FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT MALIKA TIROLIEN

August 10, 2020 | by SFJAZZ

Malika Tirolien

Vocalist Malika Tirolien fronts Bokanté, one of the newest projects masterminded by Snarky Puppy's leader and bassist Michael League — a supergroup of Snarky Puppy members (including League and guitarist Bob Lanzetti), lap steel virtuoso Roosevelt Collier, and a trio of percussionists hailing from the U.S., Sweden, and Ghana. Here's five things to know about Malika in anticipation of this week's Fridays at Five streaming concert featuring Bokanté.

1. Malika Tirolien was raised on the island of Guadeloupe in an artistic family—her grandfather inspired her with poems, her grandmother was a pianist, and her father was a self taught multi-instrumentalist.
2. A powerful stage performer, Malika took the lead in Cirque Du Soleil’s La Nouba.
3. She was one of eight featured artists on Snarky Puppy’s 2013 GRAMMY-winning debut Family Dinner, singing "I’m Not The One."
4. Malika’s solo release, Sur La Voie Ensoleilee (On the High Road) combines her life's influences—from the Caribbean vocals and rhythms of her native Guadeloupe, to soul, jazz and hip-hop she became immersed in while studying and gigging in Montreal.
5. Bokanté debuted at the GroundUP Music Festival in 2016. In the words of Michael League: “Unity was paramount in the formation of this group. Though the ensemble is multi-lingual, multi-cultural, and multi-generational, we all feel connected as musicians and people. And in combining our different accents I feel that there is a strangely common and poignant sound, one that can reach and relate to listeners around the world.”

The video for Bokanté's "All The Way Home" (below) was directed by Michael League. It was filmed on three different continents, in the areas of NYC, Catalunya, and Istanbul. A highlight of the band's 2018 GRAMMY-nominated album What Heat and recorded in collaboration with Holland's Metropole Orkest, "All The Way Home" speaks to those living under oppressive leadership, and the ability of the individual to create change in society.

Originally posted August 22, 2018