Music and soul lovers will meet at the Grimaldi Forum this Thursday, December 19th at 8:30 p.m., for an exceptional concert by J.P. Bimeni, accompanied by his group, the Black Belts. An event preceded by the new Apéromix session at 6.30 p.m.
J.P. Bimeni was saved by music. A native of Burundi, he was seriously injured in the civil war in his native country in 1993, when he was only a young 15-year-old boy. He was targeted in an attack with a bullet that hit him next to the heart and punctured his left lung. Later he was discovered by a charity that allowed him to get a scholarship to study politics and the economy. First in Wales, then in Manchester. But the story does not end there for the young man, now in his forties. It was in this context that he discovered music, with the program Beyond Sound, which introduced him to singers such as Bob Marley, Fela Kuti, and Ray Charles. Love at first sight. He learned the guitar by himself, discovered himself a singer and began to compose.
A sensual, funky voice
So much so that he moved to London to try to break into soul music which will have his predilection, first with covers, then with his own compositions. He was then noticed by a label that gave him his shot as the leader of a pre-existing group, the Black Belts, with whom he produced his first album, Free Me, which met with immediate success. From there, he went on tour with the Black Belts, which notably passes through Monaco, at the Grimaldi Forum this Thursday, December 19th. In the meantime, his fans will have been able to quench their thirst and start to set the mood with an Aperomix scheduled for 6.30 p.m.
*Article originally published in the French edition of the Monaco Tribune.