NANA BENZ DU TOGO

TOGO

PERFORMANCES

Friday, 8pm, Brooklands Stage
Saturday, 2pm, Gables Stage

Mesmerising and exceedingly cool, this quintet from Togo brings a completely organic sound with electronic rhythms expressed through handmade percussion, drums, a Korg synth and three powerful female voices. Firmly anchored in the group’s voodoo heritage, their songs extol the value of freedom and the importance of respect for the planet and its inhabitants. “We’ve always been ecologists, without knowing it, because Voodoo is in fact Nature,” explains Izeale, one of the three vocalists. Nana Benz du Togo never really intended to put voodoo culture under the spotlight, yet they set alight the Transmusicales de Rennes festival in 2022 with a juggernaut of ceremonial electro-voodoo-soul and released their first album Ago in 2023.  It’s music that grabs you deep inside and makes you want to dance. 

ARTIST WORKSHOP

This workshop by the full band will present traditional vodoun (voodoo) chants from Togo in West Africa; devotional songs in the Ewe language written by priests and priestess. These songs are sung during ceremonies at vodoun convents throughout the year. The band will translate them, give context and have the audience sing them as a choir.

Sunday, 2-3pm, Te Paepae Stage

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