the group Labess, answers us from the road from Casablanca to Meknes, one of the stages of his triumphant Moroccan tour, which leads his sunny multi combo -facets, in Marrakech, Rabat, Tangier… And each of these stops, or almost, is sold out: a tidal wave on Moroccan soil, joyful and friendly, the image of their name (“Labess” means “everything is fine” in Arabic), for this Algerian who succeeded where diplomacy failed.
The road is perhaps where this troubadour feels best, as an extract from his title song says. Free Dima (“Always free”) thanks to the words of Mokless (Scred Connexion): “ My address is the whole world. »
And ” the world is [son] bled », his epic begins, in short pants forty years ago in the streets of Algiers, Hussein-Dey district, to the sound of the chaâbi, forged by his “big brothers”, who gave back to the Arabic language its popular letters.
Then it will be Quebec, where the teenager emigrates with his family at the age of eighteen. Throughout his youth, he drank in all kinds of sounds – heavy metal, hard rock, rap, French song, Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan… But in this host of music that composes him, one particularly touches him. heart: flamenco and its extra soul, duende. “ For me, it has the powerful, abrasive side of heavy metal, less monolithic, more nuanced… Rumba, for example, the style of the Gipsy Kings, deploys a sometimes melancholy repertoire on ultra festive tunes. he expresses in his hoarse voice.
Mixed spices
With this heterogeneous background, Nedjim began to strum his guitar and sing a song, exactly twenty years ago, in the Montreal metro. Quickly, his instrument slung over his shoulder like a passport, he crisscrossed the globe: Cuba, Cape Verde, Uganda, Colombia, where he lived for two years, Reunion, where he “ discovers another form of Africanness », etc. « All these travels, these discoveries of different cultures and lifestyles, have brought me a lot of humility and curiosity.and »he summarizes.
Along the way, he fills his musical bag with spices, grooves, languages, develops the taste of his five albums, concocts his own drum and his own landscape. So, on this album Free Dimarecorded in the troglodyte studio Le Pressoir, near Tours, he cheerfully mixes his chaâbi base with the swoops of rumba, the energy of rap, the coppery projections of funk, the sharp solos of the electric guitar of his Colombian friend Tito – the novelty of this disc.
Everything is sung in Arabic, French, Spanish, his favorite languages. And provided by a band of musicians from diverse backgrounds – “ a Franco-Serbo-Croat, a Quebeco-Peruvian, a Breton, a Berrichon, a Tunisian, from Paris…” – in front of equally colorful audiences – “dMoroccans, Algerians, Tunisians, French, Bretons (!), Latinos, young people, old people… » « I am against any form of stigmatization! », affirms the one who says he follows two musical threads – the African lineage and the Gypsy route.
All this sounds, in his songs, in a strangely fluid way, of a single piece, without apparent seam: “ In the end, it’s all a question of dosage like in cooking. Life has taught me to regulate my spices: such a quantity of cumin, of curry. Simplicity comes with experience », enlightens this adventurer, who ended up packing his backpacker suitcases in Finistère in Douarnenez, a couple of years ago, “ because they bought him drinks on each terrace where [il] played ».
Libertarian and fraternal songs
But don’t be fooled! Behind this festive and mixed soundtrack, Labess delivers, like Manu Chao, his “big brother”, solid political messages and hymns to fraternity, which contaminate the listener out of nowhere. First there is this ode to freedom, Free Dimawith Latin American accents which, starting from his life path, denounces the “ sordid racism “, THE ” blame always placed on immigrants ”, and greets in return the “ brothers met on the planet » and the “ clandestinos so warm they would warm the heart of an eskimo ». « I would like to abolish all kinds of borders: mental, political, musical… “, he confesses.
There is also this opening song, tender and combative, painful, but sung to cheerful rhythms and harmonies, soberly titled Palestineinterpreted in Spanish, Arabic and Hebrew, which describes from several perspectives, all full of hope, the dramatic situation of this territory: “ I have been there many times. I campaigned there…. Just recently, I was on video with activists from Gaza. I subsidized a center for orphans there, which is now bombed. Lots of people I know are dead. I can’t keep quiet… », he describes with emotion.
In African colors, he also denounces the tragedies born from conflicts, and their absurdities: “ War is often with others, believing that it is their fault (…) And friends fall, night falls, bombs fall » (The war). Conversely, in All we are saying nowhe calls for peace with all his wishes. And gives new life to a Sufi text, signed Hadj Foudhil El Mernissi, in Koul Men Chaf Ghazali. « I’m on a spiritual path myself “, he admits, modestly.
Federate an Olympia
And then, there is this song about the story of love at first sight, touching realistic poetry in French forged on the zinc of a Parisian bistro (Roxane) ; and this poignant and sublime hymn to love, with a flamenco background, signed by the poet Cheikh Belkacem Oueld Saïd El Mostghanmi, How are you?. And finally, to close, this country-style, gypsy cover, sung in chorus, of Graeme Allright’s hit, I have to goa nod to his father, who died thirty years ago, who loved this song.
Because what sets Nedjim apart, currently starring in the film Barbès, Little Algeriaon this fifth album, it is, without a shadow of a doubt, this undeniable talent for effective melodies, his way of sublimating pain and his art of joy, inevitably contagious. An irresistible and unifying side which explains its packed Olympia on November 14. From the corridors of the metro to the most prestigious Parisian venue, he definitely knew how, in songs, to trace his path… Labess, everything is fine!
Labess Free Dima (Light art) 2024
In concert at the Olympia in Paris on November 14, 2024.
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