Noura Mint Seymali brings Mauritanian funk to Crossroads Music this weekend

This Sunday, February 26th, Crossroads Music will welcome Noura Mint Seymali to their West Philly headquarters. The Mauritanian musician is returning to the city in support of her latest album Arbina, a record that bridges the vibrant traditional sounds of her West African and griot heritage and contemporary psych/funk music.

At the center of Seymali’s music is the ardin, a Mauritanian harp traditionally played by female musicians. Seymali mastered the instrument at an early age after beginning her career as a backup singer for her stepmother and renowned vocalist Dimi Mint Abba. These traditional roots expanded to more exploratory regions in 2004 when Seymali and her husband began performing together, a collaboration that led to several full-band efforts and international festival slots.

The Key’s Sameer Rao explored Seymali’s impact as an “Afropop” musician ahead of her debut Philly appearance back in 2014; read that profile here and pick up tickets for Sunday’s all-ages show  here. Watch the band perform at the Ethno Port Poznan Festival below.