Concert review - Bethany and Rufus, with Brahim Fribgane

30 April 2015 (Baur's Listening Lounge, Denver CO)

^4.0/5.0

Baur's Listening Lounge is a new venue on the Denver music scene. It's a stylish bar and restaurant in the heart of downtown Denver with music events hosted by the non-profit Music Appreciation Society. The M/A/S is focused on quality acoustic performances across genres. Aside from sponsoring Bethany and Rufus, they have a diverse selection of shows coming up, ranging from Brazilian jazz to chamber music. They aim to create a respectful, concert hall experience; the venue's intimate space encourages a greater sense of immediacy and connection. That worked fairly well for this show, but the lounge atmosphere meant that there was more conversation and distraction out at the edges of the room. The host, David Spira, tried with mixed success to keep that under control, but, fortunately, Bethany and the other musicians were captivating enough to overcome the mild commotion.

Bethany and Rufus

Call it chemistry or magic, it's a beautiful thing when people come together to form a greater whole. Rufus Cappadocia carries on a cellist's tradition of expanding the role of his instrument. Where Zoe Keating turned towards looping to create layered masterpieces, Cappadocia takes the instrument out of the classical chamber and engages with the exotic sounds of North Africa and other global sources. He has an incredible ear and phenomenal technical proficiency. Bethany Yarrow grew up immersed in American folk and spiritual music, but she's built on that foundation to find musical connections that reach across the world. She has the vocal strength of a young Joan Baez, but she often taps into a soulful expressiveness that takes it to another level. The two find common ground with their global ear for music and they complement each other in how they internalize the rhythms and tones, whether through dance or flamboyant playing.


Bethany and Rufus have a new album coming out, Trouble in the Land, recorded with  their Roots Quartet. The bad news is that this tour did not include flutist Yacouba Moumouni or percussionist   Bonga Jean-Babtiste, so we missed out on the full band experience heard on their Soundcloud page. It was hard to feel too bad about this, though, because they had added a touring musician, Brahim Fribgane, who filled out the arrangements adroitly on cajón (box drum). Fribgane's playing was full of syncopated rhythm, but he also occasionally provided melodic accompaniment on the oud.


For lack of a better pigeonhole, Bethany and Rufus could be called folk musicians, they drew on that connection with their opening song, a rendition of the Civil Rights anthem "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around". In classic folk style, Yarrow pulled the crowd in to sing along, but this version was a joyful funk jam. That funk feel continued into "900 Miles". Cappadocia picked out a busy bass line on his cello while Yarrow soulfully coiled around the lyrics, letting the song build up a sizzling heat. When Fribgane came in, his drumming pushed it into a full-on danceable groove.


The funky R&B was a good way to get the crowd warmed up, but by the time they got to their reworked version of "This Train", the North African influence on their music was undeniable. Cappadocia switched over to a unique quartet-tone baritone guitar that combined a pair of bass strings with two higher pitched twin strings, like the courses on a twelve string guitar or mandolin, while Fribgane played the oud. The restless polyrhythmic beat and the semi-tone melodies from the fretless oud reminded me a lot of the Malian blues that Ali Farka Touré used to play. Where a lot of arrangements for this song might rely on percussion to create a train wheel rhythm, Cappadocia and Fribgane set up repeated riffs that rolled like waves through the tune. Even without the oud, that North African sound resurfaced throughout the set.


After a brief intermission, the band came back for a second set that showed a very different side. The rhythms were more Latin and the songs rooted in those cultures rather than the American folk tradition. The centerpiece was a three song series, all associated with the Brazilian "Queen of the Forest", Juriama (sp?). Yarrow explained the mythology and put the songs in context, which seemed steeped in a kind of animism. The spirituality came across as a bit New Age, but most of the audience was receptive and the music overcame everyone else's reservations. Where the first set had been moody and soulful, these tunes were much more upbeat, and Yarrow danced ecstatically during the instrumental sections.


Bethany and Rufus are well matched as a duo and this show captured both their strengths. Yarrow's naturally open stage presence made her the friendly face of the band, while Cappadocia's wide-ranging technical prowess, from percussive tapping that suggests Les Claypool to tightly looped flurries, gave the music depth and complexity.  It was great performance anchored in heart, rhythm, and soul.


More photos on my Flickr.

What's cool? The Very Best with Mafilika, "Hear Me"

Roots come together from opposite worlds 

Sometimes, you can travel to the ends of the earth and still find yourself back at home. Esau Mwamwaya was an experienced singer when he left his home in Malawi and moved to London in 1999. A serendipitous meeting led to an unlikely partnership with the production team of Radioclit to form The Very Best. Their electronic production complemented his soulful singing to create an intriguing mixtape that featured some surprising contributions from acts like Santigold and samples from a variety of pop and indie bands.

Fast forward a half decade and The Very Best was centered on Mwamwaya and DJ Johan Hugo. The pair had temporarily relocated back to Lilongwe, Malawi in 2013. They left the capital for village life in M'dala Chikowa to work on their new album in earnest, which edged their sound to away from its electronic foundations to develop a more band-oriented focus. The resulting project, Makes a King, just came out this month. It still ties back to their earlier work, but it's looser and more vibrant.

"Hear Me" is the first single off the new album, and that version features bass work from Chris Baio (Vampire Weekend). The glitchy production adds a brittle quality that emphasizes the fragility of Mwamwaya's voice. It straddles synthpop reminiscent of Tears For Fears along with a deep African heart. While the studio take is pretty nice, this live version, recorded with Malawi Afrojazz band Mafilika, has a more organic feel.



Mafilika mixes in live drums to go with the drum machine beat, which softens the stark edge of the studio recording. Hugo's production touches are still there to maintain the modernity of the song, but the sadness and resignation of the vocals comes through even stronger than before. Listening to the two perspectives side by side, it's easy to hear how the live version taps into the soul of the song as it first entered the world, before the studio production added a veneer of complexity to shade the tune.

Both takes are strong signs that Makes A King is worth digging into to hear how roots from opposite ends of the earth can intertwine.

Recording review - William Onyeabor: World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who Is William Onyeabor? (2013)

A mysterious Afro-funk story with little but musical clues

One look at the title reveals the standard marketing technique: bait the hook with a rhetorical query and hope that people will be intrigued enough to buy the album. But it turns out that it’s a legitimate question without a clear answer. Who Is William Onyeabor? The facts are fairly slim. He’s a Nigerian musician who released several Afro-funk albums starting in 1978. His songs turned up on African music samplers like Nigeria 70: The Definitive Story of 1970s Funky Lagos and Joe Tangari’s Africa 100 bootleg playlist. A few years later, he became a born again Christian and dropped out of the secular music scene. Since then, he’s shown no interest in discussing his past, neither his earlier work nor his post-recording life. When Luaka Bop put this project together as the latest in their World Psychedelic Classics series, Onyeabor refused to participate, leaving them with a fairly vague biographical background. Plenty of tantalizing details have emerged over the years – a Russian film school, a personal recording studio and a village chiefdom – but there’s no real narrative and little corroboration.

If the liner notes can’t resolve the question, then we’re left with Onyeabor’s songs, which graft P-Funk party music onto African roots. The American inspiration is obvious as he demonstrates his love of ‘70s era funk, soul and disco, but his core remains deeply Nigerian, sharing many elements with his countryman Fela Kuti. Lyrically, he borrows from both traditions. Just as George Clinton built extended grooves around short, memorable slogans, Onyeabor bases his tunes on simple statements, chanted repeatedly. But where P-Funk favors a hedonistic kind of humor, with lines like “Get up for the down stroke,” or “Here’s a toast to the boogie/ We’ll funk to that, bottoms up,” Onyeabor’s message is generally more direct and serious. For instance, on “Good Name”, he preaches, “Good name is better than silver and gold,” and warns against ethical compromise. These proclamations are more in line with Fela’s Afro-beat chants.

Onyeabor’s music walks a similar thin line. He assembles his Afro funk grooves under the influence of drum machine beats and analog synthesizers, but the trance-like surrender to rhythmic repetition is very African. The P-Funk and Fela influence is clear, but the songs break from both those sources with a sparse simplicity. There are layers and polyrhythms, but they rarely get more than three or four strata deep. Aside from the female singers, it sounds like he recorded most of these parts on his own.

The opening track, “Body and Soul”, sets the formula for the whole career-spanning compilation. In this case, the basic structure is built around a simple guitar riff, a steady drum beat and synthesizer fills. The keys take center stage, as Onyeabor experiments with a wide variety of synth textures. Aside from the requisite string pads and electric piano, he finds some wilder modulations that come straight from the Mothership. Deeply danceable, this track has the strongest P-Funk vibe, recalling “Chocolate City”. The only drawback is that the piece is a bit long-winded, running over 10 minutes. His musical ideas could have easily fit in half that time, but Onyeabor covers the same ground again and again, hypnotized by his own beat. This aesthetic serves as a litmus test for the album; listeners who can engage with the repetition will appreciate the nuanced meditative vibe.

Over time, I have found myself drifting in and out of appreciation. While I enjoy his basic funk approach, the outlier tracks are the ones that prove most interesting. In particular, the distinctly reggae sound of “Heaven and Hell” stands out. Compared to many of the other songs, it has more lyrical density and the wah-wah guitar fills and horn punches provide a richer set of interactions. Similarly, the Afro-beat feel of “Something You Will Never Forget” offers more diversion with horns, tight guitar figures and more varied syncopation.

I still don’t know who William Onyeabor is, but his music suggests that he’s somewhat obsessive, finding comfort in repetition and subtle details. His lyrics stake a moral ground that’s certainly in line with his later religious conversion. The rest is a mystery. I’d like to think that he’s channeled that same focus to his current contemplation.

(This review first appeared on Spectrum Culture)

Recording review - Vieux Farka Touré, Mon Pays (2013)

Following in his father's footsteps, reminding Malian's to remember their forefathers

At some point, every kid wants to grow up to be just like his dad someday. When your dad is Ali Farka Touré, known as Africa’s John Lee Hooker, then those are some bigger shoes to fill. The challenge was even harder after Ry Cooder introduced him to a wider American audience with their 1994 collaboration, Talking Timbuktu. Vieux Farka Touré spent a childhood steeped in his father’s music, which found a soulful, spiritual middle ground between Hooker’s ruminative blues and the bright tones and layered polyrhythms found throughout African music. By turns exotic, joyful and haunting, Ali Touré created beautiful music up until his untimely death in 2006.

Perhaps because his own recognition came late in life—he was nearly 50 when he achieved international acclaim — Ali Touré tried to discourage his son from becoming a musician. But Vieux Touré persevered at learning guitar and he eventually recorded his own music. By his third studio album, The Secret (2011), he was already making his own crossover move, playing with Derek Trucks, Dave Matthews and jazz great John Scofield. By contrast, Mon Pays marks a return to his father’s earlier acoustic sound. This time, instead of popular Western collaborators, he’s largely working with other African musicians, most notably kora player Sidiki Diabaté, son of the renowned Toumani Diabaté.

The new album is a response to the current strife in Mali. What began as a multi-faceted insurrection in 2012 has now splintered into chaos. In the regions they control, Islamic rebels in the North of the country have imposed strict laws that include bans on music. A Muslim himself, Touré has spoken out against this kind of cultural genocide, “Music for us is life…Without music, we are robbed of our identity.” So Mon Pays (“My Country”) is an assertion of that identity and a reminder to his fellow Malians about their rich heritage. Despite this somber inspiration, Touré’s songs are uplifting, with a sense of optimism.

Touré evokes his father’s spirit on songs like the meditative “Yer Gando” and the moody “Safare”. This latter track has a more direct connection as a cover of one of his father’s songs, but Touré’s guitar work is spot on. The tune opens with a fluid melodic line that blends DNA from Delta blues guitar with a keening West African kora. The group drops back to a droning blues sound to support the chanted chorus. Touré’s voice is a little rougher than his father’s, but the song serves as a loving tribute.

More than just Touré’s guitar, the songs on Mon Pays showcase the versatility of the kora. The upper register of this harp-like instrument offers delicate chiming tones that have a distinctly Asian character. On the jazzy “Doni Doni”, the timbre is like a harpsichord, but the riffs are more reminiscent of a shamisen. “Future”, on the other hand, begins with a tentative koto sound then balances the kora and guitar into an amalgam of folk traditions: Malian, Japanese and American blues. As a response to the troubles in Mali, this sweetly simple instrumental offers a hopeful vision of peaceful cooperation.

The album closes on a soulful note with “Ay Bakoy”. The song is built on a piano melody by Israeli keyboardist Idan Raichel. The two men met several years ago, but just released an album together last year, The Tel Aviv Session. Despite the differences in their backgrounds, they each bring an open-minded musical approach that thrives on collaboration. “Ay Bakoy” is a fine example of how well they mesh. Raichel’s main theme sounds like a melancholic reworking of “House of the Rising Sun” and Touré’s vocals are appropriately doleful. But the song finds a core of strength and rises from its mournful base to bring a message of encouragement.

Touré speaks more to his own people through these songs than he does to the rest of the world, but his pain, hope and unbowed spirit shine through. Even without the language skills to understand his lyrics, listeners will appreciate the music and vocal expressiveness on Mon Pays and they’ll recognize his earnest vision of a reunited Mali.

(This review first appeared on Spectrum Culture)

Concert review - Vieux Farka Touré with New World Citizen Band

Tuesday, 6 August 2013 (The Walnut Room, Denver CO)
After listening to Vieux Farka Touré's new album, Mon Pays (read my review on Spectrum Culture), I was excited to catch him live and I was lucky enough to see him at the Walnut Room. It was a perfect venue: small enough to be intimate, but room enough to surrender to the rhythm and dance.

New World Citizen Band

Before the show, I spent some time talking to singer Venus Cruz from the New World Citizen Band. Aside from finding out that she hosts the "Jazz Odyssey" show on Denver's KUVO, it was clear that she and her bandmates were well grounded in African music. The lineup is a subset of the Greg Harris Vibe Quintet, but for this group, bandleader Harris centers their sound on his Ghanaian wood xylophone, the gyil.


The gyil has a very distinct character. Calabash gourds act as resonators for the wooden keys, but the gourds have a kind of membrane that buzzes, giving the instrument a hybrid sitar/steel drum sound. Even though Harris built up some interesting melodies on the gyil and his amplified kalimba, their songs formed a study in polyrhythms and interlocking parts.


The set opened with echoing kalimba and a relaxed groove that felt like a Dreamtime exploration. With fellow percussionist Ido Ziv and bass player John Grigsby, Harris let the instrumental flow casually build complexity. Eventually, Grigsby's bass slid into a repetitive, twisting pattern that snaked through the competing percussion parts. It felt very heady until Cruz stepped in and grounded the song with her powerful vocals. Her contribution was particularly strong a few songs later on "Baby, Don't Do That To Me".


She gave the song a righteous Motown vibe, passing from sassy to deeply soulful as she improvised her way through the lyrics. But the arrangement got its global feel by trading guitars, keys, or horns for interplay between the bass and the gyil. The surprise turn came after Ziv's conga solo, when the song sped into double time.

The New World Citizen Band was a good opening act for Vieux Farka Touré. They offered a taste of Africa and got the audience ready to move.

Vieux Farka Touré

On Mon Pays, Vieux Farka Touré paid homage to Mali's musical tradition and his father's characteristic sound. Just as Ali Farka Touré played with kora player Toumani Diabaté, their two sons teamed up in the studio, with Sidiki Diabaté on kora. The tour, however, relied on a minimalist line up with Touré accompanied by a bass player and a drummer/percussionist. While I was disappointed that I wouldn't get to hear the Asian-tinged tones of the kora, it faded quickly as I became entranced by Touré's playing.


The first tune had the drummer playing a simple beat on large, resonant calabash with thin metal sticks: imagine someone playing a half globe with long Allen wrenches. Then Touré started a hypnotic melody line, full of floating trills. Eyes closed, he fell under his own spell as the groove swayed and swelled. Without a larger band contributing complexity, it was much easier to hear how the guitar and bass coordinated their parts. On the second song, he set up a simple, folky blues progression, then filled the holes with fluid runs as the bass line trailed along, shadowing his riffs.


As much as I enjoyed Mon Pays, I realized that Touré is much more engaging in person. His playing was wilder as he fed off the crowd's energy. His lightning hammer-on/pull-off runs blended bluegrass with speed metal. Watching closely, I saw that his technique was sometimes similar to a clawhammer banjo style. Alternatively, he could execute phenomenal tonal control by alternating between muted, bare-finger attacks and ringing finger pick strikes. One of the best tunes of the night, "All The Same", had a chord structure somewhere between "Hey Joe" and Bob Seger's "Turn The Page". Touré started out the song with soulful, downtempo feel. Then, switching between soft and sharp riffs, he set up a guitar conversation with himself until it the song rose to a transcendent affirmation. He played like Jimi Hendrix, intense and expressive with a natural sense of harmony, but without playing a single Hendrix riff.


Although he didn't provide much in the way of patter, his personality shined. Trading an amused glance with the bass player, Touré might start to dance, then challenge the bassist to join in. At other times, he'd screw up his face, lost in the emotion of the song. Most of his comments were in a mix of French and English. In particular, he wanted us to join in with the rhythm of the music. The peak moment came when the show transformed into a dance party, with members of the audience coming up on stage to show off their moves while Touré smiled on.


After the show, sitting at the back of the room signing CDs and collecting donations for Mali, he seemed as thankful for an attentive audience as we were for his music.

More photos on my Flickr.

CD review - Gigi, Mesgana Ethiopia (2010)

There's something magical about African music. Sure, each country has its own styles. But, regardless of the country, classic African artists like Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade, and Ali Farka Touré create music that can hypnotize. It's easy to get pulled into the polyrhythm and call and response. At some level, many African musical cultures have an ecstatic feel, where the players and the listeners all immerse themselves into the songs. This is music that demands movement and rewards focus.

Gigi Shibabaw, a singer transplanted from Ethiopia to San Francisco, follows in this rich tradition. She got her break in 2001, when Bill Laswell produced her album Gigi. Backed by a pack of famous jazz players, she stood out based on her strong, warm voice. Now married to Laswell, Gigi continues to produce beautiful and wonderful music. Her latest, Mesgana Ethiopia, features Laswell's latest Material lineup. This is a live recording of a show in Austria from last year. The sound is great and the set reflected a nice potpourri of styles.

Baty eases into a dreamy, ambient beginning, sounding a bit like Carlos Santana's jazzier work. There's a call and response feel between Gigi's phrasing and the solos. The overtly African feel doesn't kick in until Mesgana Ethiopia's second song, Gudfela. This has a perfect in-the-moment feel that recalls Fela Kuti. Gigi's voice is compelling, with a storytelling cadence. The jazzy African style is tight: repeated guitar figures, complex syncopation from the drums and percussion, and washes of horns. The band has some great energy here. The jazzy horn work at the end is perfect.

Throughout the rest of the set, Gigi's voice is complemented by African pop mixed with jazz or R&B. The main exception to this is the traditional Ethiopian sound of Tizita and Zerafewa, which ditches most of the band to focus on a vocal duet, backed by simple percussion and a quavering fiddle-like instrument. This is a case where I really wish I understood the lyrics. This leads into the sweet Ethiopia that expresses a loving homesickness.

Gigi's silky voice, fond respect for her roots, and great backup musicians make Mesgana Ethiopia a wonderful CD. I'll skip continents, though, to pair this up and offer some chai from India to complement the exotic feel.

Drop by Amazon to hear selections and buy this great album.

Site review - The Voice Project

I got turned on to the Voice Project when I heard about Peter Gabriel covering Tom Waits' In The Neighborhood.

It's a fairly straightforward interpretation. Gabriel doesn't have the world weary rasp that Waits brings to this song, but I really appreciate his conversational intro to the piece. He gives an elegant explanation of what the Voice Project is all about.

A lot of the ways that people communicate are cerebral, they go through the head. And one of the interesting things about music is it seems to plug directly into the emotion. So, I wasn't at all surprised when I heard that these Ugandan mothers couldn't get to their sons in normal ways, but when they started singing music, it somehow touched them in a place that nothing else could reach. Music can do that and if we can make the chain and make the link here, I'm sure we can help to make a difference.

Gabriel goes on to set up the song. His appreciation for the words comes through in his phrasing as he emphasizes his take on the hymn-like nature of the song.

Peter Gabriel » Tom Waits from The Voice Project on Vimeo.

The point of the Voice Project is a response to a grassroots effort in Uganda. Child soldiers, refugees, a land torn by war -- these are all things that are far removed from our more privileged lives. The idea of mothers trying to sing their children back home from their exile with a message of forgiveness is a powerful idea. The site hosts videos of numerous artists covering songs by other artists as a way to raise money to support these Ugandan women with sustainability grants, educational programs and rehabilitation programs.

At its root, though, the Voice Project is also a cool musical idea. There are some great musical selections and interesting combinations. Mike Mills from R.E.M. covers Billy Bragg's Sing Their Souls Back Home, Har Mar Superstar plays Out of the Blue by Julien Casablancas (the Strokes), and Steel Train has a couple of false starts before getting through Bulletproof by La Roux. This last is quite a contrast to the original.

The site also includes some of the Ugandan women singing. The front page includes them singing Western songs, like their short version of Joe Purdy's Suitcase. They also have a touching page of Ugandan songs like Akello Miriam's simple song that focuses on healing the community and the Youth Forgiveness Song. These all end in a high pitched ululation that seems to punctuate the hopefulness of the songs. The thing that I really like here is that there is a sense of the universality of music. They use music to reach out, to communicate, and to initiate an exchange with the wider world.

Whatever you drink, raise a toast to this worthy cause. Visit the site and check out the covers. If you find any you like, donate a bit.