SPLA : Portal to cultural diversity
Cultures-Haïti

Borrina & Longo

Genre : Band
Principal country concerned : Column : Music
Paris
France
Contact by email

BORRINA & LONGO, World beat My first is an artist from the Congo, Borrina Mapaka, who sings in lari, Lingala, French and English in a warm and vibrant voice about love, war, and the family left in the country. Proponent of Afro-folk background of traditional music, but definitely open to the world, he delivers a mixed music that combines inspirations from here or elsewhere. My second is the name of the new group that is formed around him. Energy, osmosis and musical alchemy as the appointment, my all proves a formidable efficiency between world beat and African pop. Borrina Mapaka is a complete artist. Author, composer, singer, guitarist, percussionist, he is also an arranger, producer, dancer and choreographer. So multi-talented. Arrived in Paris in 1997 from Brazza, he has already, at 38, a long career behind him. He was Tambours de Brazza choreographer, dancer for Ebony Irene Tassembedo's Company, he has been selected by Afrique en Création in 1996, he has already several albums and made an amount of concerts, as first parts of Youssou N'Dour, Saintrick, Ismael Lo, Papa Wemba in Brazzaville or for a featuring with Zao on festivals and big events. Borrina has also signed a number of film scores and performances, arrangements for a plethora of artists (Massengo, Shake, Rashida Knox, Chancelor, Randal, Marianna Victoria, Roshbantu, Roco, Paola Mayembo, Tod Gilbert, Likila...). He also created his own label, Borrina Records, has produced two albums with DJ B. Smiley (the group also collaborate on the second), worked with Cody Carpenter, Philip Crosby and Cherokee Studios (for Cirque du Soleil), as well as with some featurings Renee Wilson (singer in the movie "Ray"). He was managed in the U.S.A by Hollywood Academy and has performed in Americans festivals (Berkeley, Oakland, Davis, Grass Valley, San Francisco, Portland,Roseville...). Public and artists say about him he is into line of Pierre Akendengué, Cesaria Evora, Samba Ngo, Ismael Lo, Lokua Kanza. Anyway, Borrina succeeds the link of African and Western cultures, between authenticity and modernity, between rhythms and melodies with musicality, harmonic sense, style and sensitivity. The perfect cocktail? His tunes were distributed and enjoyed by radio stations from Athens to Tokyo, from Quebec City to Budapest, via Australia, China, Mayotte, Cameroon, Seychelles and Croatia. His album "Yula" was featured on the playlist six months of the BBC and has earned an international award in Canada. Recently, his CD "Marianne" is entered directly in the 15th position of the playlist of Francophonie Diffusion. Past eight years, Borrina shared his time between Paris and California. The man and his music are without boundaries. In its new configuration, Borrina & Longo, he enlisted the talents of Kevin Le Bellec (guitarist who played with Sheep Heaven, Juliette Katz, Switch Sound System, No Name Quartet...) Sphinx (Congolese rapper who has illustrated in Moscow), DJ Lexis (hip hop, reggae, dancehall and funky groovy DJ), Désire Nkouandou Njopam (drummer from Cameroon, much in demand on both continents), Yannick Le-Stum, Patrick Winter and Jean Marcel Saint Juste (Jihem). For the group, the year 2010 and 2011 were marked by various concerts (Satellit Café, Dame de Canton, Mama Shelter, Péniche Antipode, Festival Music All...), collaborations with Paco Sery, Zao, Ayessa Musica, Sam Ntalani, the Diva of Brazzaville, Chaka Ray (bassist of Santana), filming clips "I give U my love" and "Yula", TV performances: Voxafrica, Afrobuzz show in London, MBOA TV, Balcony TV, Télé Sud in Afronight, interview by Patson for Africa N° 1, IDF1 "Avez Vous du Talents", ACI TV... Side events, Borrina & Longo preparing the release of a triple album: The first CD is an afrobeat-world-acoustic blend, the second is hip hop-r'n'b and electro, and the last one is world-pop-reggae. A business card folder ideal of the artist and his band! They are performing in concerts and festivals in Paris, in the Paca region (south of Fance), in Montreal (Afro Monde Festival Ngondo, La Nuit Des Pêcheurs at Week-Ends du Monde, the Mondial Des Cultures in Drummondville, at the "Balattou, festival Nuits d'Afrique), Les Estivales de La Perrière first part of Jimmy Cliff and tours are being developed in Africa, England, China and Canada.

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