Offering a driving and robust afro-funk fusion rooted in the politicized afrobeat of Fela Kuti, the groovy consciousness of Parliament’s funk, the passionate soul of James Brown, the vitamin-powered pop of Bruno Mars and the rock intensity of Jimi Hendrix, Papagroove has, since its inception in 2006, graced the stages of numerous festivals.
The Montreal International Jazz Festival, the Calgary Folk Music Festival, the Calgary International Blues Festival, the Hornby Festival, the SunFest, the Festival international des rythmes du monde, the Quebec City Summer Festival, the Rimouski Jazz Festival, the Woodstock en Beauce, the Ottawa Jazz Fest (opening for Medeski, Martin & Wood), the Maximum Blues, the Festif (opening for Cat Empire) and the Global Groove, have all welcomed this mythical group on their stages.
Known for their fiery stage presence, their mastery of improvisation and their explosive presence, the band is back with Les sabliers, a new EP where they reveal, with restraint, their ability to settle down and embrace the ephemeral. Exploring the human being under the multiple days of its finitude, its metamorphoses and its rebirths, Papagroove allows itself to look at the present time as well as the one in which it projects itself.
After three albums in their career, a GAMIQ victory in the “Album or EP – World Music” category and a nomination at the ADISQ gala in the same slot in 2018 for their latest album The Hunt, the collective is now taking a grouped step, sideways. In a skilful mix of musical styles through which the nuanced sound of a francophonie in great shape gushes out, we still feel this passion that, at Papagroove, federates. But here the social is mixed with the intimate.
Composed of Sébastien Francisque on vocals, Sylvain Plante on drums, Guy Kaye on guitar, Gabriel Lajoie on bass, Mario Allard on alto saxophone, Jean-François Ouellet on baritone saxophone, Jacques Kuba Séguin on trumpet, Matthieu Van Vliet on trombone, and François Therrien on keyboards, Papagroove once again wields music like a weapon.