Malika Tirolien | 40th Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival
A photo of Malika Tirolien with the 40th San Francisco Jazz Festival artwork
Highsoul

Malika Tirolien

(vocalist of Bokanté)

JUN 7-17 | 40TH ANNUAL SAN FRANCISCO JAZZ FESTIVAL

Jun 12, 2023
Joe Henderson Lab

PLEASE NOTE:
This page is an archive of a past production


Please visit our calendar for all upcoming SFJAZZ shows.

Calendar

Original show description below.

The GRAMMY-nominated singer of Bokanté makes her solo debut at SFJAZZ with music from her new album Higher, produced by Snarky Puppy mastermind and Bokanté bandmate Michael League. This is only the second U.S. performance by Tirolien as a solo artist.

A native of Guadeloupe and based in Montreal, Tirolien grew up in a family of musicians and got her first taste of recording with her father’s band in the Caribbean at the age of eight. Jazz studies in Montreal led to the founding of her first band Groundfood and the lead role in the Cirque du Soleil show La Nouba. Tirolien’s performance caught the attention of League, who invited Groundfood to open for Snarky Puppy and join the band for the recording of their GRAMMY-winning 2013 release Family Dinner – Volume 1.

That auspicious partnership led to Tirolien’s 2014 debut Sur La Voie Ensoleillée followed by an international tour with Snarky Puppy and the formation of the world-fusion band Bokanté with League in 2015.

They released their debut, Strange Circles, in 2017 and the GRAMMY-nominated follow-up with the What Heat with the Metropole Orkest in 2018. Bokanté performed at SFJAZZ in 2017 and 2018, and now Tirolien steps out as a leader with Higher, made up of dance-ready compositions in a music style she calls “highsoul” — mixing jazz, soul, R&B, and hip-hop and sung in English, French, and Creole.

More

The GRAMMY-nominated singer of Bokanté makes her solo debut with music from her new album Higher, produced by Michael League.

A jazz star is born.

CBC

A jazz star is born.

CBC

Personnel

Malika Tirolien vocals, keyboards
Phillipe Lallier guitar
Jean-Michel Frederic keyboards
Mark Haynes bass
Harvey Bien-Aimé drums

Her vocals are supple, capable of both delicacy and force, and with hip-hop inflections.

The Guardian

Personnel

Malika Tirolien vocals, keyboards
Phillipe Lallier guitar
Jean-Michel Frederic keyboards
Mark Haynes bass
Harvey Bien-Aimé drums

Her vocals are supple, capable of both delicacy and force, and with hip-hop inflections.

The Guardian

Watch & Listen

Malika Tirolien

Change Your Life

Malika Tirolien

Rise

Malika Tirolien

Change Your Life

Malika Tirolien

Rise

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