Description
Lagon Nwar is a unique French ethno-jazz collective that brings together intensity, diversity, and poetic depth. “Lagon Nwar is the salty taste of water, rain-soaked curls, the harbor and its defenses, the fading of colonies,” says Ann O’Aro.
00:00 Garma
06:22 Zaanbar
10:59 Marée
18:56 Liberté Connaître Oblige
Quentin Biardeau – Tenorsax, synthesizers
Valentin Ceccaldi – Bass
Ann O'Aro – vocals
Formed by musicians from different cultural backgrounds, the quartet creates a sound that is difficult to define, moving seamlessly between genres and traditions. Led by saxophonist Quentin Biardeau and bassist Valentin Ceccaldi—both members of the French collective Le Tricollectif—the band invites listeners on a musical journey across cultures. At the front of the stage is the charismatic singer Ann O’Aro, who grew up on the island of La Réunion. Her powerful voice blends the driving energy of maloya, the island’s traditional music style, with sharp, poetic, and politically engaged lyrics in Creole and French. Completing the quartet is Marcel Balboné, a percussionist, drummer, and vocalist from Burkina Faso.
Editors: Melchior Huurdeman, Anne-Maartje Lemereis
Camera & lighting: Ramon de Boer, Marjolein Hoitinga, Rik Komaromi, Milou Korthouwer
Sound: Rens van Waterschoot, Joachim Grevelink, Marc Broer
Producers: Olivier Schuringa, Nanouk Wouters
Director/editing: Reinier Bruijne
Editor in Chief: Sakti Khedoe
This video was recorded at historic library Canisius College in Nijmegen, during Music Meeting 2026 for VPRO Vrije Geluiden: music program made by the Dutch public broadcast organization VPRO https://www.facebook.com/vrijegeluiden https://www.instagram.com/vrijegeluiden
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