Saw Rokia Traore and her band this evening and enjoyed the show. The only downer was the sparse audience rattling around in a large concert hall. Shimmering, cerebral art-rock and punchy up-tempo funk satisfied both head and heart and I loved this contrast. The referencing of Fela and Miriam in the extended work-out towards the end went down really well I thought, and Rokia's voice was perfectly suited to all the moods and tempos the music went through. I well remember Andy Kershaw interviewing her on the radio and remarking on how she was so vocally different from other Malian divas with, as Andy put it, 'foghorn' voices - true, on record her voice has a touching vulnerability but tonight it soared and dived above the solid instrumental accompaniment.
Rokia represents the intellectual and experimental heart of contemporary African music I think. She's so aware of her illustrious predecessors and fabulous contemporaries, yet she fearlessly takes the music forward in new directions. Careful with that axe, Rokia.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment