TITI ROBIN & ROBERTO SAADNA DUO
Thursday March 5 at 8:30 p.m. Les Passagers du Zinc / Pecout Theater, Châteaurenard
First collaboration with Les Passagers du Zinc, Scène de Musiques Actuelles de Châteaurenard, for an exceptional concert with one of the pioneers of world music in France. Titi Robin, welcomed on several occasions by the festival, returns here as a duo with his accomplice Roberto Saadna, with the gypsy flavor and the rhythmic power of his first formations ; those who transported him from the Ancient Theater of Arles to the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, via the Tata Theater in Bombay.
Their meeting dates back to 1993 and the release of the album Gitans, on which Titi Robin invited the Catalan Rumberos. Coming from the Saint-Jacques gypsy district of Perpignan and renowned specialist in Catalan rumba, guitarist and singer Roberto Saadna was then a member of this orchestra. He will then be regularly invited on Titi's discography projects (Un ciel de copper, Kali Gadji).
Titi Robin very early built an original musical universe, seeking harmony between the different cultures he encountered daily and having directly and deeply influenced him, mainly gypsies and oriental, intimately mixed with the western universe. Drawing inspiration from the flamenco cante of Camarón de la Isla, or from the Iraqi master of ‘oud, Munir Bachir, community celebrations give him the opportunity to test the original color of his musical approach. His duets with Hameed Khan, tablist from Jaipur and Erik Marchand, traditional Breton singer mark his debut on the world music scene and pave the way for the first disc released in 1993 under his name, Gypsies.
The name of Titi Robin is gradually building up as an essential and his records (Le Regard Nu, Payo Michto, Kali Gadji, Un ciel de copper) are enjoying resounding success. In 2002, he co-signed with Gulabi Sapera, the Rhâki disc, as well as the show Jivula. Excellent creative encounters follow ; Michto Maloya with Danyel Waro, My story with Esma Redzepova and finally Jaadu with Faiz Ali Faiz, which festival-goers discovered on the stage of the Ancient Theater in 2010. The album Kali Sultana, the shadow of the ghazal was released in 2008. Long continuation in two parts, seven movements and three interludes, this album-river translates into a scenic epic of two hours without interruption. Released in 2011, his triptych project Les Rives is also a long-term endeavor that is particularly close to his heart: recording a disc in each of the following three countries, India, Turkey and Morocco, around his repertoire with local musicians, produced by a local record company and intended for the local public, in order to give back to the cultures which influenced him so much, what he considers his duty. In 2014, he married his musical and poetic lyrics in The Shadow of a Source, supported by the voice of Michael Lonsdale. In 2015, Taziri - whom festival-goers could also discover at the Antique Theater - marks the extension of his collaboration with Gnawa Mehdi Nassouli, while 2017 sees him paying homage to the novelist Yaşar Kemal during an Anatolian tour. In 2018, his music changed skin and tools: using an electric guitar for the first time and putting his voice on his own words for Rebel Diwana.