Voice of Freedom

Voice of Freedom is a band of five musicians with a passion for blues and soul, gathered around their singer. After the success of their Nina Simone Tribute in 2018, they came back together to pay homage to another iconic figure: Etta James.

Etta James was an artist driven by rage — against an unhappy childhood, against paternalistic America, against the men who betrayed her — a rage that carried her through drugs and anguish so that, against all odds, she could keep living and singing. Paying tribute to this great singer, little known in France, and conveying the beauty of her cry: that is the ambitious project the musicians of Voice of Freedom have set themselves.

For the length of a show, they dive into 1950s-60s Black America and follow the chaotic path of a virtuoso, tormented diva who redefined blues singing and inspired the greatest voices across the Atlantic. More than an imitation, their Tribute is a true interpretation of Etta James's work — the singer, backed by four talented musicians, takes the audience in her footsteps, through her failed love affairs, her boundless joys and her rage.

The band also offers a second Tribute show, dedicated to Nina Simone, created in 2018. Both shows have been praised on stage and on the radio, notably on France Bleu / ICI, where the band was invited on the programme « La Nouvelle Scène ».

The singer's journey resonates strongly with Nina Simone's. Born in India, she grew up in Qatar in a family of foreign workers, facing severe discrimination. That is where she learned the piano and joined her parish choir. Later, her studies led her to discover American blues, jazz and rock — Nina Simone and Etta James above all, two influences that left a lasting mark on her. To escape an arranged marriage, she left alone for Hyderabad, where she began singing and playing guitar in the city's bars. She then settled in the South of France, where in 2012 she founded the funk-rock trio WAT, before launching the Nina Simone project in 2018 with the musicians of Voice of Freedom.