As
noted in a separate email note, I've put together a 2010
calendar of some of my concert photographs (8x10).
I will be putting in the print
order on Monday (Dec. 14), so if you'd like a copy,let me know
as soon as possible. They will be available at cost -- I hope it
will be $15, but if the quantity is low, it might be a couple of
dollars more.
I have to say that the ngoni is
probably my favourite African instrumental sound. I got hooked
at a 2002 Salif Keita concert in New York City, shortly
after the release of his rootsy, often acoustic Moffou CD. The
concert too, was less electric and amplified than previous ones,
but no less energetic and driving, thanks to the prominent place
the ngoni had in his band. I've been disappointed that he has
not toured (here at least) with an ngoni since.
In 2007, one of the reasons I
enjoyed Vieux Farka Touré's first Toronto concert so much was
that I spent the whole show standing right in front of the great
musician Mama Sissoko who played guitar and ngoni. (photo,
right)
However, the instrument is not
as well known outside West Africa yet as it should be, and
sometimes gets confused with the kamale ngoni, seen more often.
(Here, for example, with Salif
Keita in 2008). Today, the most famous ngoni master is Bassekou
Kouyaté of Mali.
Kouyaté, along with the Super Rail Band's
Djelimady Tounkara was originally expected to be part of an
African-Cuban recording project which, when it fell apart due to
visa problems took a different approach, and became the Buena Vista Social Club. Over the
years, he has been a sideman on many great recordings including Taj Mahal/Toumani Diabaté's Kulanjan, Ali Farka Touré's
Savane,
Youssu n'Dour's most recent CD -- and the Juno-winning Africa
to Appalachia by Jayme Stone & Mansa Sissoko among many
others.
He now leads the world's only
ngoni quartet, Ngoni Ba, with singer Ami Sacko (Bassekou's
wife); of course, I'm ecstatic with the idea -- and the music.
Their first CD, Segu Blue (2007) won the BBC Radio 3 World Music
Album of the Year Award, and their current release, I Speak Fula
is getting many European picks (it missed winning fRoots
magazine's Album of the Year award by a single vote). Many
European critics have praised Fula for better capturing
the energy of the group's live performances than their first CD.
Fula includes guest performances by Toumani Diabaté,
Vieux Farka Touré and Kassé Mady Diabaté.
Unfortunately,
to date, most of this is word of mouth. The group has yet to
tour North America, and Fula is still not released here, BUT...
as of Dec. 1, it is available for download... check iTunes. The North American
CD release will not be until April.
And -- finally
-- Bassekou and Ngoni Ba are touring North America in 2010, with
47 dates. Astoundingly (to me), Toronto is not on the schedule.
Many of the concerts are with American banjo master Béla Fleck
as part of his , and others are with just Ngoni Ba. Much as I've
enjoyed Béla's Africa Project, I'd
prefer to see a night devoted to Bassekou and the group in their
full glory.
I'll keep watch
on the possibility of a local performance; failing that, the
only Canadian show (!!) scheduled to date is a March 1 show in Ottawa with Béla Fleck.
Reportedly,
Kouyaté and Ngoni Ba will have another North American tour in
the summer. Let's hope that one doesn't miss Toronto.
I'd
mentioned in the last newsletter that the (24-year old)
fRoots Poll
this year selected as its Album of the Year Très Fort Fort, by the
unique and excellent Congolese group, Staff Benda Bilili. They
are street musicians in the Congo; most are disabled as a result
of polio, and get around in a kind of tricycle/wheelchair. Their
name means "Look beyond first appearances".
The group
perform live on Charlie Gillett's BBC Radio 3 show, World on 3
this week, and their manager, Michel Winter plays Charlie's
"Radio Ping Pong". Available
online
for a week until the evening of Dec. 18.
Below are some
of Charlie's comments about the session:
Drummer Randy ‘Montana’ Buda
improvises his drum kit from whatever materials are
available, in this case a drawer turned on its end, whose
bottom is hit with a conventional bass drum pedal. A couple
of bongos plus a tiny cymbal are fixed to the top, and he
uses conventional drum sticks. Regardless of the ingredients
of his kit, Montana is a remarkable drummer, as became even
clearer when watching the band play the following night at
the Barbican.
Bass player Cavalier was at the heart of everything, looking
like a black cowboy in his big hat. Closest to me stood
teenager Roger Landu, playing his home-made invention, the
satongé, whose sound box is an empty milk powder can joined
to a bit of wicker basket, from the end of which a metal
guitar string connects back to the tin. He plucks the string
and a distinctive sound emerges, changing its note as he
squeezes the wicker with the other hand.
As the audience filed out of the Barbican, there was much
discussion about the role of the satongé, with several
people grumbling that it had been too loud and piercing. On
the group’s album, and on this radio session, the satongé’s
vital role is much clearer – without it, this would be just
another pretty good rumba group in the style established
long ago by Franco’s Orchestra TP OK Jazz. With the addition
of the satongé, we have that precious commodity, a band with
a unique sound of its own, instantly recognisable and
irresistibly infectious. Three singers take turns to sing
lead, sometimes switching within a song, and backing each
other up on the choruses.
Trailer for a documentary on the group
by Renaud Barret and Florent de La Tullaye.
To be released, 2010:
Smartphone: Last month, I bought an iPhone,
and am already hooked on it. Now, most computers and smartphones
are capable of "learning" words that aren't in their original
dictionary. But one day, when typing the word "froots" (the UK
mag), I must have accidentally typed a "g" to start the world.
The iPhone conveniently suggested a word it thought I might have
meant: "griots". Now it probably knew that because I'd used it
at some point, but to me, I look at it now as one really smart
phone!
More proof about how smart my phone is? Its default ringtone
is Mahmoud Ahmed.
Great read: The always superb
Oxford American
("The Southern magazine of good writing") annual music issue is
now out, with more of its eclectic, wide-reaching and excellent
writing on Southern American music and musicians. Like last
year, it includes a double CD: a bonus worth the price of
admission itself. Most magazine stands that stock it are sold
out quickly, but Soundscapes on College typically orders at
least 100 copies. Highly recommended.
Also noted
recently here, Afropop Worldwide's list of the
top 30 CDs of 2009 (in 4 categories). Their radio
program with Banning Eyre and Georges Collinet is now
streamed online
Dec. 13:
Jane Bunnett &
Hilario Duran: a free show at Hart
House, UofT, featuring music by some of Cuba's classic composers.
Info here.
3pm, Great Hall
Dec. 13:
The Walter Egéa Trio
at the Trane Studio
Brazilian composer is releasing
his CD & book, Laurie and Me, whose original songs are
based on Laurie Anderson's music, and influenced by that of
Miles Davis, Tom Jobim and Caetano Veloso. $10, doors open 6,
show 7:30.
Dec. 13: Gospel Christmas
Project at the Young Centre, a project of the CBC's Andrew Craig, featuring Jackie
Richardson, Kellylee Evans, Chris Lowe, Toya Alexis and Sharon
Riley and Faith Chorale. Details and two audio clips
here. 2pm & 7pm.
See
event page for more... and
don't forget the Mahmoud Ahmed Dec. 25 concert!
As
noted in a separate email note, I've put together a 2010
calendar of some of my concert photographs (8x10).
I have to say that the ngoni is
probably my favourite African instrumental sound. I got hooked
at a 2002 Salif Keita concert in New York City, shortly
after the release of his rootsy, often acoustic Moffou CD. The
concert too, was less electric and amplified than previous ones,
but no less energetic and driving, thanks to the prominent place
the ngoni had in his band. I've been disappointed that he has
not toured (here at least) with an ngoni since. 
In 2007, one of the reasons I
enjoyed Vieux Farka Touré's first Toronto concert so much was
that I spent the whole show standing right in front of the great
musician Mama Sissoko who played guitar and ngoni. (photo,
right)
I'd
mentioned in the last newsletter that the (24-year old)