Photo credit: Francois Bisi
(June 6, 2023) Musical kindred spirits have a way of connecting even when it doesn’t seem like they have anything common. That is the case for Snarky Puppy leader Michael League and Montreal based singer Malika Tirolien. Snarky Puppy is an American band that plays funk, jazz, hip-hop, rock, soul, just to name a few genres the group has touched. Tirolien was born in Marie-Galante, Guadeloupe, a French overseas region located in the Caribbean. She sings in French, English and in the Guadeloupean Creole of her homeland.
(June 6, 2023) Musical kindred spirits have a way of connecting even when it doesn’t seem like they have anything common. That is the case for Snarky Puppy leader Michael League and Montreal based singer Malika Tirolien. Snarky Puppy is an American band that plays funk, jazz, hip-hop, rock, soul, just to name a few genres the group has touched. Tirolien was born in Marie-Galante, Guadeloupe, a French overseas region located in the Caribbean. She sings in French, English and in the Guadeloupean Creole of her homeland.
League saw Malika Tirolien singing lead with Cirque du Soleil in 2013 and invited her and the Groundfood, Montreal based band that she was a member of, to open for Snarky Puppy in New York. That formed the basis of an ongoing collaboration that saw Tirolien sing on Snarky Puppy’s album Family Dinner – Volume 1, which came out in 2013. Tirolien was a part of Snarky Puppy’s 2014 European tour, which occurred a shortly after she released her debut album, Sur La Voie Ensoleillée ("On the High/Sunny Road").
Tirolien joined League’s band Bokante´ a year later. Bokante´ is where fans truly see the musical connections between Tirolien and League. Bokante´ is a world music band and all the band’s members are curious about and conversant in a variety of musical genres. Or as League says, “Bokanté tries to open the listener up to the unique perspectives shared among the group’s members. We are multi-lingual, multicultural, and multi-generational but there’s a connection we feel as musicians and people. It’s a really beautiful thing.”
“Adjoni,” the lead single from Bokante´s upcoming album History, showcases the depth of the band’s influences. “Adjoni” finds Tirolien singing in her native tongue in an angelic voice that float over a percussive arrangement. Musically, the song draws on several sources. Blues and funk can be heard, and the percussion takes the listener back to Africa. Check it out below.
By Howard Dukes