Guadeloupean artist gave her first concert on Friday November 26 to present the new compositions between modern jazz and Guadeloupean sonorities from her album “Unisson”, released on October 15.
“The story of this solo project is first of all the pleasure of being the “woman band”, the joy of being able to play everything on my own, to do my stuff myself, to be in search of everything I can do with my body and my voice”, said Cynthia Abraham about her second album entitled “Unisson”, released on October 15.
Last night, Friday, November 26, the Guadeloupean artist presented this album at the Studio de L’Ermitage in Paris. Her fans as well as those who did not know her yet appreciated and discovered her unique musical universe with a mix of rhythms (jazz, gwo ka, Latin music…) and sounds of words. On her Facebook page, Cynthia Abraham wrote : “A huge thank you to all those who were present yesterday at the Studio de l’Ermitage for my release party… I had a really magical time… I am very moved. Thank you (…)”. Before that, she announced that there will be a “catch-up session” for all those who are in France this Saturday at 7:30 pm at Espace Icare in Issy-Les-Moulineaux where she will perform for 45 minutes as the opening act for the Malian musician, Abou Diarra.
“Unisson”, a musical journey
For this second opus, this multi-instrumentalist artist (voice, flute and percussion) was in charge of the musical composition, writing the lyrics and arrangements. She performed her songs in Creole, French, English, Xhosa, Russian and Portuguese. Cynthia Abraham did not embark on this musical adventure alone. Indeed, for the recording of her songs, she surrounded herself with great musicians such as drummer Sonny Troupé with whom she explored one of the seven rhythms of the traditional music of her native island, gwoka (track, Misyé Mendé) ; pianist Édouard Monnin (Lost in Shadow) ; pianist Pierre de Bethmann (Siyobona) ; guitarist and bassist Munir Hosnn (S’envoler)…
The 29-year-old singer studied at the Centre de création vocale et scénique, CRÉA, in Aulnay-Sous-Bois in the Paris suburbs. In 2015, (she was only 23), she released her first album entitled “Petites Voix”. The following year, she presented the show “Seule en Scène” to the audience. Then in 2017 and 2020, she released two more albums with the band Selkies : “La Koulèr la Paix” and “Incantation”. Meanwhile, in 2018, together with members of her family (her sister Clélya, pianist, and her brother Zacharie, double bass player) she founded Abraham Reunion and, in 2020, the band released an album of the same name.
Several awards in France and abroad
In her professional career, Cynthia Abraham, who has been a jazz singing teacher since 2017 at the Centre des Musiques Didier Lockwood (CMDL), has already collaborated, among others, with the Orchestre National de Jazz, Carine Bonnefoy’s Big Band, Pierre de Bethmann, Tony Chasseur, Mario Canonge, MCSolaar, Angélik Kidjo…
In addition, the Guadeloupean artist has already won several awards such as : the 1st prize of the Unisa International Jazz Voice Competition in Pretoria, South Africa (2018) ; the Sacem Prize of the Crest Jazz Vocal competition within the band Selkies (2017) ; Laureate of the Tremplin “Jazz à Vannes” in duet with guitarist Anthony Jambon (2016) ; 3rd in the Sankofa Soul Contest, the first Soul springboard in France (2015).
Cynthia Abraham was to be on the stage at the Martinique Jazz Festival scheduled from November 26 to December 5, 2021 but, with the social movements taking place there, this date is not yet confirmed. The singer’s 2022 tour is under construction, and Guadeloupe also hopes to host her as in 2013…
