Lagon Nwar

‘Lagon Nwar is the salty taste of water, the curls weighed down by rain, the port and its armaments, the fading of colonies’ Ann O’aro

Lagon Nwar would be completely new to us if it weren’t for singer Ann O’aro – and those of us who were at a packed-out Linhart Hall in March 2024 to hear her present her third album Bleu remember her very well indeed. It was one of those delightful nights of musical magic that will never leave anyone privileged enough to be there.

Lagon Nwar by LAGON NWAR

(AIRFONO, 2025)

The really lucky ones got to see her again a few days after that at the Babel XP festival in Marseille, although Lagon Nwar are a different beast entirely. The energy, enthusiasm, commitment and self-confidence remained, this time shared with the four members of the band: a French half of two academy-trained jazz masters and an African duo whose roots stretch from Burkina Faso in the west to the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, where O’aro also comes from.

The music expresses the warmth and depth of Creole poetry, complemented by the assertive but still poetic voice of Marcel Balboné and interwoven with the pronounced rhythms of African percussion.Clean, powerful basslines, keyboards to comfort and occasionally soothe, and sax solos that remind you that you’re looking into the very depths of the volcano as it’s about to erupt. It’s a heady mix that’s more than right for a Kino Šiška Friday night.

Marcel Balboné (vocals, drums, koundé) / Quentin Biardeau (tenor saxophone, keyboards) / Valentin Ceccaldi (bass) / Ann O’aro (vocals) / Sébastien Bedrunes (sound)

Supported by Liveurope. Liveurope is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.

With the cooperation of the Embassy of France in Slovenia and the Institut français de Slovénie.

Co-produced by Druga Godba & Kino Šiška.