Gig: The Woodchoppers Association et Jah Youssouf

The Woodchoppers Association et Jah Youssouf

The Music Gallery. Saturday, September 19, 2009.

After seeing Jah Youssouf and Abdoulaye Koné performing on their own at Musideum, I was looking forward to seeing them jamming with the venerable Woodchoppers Association, with whom they'd been touring Canada on the folk fest circuit over the summer. Turns out this show at the Music Gallery would be the last before the guests returned to Mali, and we got a full-length show, with two sets, each over an hour long.

The show opened with Jah Youssouf playing solo, giving a sample of his talent with the ngoni. He was then joined by the redoubtable Abdoulaye Koné for a couple numbers. On this show, he was more of a supporting player to the top-billed Youssouf, not taking any lead vocals, and keeping a lower profile. But his agile way with his instrument made him a key part of the overall sound.

They were then joined by the Woodchoppers, running ten deep, including a powerful four-piece horn section. The band was under the genial leadership of Dave Clark, wearing a lampshade-like hat and entertaining the crowd with self-knowingly unctuous banter. He began the Woodchoppers part of the set with some improvised conducting of the band, signalling for vamps and bursts of noise with broad gestures. When Clark turned and started to conduct the crowd, they took to it without hesitation, collectively becoming an unrehearsed choir. Perhaps like an athlete limbering up, these exercises might have had something to do with the band hitting the ground running on their first jam. Surely it's also that these are all seasoned musicians who have been playing together for a long time, and this subset in particular have been road-tested in this configuration. From the outset, the ngonis fit well into an electric jazz groove driven by el-p player Jason Kenemy, and the first set closed out with three strong rockers, the last one featuring Jah giving the audience a phrase to sing along to to a slow funky jam.

After about a fifteen-minute layoff go stretch, the second set started sans the guests, with a rollicking call-and-response number that the band took to the crowd with a pair of tap dancing shoes used as percussion along the backs of the pews. Jah and Koné rejoined the group and settled in for an excellent afro-funk-styled number, followed by three more simmering numbers. The final number of the main set ("the last chance to dance," warned Clark) turned into a whirling maelstrom of music, with the horn section taking to the crowd to walk up and down the rows of pews as they played, creating moving stereophonic fields of sound while the band played a low-slung groove.

For the encore, Clark invited the crowd to slide their pews right up against the stage to hear Jah right up close, and then the other musicians returned for one final number.

A very good time and a high standard of excellence throughout. A nice start to the Music Gallery season as well — hopefully all my trips to St. George the Martyr will be as ripping.

Listen to a track from this set here.