Afrofest 2010 (feat. Kae Sun / Nati Haile / Occidental Brothers Dance Band International with Samba Mapangala / Muna Mingole / Chiwoniso)
Queen's Park. Sunday, July 11, 2010.
I arrived at Queen's Park with Kae Sun, the day's third act already on stage, but caught most of his set. Toronto-based, but of Ghanaian background, Sun brought something quite different to the table — something like a modern rock sound. Some of the lyrics ("we burn/ we burn/ we burn") could be taken for angsty rock tropes, but by and large his soulful delivery kept it from veering too far into mere complaint rock. Although, to be sure, there were shades of that in evidence.
The lineup was more standard rock band-esque (bass, keyb, drums and an electric guitarist backing Sun with his acoustic) — no extra percussion here. But there was a bit more than just mershy alt.rock going on — "Lion on a Leash", the title track to his album, had a reggae undertone, and "Free" came with a hip-hop delivery. Given the reverb that Sun preferred on his vocals, it seems clear that he's been picking up some elements of his sound from alternative rock and in the end, this stuff would be as much at home at Afrofest as it would be on a Tuesday night at The Horseshoe.
Although this wasn't particularly the flavour of rock I prefer, I have no doubt that Sun could make good with his talent — there's definite commercial potential here. And some good compositions, like closing track "On The Lookout" with a driving piano line, indicating that Kae Sun might grow into something interesting.
Meanwhile, looming clouds were rolling in overhead. It looked like the stage crew were planning on rain, moving lights back from the lip of the stage and bringing out tarps to cover the stacks while the next act was getting ready. That would be Nati Haile, and I knew that this would be worth listening to when I saw that his backing band included a few of the Ethio Stars crew, including sax master Girma Woldemichael. Also, drummer Daniel Barnes' playing gave the music a very tasty kick.
From what I can gather, like most Ethiopian musicians, Haile pays respect to the cannon of songs, throwing in a few well-known classics in his set. From reading around a bit, I get the impression that on record he cross-charges with hip-hop and dancier fare, but as I've seen before, the live incarnation with a full band tends to be a bit more traditional-leaning. But he also brought some other influences in, including a reggae vibe in his original "Shalom".
A couple songs in, the first few spare drops of rain began to fall, but even then, there were a good number of people up and dancing. Only when it began to rain more steadily did the bulk of the crowd move back to the shelter of the trees.1 As is standard practice, the songs all stretched out a bit, usually six or seven minutes apiece, so there were only a half-dozen in the forty-five minute set. But it was pretty good stuff. And by the end, the rain had moved over and wouldn't be a problem for the rest of the day.
Listen to a track from this set here.
And then, just what the doctor ordered — the sun breaking through the clouds, the world cup complete, and some delicious African guitar-band music, courtesy of the Occidental Brothers Dance Band International with Samba Mapangala. Starting off with a whip-it-up instrumental, the five-piece band (two guitars, drums, sax, bass) ended up playing an extra long intro as leader Nathaniel Braddock lost power to his amp or pedals. But once that was fixed, his lines were incredibly tightly intertwined with Greg Ward's alto saxophone. Result: inevitable dancing.2
Appearances can be deceiving, of course, but the Chicago-based crew didn't necessarily look like a world-beating highlife/soukous unit. Especially with Braddock's refined, studious appearance, you could as easily have imagined the band playing coldly precise math-rock — at least until the emergence of the real star of the show.
Samba Mapangala is a true legend of Congolese music, releasing albums for twenty years. He's been performing with the Occidental Brothers since the fall of '09 and it seems to be working out for all involved. It was easy to get lost in the skittering drums or the bass following Mapangala's vocal line as Braddock played intersecting chiming guitar lines with Antonio Carella. That first burst of songs with Mapangala to start the set were arguably the best stuff I heard all weekend.
After that, the instrumental "Circle Circle Circle" gave Mapangala a chance to catch his breath. That and the slower "Masanga" following it were okay, but less vital than the faster stuff. And sometimes a little bit of alto sax can go a long way. Things picked back up when Mapangala returned to the stage for his own "Vunja Mifupa", which brought the pep back and kept it going right through the closing "Malako Disco", his signature hit. A fine introduction. Apparently a recording of this collaboration is in the works, so do keep your eyes out for that.
Listen to a track from this set here.
As I came back toward the main stage after a between-sets wander, I noted with interest that next up was a band that takes soundcheck seriously. Muna Mingole, wireless mic in hand, was out in front of the stage checking the percussion sound and making comments back to the booth. That exacting technician would soon re-emerge as a smiling entertainer. Known as the "Blue Flame of Cameroon", her band was certainly dressed to suit that moniker — colour coordinated in blue/white/black garb, right down the blue streaks in Mingole's hair matching her eyeshadow.
The set started off on a mellow note with a slow song backed with recorder, but slowly picked up from there. Mingole came across as slightly diva-esque, but not unjustifiably so with her commanding presence and pure, strong voice. The band behind her was eight strong, with a pair of singers and a pair of guitarists to go with keyb/bass/percussion/drums. Once things revved up to makossa speed, it was pretty engaging.
Although there's no doubting the talent at hand, there were a few points that were a bit too soul-lite smooth — not entirely my thing. But when it clicked, there was a feeling of joyful celebration. Weird moment: about forty-five minutes into her set, Rob Ford dropped by for some handshaking right in front of the main stage. Looking around, I was the only one plotzing at the sight of the disagreeable demagogue. Most people were more focused on the music, especially when an upbeat bikutsi rhythm took over, and she invited up members of the crowd to dance on stage.
In an interesting bit of cultural re-claiming, the band covered "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", a song whose history is a potent lesson in cultural globalism and the venality of the music industry.3 Interestingly, in the cross-currents of give-and-take of the whole thing, Mingole's version arguably owed as much to Disney as to Solomon Linda, and the crowd was more interested in singing along than considering the vagaries of music publishing and cultural appropriation. Also tipping in an easy header was the closing jam/medley of several songs that included the weekend's second kick at World Cup anthem "Zangalewa".
On the whole, not everything in the set worked for me, but count Mingole as a gifted performer and a positivity-packing entertainer who definitely won over the crowd on hand.
Listen to a track from this set here.
Whereas Mingole had to prove herself somewhat to win over the crowd, that wasn't so much needed for Chiwoniso, who has enthusiastically welcomed to the stage by a crowd whose size had swelled severalfold. Chiwoniso Maraire, American-born daughter to Zimbabwean mbira master Dumisani Maraire, has carried on the family tradition with her mastery of the thumb-piano, but in taking on what was considered to be a man's instrument, she is also pushing things forward. She mixed tradition and new ideas as easily as she mixed lyrics in English and Shona, all with an unshowy, natural command of the stage.
The set led off with the balladic "Rebel Woman" (the title track to her recent fourth album) with the warm, resonant tones from her mbira at the centre of the sound. Promising more of a dance groove after that, she sang "Kurima", which simmered along nicely, although the ripping guitar solos didn't totally click with me. The relatively compact five-piece band (guit/bass/drums/keyb/percussion) did show a lot of flexibility, though, in moving between some different musical flavours.
Playing a couple songs "by her friends", the band performed a pair from Max Wild's Tamba album, composed by saxophonist Wild and Sam Mtukudzi4. They also stretched out on the reggae-tinged anti-corruption groover "Matsotsi". Throughout, the music was fine, though I must admit for me it often fell more towards "pleasant" than "vital". Closer "Nguva Ye Kufara" did take things out on a winning note, though, loud roars from the crowd ending another year at Afrofest.5
Listen to a track from this set here.
1 And after the branch collapse of the night before, there was one less to take shelter under, still with a cordoned-off area around it.
2 One downside of African music festivals is that guys will sit down beside you with a drum and start playing. I mean, look — I don't wanna work either, but I don't particularly want to hear random people banging on their drums all day while I'm listening to a band.
3 There's a précis of this song's interesting history in the Wikipedia article, but I strongly advise you to read Rian Malan's article, "In The Jungle", which you can find in a PDF version here.
4 Mtukudzi, son of Zimbabwean legend Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi was a promising musician who was killed in a tragic car crash earlier this year.
5 If you're a fan of planning ahead, Afrofest 2011 will be held on July 9th and 10th. See you there!
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