Solawa

Founded in 2014, driven by the desire to share and discuss our different cultural heritages, Solawa is particularly rich in diversity. The five group members come from very different musical backgrounds and have different ethno-cultural origins. Moe Clark, an Albertan Métis and multidisciplinary artist, sings, performs spoken word, and dances. Eveline Gregory Rousseau, a harpist and singer involved in a thousand projects. Damian Nisenson, a composer, singer, saxophonist, guitarist, and producer of Argentine origin, is passionate about Jewish music, tango, jazz, and imaginary folklore. Jean Félix Mailloux, a Montreal bassist with various influences ranging from jazz to world music, and Iranian percussionist Ziya Tabassian, a specialist in digital percussion and Persian and Mediterranean music.

The band's songs are deployed in as many varieties of styles as in many languages. A lullaby of African inspiration sung in the Cree language, a song based on folkloric Argentine rhythms with poetic lyrics in Spanish by Nisenson, with French and English also present in the texts of Moe and Eveline. The band's music is a call to highlight our differences based on our common desire to create a new and original sound. This desire is reflected in the mixtures within the same compositions in which each musician brings his own sound to create music out of any category. All the musicians of Solawa are excellent improvisers and composers, bringing in their original compositions which are arranged collectively so that the music evolves organically through individual contributions.