I look at his big hands, at the fingers that move a bit discreet. He rummage a bit over the strings, it is noticeable barely. The west african lute reducing look almost ridiculously small in Bassekou Kouyates arms. An elongated body covered with goatskin, and then a centimetertunn neck with only four strings of fishing line. It may be the precursor to the banjo and have a strong position in the traditional music of Mali, but it looks frankly not remarkable.
pair it with the sound at the same time, welling up out of the loudspeaker system: quick year tonkaskader and roaring wah-wah-enhanced solos that are thrown in between the gilded walls. Bassekou Kouyate stands at arriving at the scenkanten in traditional costume and knallröda shoes and posing as a gitarrhjälte. He grins a little, and the audience cheers.
Femtiotvååringen from Mali has more or less on its own brought out the ngonin in the world. He started playing the already of twelve, and has since its non-compliance on the instrument’s limits. Over ten years ago, he formed the band, Reducing the Ba with the only lute in the center and gave out her debut album ”Segu blue”. Then followed a suite with the soft, masterful Malimusik (sometimes angrily electric), the latest on the winter album ”Miri”.
family members: his son plays the larger base-ngonin, his brother and nephew play the calabash, and other percussion, and wife Amy Sacko sings. She has a kraftfulll voice and star quality in their own right. It as on the cds may remind you of a refined jazz group, where the musicians collectively and responsive as balls music, is the this evening, more a soloshow with kompmusiker. Kouyate plays the slow, waddling Maliblues or leading the group in the wild, awesome rytmexcesser. The rather short concert ends with the band playing around way through ”Guantanamera” as the encore.
It is fascinating that even when it feels like a normal day on the job for this band, so get the Nal pulse of sparkling joy, and life-giving lutmusik.
Read more music reviews of Magnus Säll , for example, how modestly Samba Touré plays his blues from Timbuktu .
