Nikila Badua - Lead Vocals, dance, percussion;
Deja Solis - Lead Vocals, dance, percussion;
m.j. greenmountain - Lead Vocals, congas, djembe, talking drum, percussion;
Ian "Inkx" Herman - Drum kit, samples;
Vir McCoy - Sintir, bass;
Evan Fraser - Kalimba, melodica, keyboard, jaw harp, percussion
Influences
CULTURE & MOVEMENTS: Gnawa (Morocco), Yoruba, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Brazilian, North Indian Classical, West African Traditional, Afrobeat, Afro-Funk, Hip-Hop
FIGURES & BANDS: Fela Kuti, Hassan Hakmoun, Baba Maal, Manu Chao, Oumou Sangare, ROkia Triore, Dimi Mint Abba (Mauritania), Babatunde Olatunji, Pharoah Sanders, Sun Ra Arkestra, Ile Aye (Brazil), Zakir Hussein, Ravi Shankar, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, KRS-1, Saul Williams, Zap Mama
Sounds Like
Zap Mama meets Fela Kuti in a Moroccan hip hop club.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE:
This is musical mysticism that invites listeners to dance, clap, twirl, shout praise anything that involves a creative impulse. Call it trance. Call it spiritual. Call it otherworldly. The effect is the same: bringing listener and musician to a higher place than before.
BIO
Hamsa Lila bridges continents, cultures, and genres
with their Live Hypnotic World Groove, blending an
eclectic variety of organic world instrumentation,
female and male lead vocals, ethnic percussion, and a
seriously groove-oriented rhythm section that moves
body and spirit, maintaining a tribal sound while never
missing a dance beat.
Hitting ..2 on National and Canadian World Music
charts in 2004 with their debut studio album
Gathering One, this ensemble produces original
material that defies classification, yet touches upon
aspects of World Beat, Dub, Dance Club Electronica,
House, Funk, Jungle, Afro-Beat, Jazz, Reggae, and
Hip-Hop styles.
The band plays a combination of rare traditional and
modern instruments like the camel-skinned sintir - a
type of Moroccan (Gnawa) bass guitar, a Berber goat
skinned lute called a guimbri, a talking drum from
Nigeria, kalimba (African thumb piano), drum kit with
dub snare, keyboard and sampler (loops and nature
sounds poignantly placed in the mix), an assortment of
flutes, melodica, jaw harps, and much more. The
vocalists create powerful harmonies, weave multiple
melodies, as each of the lead singers (one male,
two female) take turns leading songs. All of this
gets laid over some heavy duty rhythmic and funky grooves.
Working up from a spiritual root, Hamsa Lila maintains
a deep intention and ceremony in their shows, which
typically include dance ritual, altar creation, and
lush cutting edge visuals, often transforming
performing venues into sacred temple spaces.
With the tasteful use of electronic effects, and the
unique combination of sounds, textures and melodies,
the band at once sounds familiar but totally fresh,
ancient yet modern, mesmerizing yet actively engaging.
Singing in 10 or more different languages, including English
and Spanish, Hamsa Lila celebrates the cultures of the World,
while paying homage to the ancestors and indigenous Earth
tribes, with rich talent and unforgetable performances.
HAMSA LILA is:
Nikila - lead vox, dance, percussion.
Deja - lead vox, percussion, dance.
Inkx - drum kit, sampler.
m.j.- lead vox, congas, kalimba, Yoruba talking drum, djembe, percussion.
Evan - flutes, kalimba, melodica, keyboard, percussion, vox.
Vir - sintir, bass, vox.
Hamsa Lila has shared billing with Zap Mama, Femi Kuti,
Janes Addiction, Ozomatli, Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9),
String Cheese Incident (SCI), Michael Franti & Spearhead,
Blackalicious, and many others. The band has also been
the only live act at electronic events with known DJs such
as Garth, Karsh Kale, Cheb-i-Sabbah, Lorin (Bassnectar),
Adham Shaikh, Brother, and many more.
Members of Hamsa Lila have played with such notable
artists such as: Sting, Paul Simon, Tananas (Inkx); Ozomatli,
Michael Frant & Spearhead, Hassan Hakmoun, Delta Nove,
SCI, STS9 (m.j.); Steve Kimmock, Foxgluv, SCI, YOU,
Compost (Vir), and many others.
I created my own profile using nUCLEArcENTURy.COM and you should too!
Thank you so much for the add. I heard you at Burningman in 2006. Have been looking for you since then. Will you be back this year? Where/when will you play?
I remember seeing you in Albuquerque long ago back in 2004. You were the most moving performance I've seen and I have been waiting for you to resurface. Will you ever come to Colorado? Dreamtime Festival in Paonia is right up your ally. Can't wait to see you live again before I head back to Africa for good. Thank you for the beautiful music.
Greetings from Colorado...just wanted to say your creative energy and spiritual awareness inspires...because of you i start each day banging those drums...thank you and COME BACK TO COLORADO!!!
Blessings Ancient Family...Awakening to the sounds of creation...opening to the healing of the rhythm...traveling with voice into the Soul within...May your journeys reveal the beauty and intricate nature of the Universe inside...illumined phonetiks
Thx for the add Hamsa lila.
I love your music, this fusion is very cool.
I'm a big fan of gnawa music...
Take care of you.
Do not hesitate to come on my page.
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