Vive La World Festival Featuring Cheikha Rimitti, P18, and Issa Bagayogo

Grand Performances' annual presentation of French-based artists with African and Caribbean roots continues in 2002 with three mesmerizing performers. The first of these talented trifecta is a vocalist considered to be the mother of all Rai, Chelkha Rimitti. Rimitti hails from the port city of Oran, Algeria, and has been singing this popular, rural, roots music on the streets for over 50 years. She is a living legend whose gritty, haunting voice will transport listeners to a world of friendship, mourning, love, and loss. This will be her first west coast performance. Paris-based P18 is one of a handful of groups residing in France that have been pushing the boundaries of Cuban music. The group describes its sound as electropica, a heady mixture of electronic, Cuban son, rock, hip-hop, and funk. It is a hybrid style that has one definite guarantee people who hear this music will be on their feet and dancing all night long Billboard Magazine has described Issa Bagayogo as having “…a dusky vocal style that creates a hypnotic sound.” This quality is an essential part of the Malian transplant's trance-electronica and Afro-pop style of music. He is an artist who has found the middle ground between traditional West African music and modern electronic programming. The result is one of the most distinctive and personal musical creations you will find, either in or out of Africa.