BIM: Live in NYC at Carnegie Hall on October 19th
BIM, a collective of young Beninese artists, offers its country the historical reach it deserves.
BENIN INTERNATIONAL MUSICAL is a unique band which gives back their voodoo origins to rock and rap. What with a big international tour already (Europe, Morocco, Benin, New York…) the BIM stirs up passions and provokes strong emotions everywhere it goes.
Each performance is a rock and voodoo ceremony, a rare experience not to be missed at all!
In the shadow of other African countries in the music department for a long time, Benin is, however, at the root of major musical currents of the 20th century and the ultimate reference for current big bands like Arcade Fire, Franz Ferdinand, Talking Heads, Gorillaz…
From gospel to blues via jazz and rock through to rap, all these so-called “modern”
musical styles began in the city of Ouidah, on the slaves’ road. An impetus and a musical culture kept alive since through the voodoo convents, the celestial churches, the schools, the brass bands and the trendy clubs in Cotonou.
To create a band which tells about this heritage and to offer Benin the international influence the country deserves are the starting points of the creation of BIM, begun by Hervé Riesen from Radio France and Jerome Ettinger (World Tour Records / Togezer productions) known for his global artistic experience with his band Egyptian Project.
After a lot of castings in Benin BIM saw the light of day in 2016. For two years, this band made up of 7 musicians-vocalists worked on this first album in which traditional songs are
associated with urban and electric sounds without forgetting the polyrhythmic power of drums nor the passion of polyphonic songs. Between the gospel transe of Teùn Teùn, the funk groove of Destiny, the afrobeat of Allons danser, or the voodoo rhythms of the Benin Atmosphere, BIM has its way of telling the African continent while shedding a light on the voodoo culture which, beyond clichés, preaches for a positive attitude towards the earth
and mankind, and turns the country away from fundamentalist deviations.
