French man singing in english and lakota

[freedom44paix]

Hello,

I would like to tell you about: "Medicine Groove".

Have you ever heard about them ?

One man - one story - one band


Born in Marseille (France) in 1967, Jean Michel Wizenne has been playing in several Rock and Fusion bands and composing classical contemporary music for chambers orchestra and classical ensembles. He also wrote many soundtracks for documentaries or short movies.
Travelling all around the world since twenty years he’s been studying many different ethnic music and cultures.

In 2000, while travelling across the U.S , he met with the Native American Lakota Sioux people and developed over the years a very close relationship with the tribe . Learning their language and way to sing, he participated to many spiritual ceremonies on the Rosebud reservation (South Dakota) and inside the South Dakota State penitentiary where his friend Gerald Thin Elk (Lakota Sioux) is incarcerated, and where he is often invited by the Lakota spiritual group of the Prison.

Seldom that a white man is accepted and within a Lakota clan. Wizenne spent a lot of time with them which affected and changed him on a personal and spiritual level .
Speaking with the prisoners, listening to elders and observing the youngsters he shared some of their every day life and witnessed their daily struggles
It was clear for Wizenne that the "Ethnocide" was still alive and well. That's when Wizenne decided to create Medicine Groove, a socio-politcal rock Band that would become the perfect vehicle to denounce these injustices and ongoing crimes.

In 2010, Wizenne convinced some of Europe's most respected musicians to join Medicine groove. Billy Cobham's own Fifi Chayeb on Bass and former Ray Charles's organ player Slim Batteux were now part of the project.
Medicine Groove first album was born “Bad Indian 38052â€Â.
Combining a blend of Rock, Funk and socio / political lyrics, the combination of English spoken words and Lakota singing, the recording was praised among the Lakota and Native American communities and received great press in Europe.

But Medicine Groove's message really comes alive on the stage, and their performances are a unique and powerful experience not to be missed that will fire you up and leave you wanting for more. A third dimensional occurrence of music, meaningful lyrics and culture so rare and so much needed in today's superficial world of entertainment.

If you look at the site of "oiseau tonnerre", you can hear three of their songs.