Hindi Zahra

I first discovered Hindi Zahra when I was interning (or rather volunteering) at Rock en Seine in 2008, an annual rock festival held the last weekend in August, Blink 182 and Macy Gray are past performers. I didn't get to hear her concert but I knew that I had to find more out about her.

This summer, I got a chance to see her up close and personal while interning at the Festival de Saint Denis (see other posts). I was in charge of organizing and setting up the catering for her!

For me, her music has a great flavor, and in three languages. Of course she sings in English, French, and Arabic and sometimes in Spanish. It has this flowing rhythmic feel like one is in a café in the south of France or Spain, or a coffeehouse during open mic night. It is like she combined all sorts of music into her songs - jazz, Afro, rock, folk (a Simon and Garfunkel kind of feel). She even writes her own melodies - a rare jem these days.

Check out her video Stand up.


 For the official video, check out this! The brillant colors of the video are powerful as well as energizing and makes me want to "stand up" and dance. The soung reminds me of South American or Native American tribal music as well as her choice of costume.