Labess: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

In this video, Algerian and Canadian band Labess prove music has no boundaries, even in times of isolation.

The video comes courtesy of NPR Music’s Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing netizens performances from across the world, in a stripped-down, intimate setting.

Recording their set from France and Colombia, Labess blend flamenco and Gypsy jazz-influenced North African chaabi into energetic soul music with a nonstop beat.

Singing in Arabic, French and Spanish, Labess lead vocalist Nedjim Bouizzoul mixes realism and hope, gentleness and fury, in stories about exile that illustrate the joys and the distress that pave the road from native countries to new homes and back again.

Through his poetry, he proposes we reflect on cultural diversity and the necessity to unite, no matter our differences.

Set list:

• “Yal Maknin”
• “Yemma”
• “La Vida Es Un Carnaval”

Musicians:

• Nedjim Bouizzoul: lead vocals, guitar (France)
• Simon Demouveaux: banjo, oud (France)
• Rabah Khalfa: derbouka, chorus (France)
• Simon Lannoy: cello (France)
• Loran Bozic: violin (France)
• Pierre Bonnet: bass (France)
• Mike Rajamahendra: drum (France)
• François Taillefer: percussion (France)
• Julio Frias: percussion (Colombia)
• Miche Molina: accordion (Colombia)
• Javier Villa: trombone (Colombia)
• Rafael “Pachalo” Gavilan: trumpet (Colombia)
• Moises Marquez Leyva: saxophonist (Colombia)

View the original video here.

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