Lemma is back!

 

Saoura's divas are back for two gigs in may! They'll also be on stage in July and September.

 

More than 1000 km south of the Mediterranean Sea, in the Algerian desert, at the crossroads of the old caravan routes, lies the region of Saoura where the musicians of LEMMA come from. They are an band created under the leadership of Souad Asla. The music of the Saoura, which draws from multiple sources, is sometimes slow and languorous, sometimes sharp and swaying. We can recognizable it by the simplicity of its instruments and the place occupied by the body.

 

The voice and the hands remain the principal instruments, to which are joined the percussions and the guembri or Hasna El Becharia's guitar. The 9 musicians of Lemma want to be the guardians of a secular tradition, and claim it even in their clothing style. They blur the lines between sacred and profane, between gender and space. They borrow a music that was once man only, and play chamber and outdoor music on stage. They publicize what's intimate, they give to see what can't be seen, they break the border of the genre down while glorifying the female one... So many challenges taken up by these musicians!

 

Souad Asla achieved in giving more visibility to this genre by combining authenticity and scenic requirement. From now on, it is in public and on the stages of the world that the lemma (meeting, assembly) takes place, which continues to be practiced in private and in intimacy.

 

 

Lemma on tour in May:

 

May 11 at l'Opéra de Rennes
More information and tickets: https://opera-rennes.fr/fr/evenement/divas-du-monde-algerie-lemma
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1093315231237336?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22surface%22%3A%22page%22%7D]%7D

 

13 May 13 at l'Espace Glenmor in Carhaix
More information and tickets: https://www.seetickets.com/fr/d/event/lemma/espace-glenmor/8066507

 

 

The musicians:

 

Souad Asla

Artistic direction, guembri, percussions, dance , voice

Aziza Tahri 

Voice, derbuka, t’bal, bendir, karkabu

Khedidja Anebi 

Bendir, karkabu, choirs

Mebrouka Brik 

Voice, bendir, karkabu

Rabia Boughazi 

T’bal, bendir, karkabu, pestle, choirs

Sabrina Cheddad 

Bendir, karkabu, dance, choirs

Zohra Kherabi

Voice, t’bal, bendir, karkabu, dance