06.07.2013, Kasumama Africa Festival, Moorbad Harbach

Our final day at Kasumama and I must admit that my expectations were far exceeded by what the festival had to offer. What a wonderful event, meeting ground for networking with business people, artist, performers, craftsmen and woman and the diverse amounts of people who had come in support of the festival.

Africanlife we would like to thank the organizers for having us at the festival. It really was a pleasure, the flair and character of the festival was marvelous.

As I had anticipated the line up for the evening was fantastic, with performances by Edith Lettner and African Jazz Spirit (Senegal and Austria) as well as Burkina Electric (Burkina Faso).

I loved Edith Lettner and African Jazz Spirit their on their own level. Unique is what I would say. Enjoyed their performance.

Edith Lettner has lived and worked as free-lance musician and artist in Vienna since 1983. Edith has had numerous exhibitions in Austria and abroad and has created performance, combining action painting, dance and jazz improvisation.
She studied saxophone with Leo Wright, Manfred Balasch, Herwig Gradischnig and Oscar Noriega taking lessons in jazz theory with Uli Scherer. In addition to jazz she has gotten deeply involved in Oriental and African music and she plays the Armenian reed instrument duduk.
In 2005 she formed her own group "Free Motion (Jazz & More)" and 2010 "African Jazz Spirit".
Her constant work and exchanges with musicians from allover the world has inspired her immensely, extended her horizons as an artist and an human being as well. Thus she developed a very unique style of jazz improvisation and composition. She has played with many groups live and on recordings. Her compositions have been published on several CDs. Edith has also composed music for movies and theater.
She has gone to Senegal several times to play with local musicians, to paint and to exhibit her art.

Burkina Electric came across as a new African sound wave. Traditional African music with Electronic flavor. Energy filled music, young and fresh. They were a blast watching and performing.

Hailed an "Irresistible brew of West African music and electronica" by the New York Times. Burkina Electric is the first electronic music group from Burkina Faso, in the deep interior of West Africa. Based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital, it is, at the same time, an international band, with members living in New York, U.S.A. as well as Ouaga. Burkina Electric’s music combines the traditions and rhythms of Burkina Faso with contemporary electronic dance culture, making it a trailblazer in electronic world music. A diverse and talented group consisting of three musicians and two dancers, they collectively participate in the creative process and represent disparate musical genres and sounds from across the globe.  

The Kasumama experience will never be forgotten it was great!

Photos by Yeke, written by Lauren