There was a mellow Monday touch about Toumani Diabate's latest visit to Scotland, a feeling underlined by opening act Revere's finely hewed, attractively harmonised chamber-folk-meets-Radiohead songs.
The quartet, which featured violin, cello and pedal harp alongside their singer-guitarist-spokesman, confessed to being overawed by the occasion but acquitted themselves well and, presumably having relaxed thoroughly, enthusiastically joined in Diabate’s finale.
As he reflected humorously in his preamble, Diabate’s appearance this time was recompense for his withdrawal, due to this stuff called snow, from the AfroCubists’ Usher Hall concert last winter. The music he played thereafter would have cleared the airport runways that stranded him in Paris back then.
Taking time to explain the origins of his music – he’s the 71st generation of his family to carry the Mandinka tradition forward – and to describe how his kora is made from a calabash, cowhide and 21 fishing-line strings, the Malian charmed with his gently unfolding pieces.
Even when he was joined by his band – Fanta Mandy Kouyate (guitar), Mohamed Koita (bass guitar) and Fode Kouyate (drums) – the music remained almost lulling, before building to a sustained intensity on the kora strings and then, suddenly, easing into the kind of brief, incredibly intricate and together ensemble passage that Frank Zappa used to favour.
The dancing in front of the stage didn’t really take off with this, more of a listening vibe developing and Fanta Mandy Kouyate’s guitar improvisations matching Diabate for spooling intrigue. But a strong feeling of wellbeing still grew, with eventual audience participation and a final solo meditation from Diabate playing in the internal jukebox all the way home.
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