02 July 2010 (gig)
03 July 2010
Breathtaking! After seeing the band live around a half dozen times I am still learning about the complexity and sheer musicality of a virtuoso musician and his band of masters – this was simply, as I said, breathtaking!
Kouyate was coming from a massively successful show at Glastonbury and from the off seemed in the mood to play his brilliant music with all the stops taken off. He jammed with the other Ngoni players in the band, he strode the stage in his traditional robes, like the master approving his class' best attempts and he ripped out flowing rills and runs and incredibly complex melodies from a thing that looked like a child’s cricket bat.
The audience were, at turns, mesmerised by the music or up and dancing with the rhythms and spontaneous gasps of appreciation rang out around the packed hall after every individual piece of mastery. Amy Sacko was in full voice and the band were encouraged to add solos and backing vocals with a free hand but they are so well tuned that there wasn’t a bum tone or missed riff all evening. Which is not to say that they were rigid in any way; the whole set was loose and relaxed and the smiles all round the band seemed completely genuine – these guys were having fun and the crowd was getting all the benefit.
Kouyate seems to be making a feature of his lack of English but he still communicates easily enough with the audience. Pointing to his Ngoni after playing an intricate piece of slide he said 'Not Blues guitar, Blues Ngoni – guitar grandfather' and no-one misunderstood – this is the real origins of Blues music; alongside folk and New Orleans banjo the Blues came from Africa and virtuosi like Kouyate and Sissoko (a brilliant support slot on the Kora) are developing traditional African music and brining it in line with the 21st century without losing any of the heart or soul of the music – a great accomplishment.
There were so many highlights: a wonderful version of 'Lament for Farka Toure’ played to remember Charlie Gillett, a traditional piece called 'Boy’ that was traditionally played to celebrate visiting royalty, 'Bambugu Blues’ played like a Mississippi trance number, Amy singing like all the emotion in the world was in her voice on 'Saro' and all the explosive and infectious rhythms that the band produce seemingly at the drop of a bead of sweat (of which there were plenty!).
Ngoni Ba have developed over the last three years into one of the most exciting and life affirming acts on the planet. Live shows have become events and as they develop the music they only grow in stature and sheer brio – essential and, yes, breathtaking.
