Vieux Farka Toure in Jozi

Vieux Farka Toure@Bassline Newtown - Johannesburg.

 

   

 

 

The show opened with what sounded like a spiritual chorus infused with sound of the ‘calabash’ the kind of a tune that when you are in church you would wish the preacher was absent, the message was loud and clear we were in for a treat. In that moment I lost all my senses except the sense to absorb and receive.

 After that spiritual out of body experience we were brought back to the streets of Johannesburg by an up-tempo Malian beats and sounds that he is famous for, the crowd was energetic and dancing to all his notes and beats. As I am writing now I am watching one of his Father’s DVDs: A visit to Ali Farka Toure; A film by Marc Haraux. There are so many similarities between his style of playing and that of his Father for instance the leaning back and swinging the head from side to side and the stretching of the hand when emphasising a note, the big difference is that he seems more relaxed on stage and smiling more and enjoying a lot with his band which add to the entertainment value in terms of his live performances.

It was a show of three halves; after the opening tune there were up-tempo tunes that followed which were well received by the crowd as the hall was filling up, before the show I only heard few songs from his various albums and mostly where he played with his Father or featured other artits. There are very strong Malian roots in his music so if you love Malian music and West African sounds in general it was a joy ride.

The second half was characterised by my favourite slower and soulful sounds which sprung me to my feet; when he announced “Ai Do” as the next song I left ground zero to ground 2, I was on the higher level, singing along, shouting, punching the thick air, I was lost…this hymn could not have been written by a mere mortal MAN.

 He closed the show as he opened it; with energy, lots of passion and soaring sounds. He called on stage the artist who was an opening act (Bongeziwe Mabandla) to feature on one of the closing tunes which was quite nice to see. I think the Brother (Bongeziwe) could have given us more on vocals.

I cannot even say it was value for money perhaps time well invested and good memories created, much respect to the organisers and all who made this show possible.  The only down point for me with the performance is that the calabash was only played on the opening tune and for the rest of the show it stood there in silence waiting to be polished at the least, the Malians are known for their calabash and amongst other things I was looking forward to hearing my heart swinging to its taps, bangs and its majestic influence…

Once in a distant land a prophet was asked about his father and he replied “if you have seen me you have seen my Father…”

 

For many nights and days I have listened, sang, danced to the tunes of the great Ali Farka Toure and now through my naked eye I have seen HIM in his Son Vieux Farka Toure …Aah the circle of LIFE!!!

 

One day we shall talk about a country called AFRIKA!!!!