HiNiZi means 'let us rise for work' in Bomu.
HiNiZi is composed by six experienced musicians aged from 20 to 32 based in Segou - Mali. Hinizi’s musicians come from a griot family rich of vibrant spirituality and of Bo ethnicity. The Bwa (plural for Bo) come from the south-west of Mali and Burkina Faso, and are the founders of Djenne, the most ancient city of West Africa.
Each one of HiNiZi musicians masters at least 8 traditional instruments, and their live show include 20 traditional instruments such as:
HiNiZi plays these local traditional instruments in a modern way, keeping the music connected to the tradition.
Their enthusiastic live performance will catch the public with a glance, HiNiZi will bring the listener through a cultural journey into the Bo music of their ancestors, preserving the sounds and songs of the Bo, Bamara, Senufo, Malinke, etc.
The connection to the nature is essential, as is the relationship between nature and HiNiZi’s played instruments. All of their instruments are build in harmony with the nature and its animals.
When HiNiZi plays, they do with the nature as their partner. They build their instruments with the feeling of attachement to their traditional music, which gives them the joy of living, welfare and love. While playing, they give back to the nature what the nature has given them. This is a traditional circle that HiNiZi respects, based on their ancestral sounds.
With their music, HiNiZi respect the traditional circle based on the Bwa’s ancestral sounds. The music is traditionally developed through 3 phases, an introducing call (Appel), a danse, breaks that surprise the listener by loosing the tempo and finally a blocking, usually recalling the introducing call, that ends the song.
Their first album Yayayo was recorded at the Studio Kôrè in Ségou and released in September 2015.
Filmed and produced by Torben Holleufer