I wnet for this gig because I liked the sound of the offering which was essentially to hear the leading Ngoni player. This was a punt which paid off handsomely. Bassekou is an astinishing exponent of the four string Ngoni which he called the grandfather of the guitar and listening to him a number of guitar heroes would be astonished at his technical mastery of the tiny instrument. The band also featured a Bass Ngoni a Gourd type drum, a percussionist and a powerful vocalist Amy Sacko. Together they made a tight unit the drummer and percussionist never missing a beat and Bassekou playing some amazing stuff on top of it. The main vocalist Amy Sacko had an expressive powerful and very African voice.
The opening song was magical - starting with some notes played from the green room and building as the musicians came on stage with a variety of sections within the lengthy opener and featuring some amazing ngoni lead playing from Bassekou. Probably the gig didi not quite reach those heights again but the whole show was brilliant from start to finish. Again at the end it was a great finish with the musicians leaving one by one until the two percussionists finished the show.
The individual musicians were all given a solo platform with the percussionist stealing the show playing a tiny shoulder worn drum frenetically. The vocalist also ramped up her delivery for her solo shot and whilst I didn't knwo what she was saying precisiely I was feeling the emotions.
Good call - great show.
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