Toumani and Sidike Diabate 26/5/2014

It is widely acknowledged that Toumani Diabate is pretty much as good as it gets as far as kora playing goes. Yesterday's gig showed that his son Sidike is no slouch either. The two of them created kora magic that became a hypnotic blur of fingers and riffs and baselines and waterfalls of notes. The first couple of tracks after Sidikes solo opener gave Sidike the showier role and he could play with extraordinary speed and still throw in some percussive beats on the gourd surface. On the track before the interval Toumani showed his amazing skill with a mesmeric combination of base line and lead that was pure joy to hear. The interplay between the two of them responding to each others riffs was both delightful and breathtaking at times and all through the understanding between the two was total which I suppose you might expect with father and son from a long line of kora players. They played mostly from the new album that with one exception is based on the traditional kora repertoire. That exception is a song called 'Lampedusa' which they finished with as an encore. It was written after the mass drowning of African emigrants and is both beautiful and haunting and stays in the mind long after the gig is finished. Having missed Toumani on a couple of tours because of date clashes I will make sure I don't miss any more. Superb.