Madagascar Slim
Gladstone Hotel (Melody Bar). Friday, March 5, 2010.
With some time to kill before a Friday night gig, decided to drop in at this free early show at The Gladstone. The first of this year's monthly "Gladstone World" series1 presented by Nadine McNulty of the Batuki Music Society. McNulty is a VIP in the local music scene, not only bringing in big-name acts from all over the world but also tirelessly promoting local talent, like in the show at hand. Madagascar Slim was playing in support of his recently-released disc Good Life, Good Living with four-piece backing band behind him (guit, drums, bass2 and flute3). At its best, Madagascar Slim's music simmers while keeping a gentle tone. Always a solid live performer, he's never afraid to let a song stretch out, and with his skill on the guitar can throw down extended solos in a wide range of tones, without it sounding showy or over-the-top.
Arriving just as things were about to get started, I found myself a spot up against the bar on the left side of the room. Settled in beside me were a small crew of older folks who gave the impression that they were stoically waiting this out so that they could get going with the karaoke.4 On the stage, the band started off with "Boribory", one of the album's highlights, an upbeat anthem sung in Slim's native Malagasy. "Fiderana" also had a pleasingly lilting, flute-aided melody — and yet a guitar solo with bluesy tone managed to fit in nicely here. And so forth through the first set, running about thirty-five minutes.
After a break, the second set started with the skipping rhythm of "Ravorondreo". The mixing of styles was most immediately apparent in "Sitaka", which began as a lilting Malagasy folk tune, but shifted gears midway through into a greasy twelve-bar blues groove5 and then, quite seamlessly, back to where it started. Slim's facility with the blues should come as no surprise — he played in blues bars, jamming with players like Jeff Healey, when he was getting his feet wet in the local music scene. For my money, I'm glad he decided to go back to his roots and incorporate that into his musical vision, creating something much more unique. As I mentioned, Slim touched on a wide range of styles, so it's not a big deal that not everything agrees with my sensibility. "Take Me Home", for example, is a little too Adult Contemporary for my tastes, but mixed in along the whole it doesn't detract from the show's enjoyability. The second set ran about the same length as the first but with a quick encore added on to the end. And then it was time for me to dash up the street to the night's next attraction. Hopefully the karaoke folks found it as pleasing of a bridge to their evening's main fun.
Listen to a track from this show here.
1 First Friday of every month 'til August, free admission. More info here.
2 As I think I've mentioned previously — any band with Ebenezer Agyekum (also of Afrafranto and African Guitar Summit) on bass is probably worth listening to.
3 Flute player — in Canada do we prefer the British flautist or the American flutist? — Aysha Wills, who appears to keep herself mixed up in some different musical camps, was wearing a t-shirt for hardcore band The Rival Mob.
4 Clearly regulars, they even brought their own bar snacks, including a Tupperware bowl of nuts set out on the bar in front of them.
5 This caused the karaoke crowd beside me to sit up and take notice. Soon enough, of their number was up and dancing in front of the stage.
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