Adelaide Festival. Arts Projects Australia. Botanic Park. 11 to 14 Mar 2016
I’ve been lucky enough to have enjoyed the sensational WOMADelaide festival for a dozen years now, and have seen many things change, grow and evolve over that time, including myself as a punter. I’ve always been a whole-hearted WOMADelaide man, delving deep into every aspect of every artist, carefully planning my itinerary of bands to see, and having everything organised to the nth degree ready for the start of each WOMADelaide festival.
This year, however, I decided to take a different approach, whereby I let the music lead me, and being a bit more free flowing recalled the essence of discovery I had at my very first WOMADelaide all those years ago.
It’s nice to look at things with fresh eyes every now and again! Admittedly, I was already familiar with at least half of the acts in the programme, but the other half were sure to hold something special, something to be discovered; and so it begins - WOMADelaide 2016. A year of many firsts: the first where I won’t know every single band and performer who I am to see, the first time I’ll fly completely solo, and the first time I’ll provide a review that isn’t a chronology of everything I did during the festival… let’s keep things fresh!
What better place to start than with an act who was the first world music act I ever heard, and ultimately the ones who started me on my path as a world music aficionado. I am of course talking about Ladysmith Black Mambazo, who I remember seeing (and being blown away by!) on Sesame Street, and shortly thereafter when my parents brought home a brand new vinyl copy of Paul Simon’s latest Graceland. I was blown away then, I have been blown away when I’ve seen them in the past, and I am blown away again by there performance at this year’s WOMADelaide!
Formed by the massive talent, Joseph Shabalala 56 years ago, the journey for this all-vocal group continues with three of Joseph’s sons taking charge and continuing the tradition of the band. Despite Joseph’s distinctive voice not being present today, his voice continues nonetheless, and the band is as amazing as ever! Despite only using the human voice to create their sound, the music they make puts many other bands with plenty of instruments to shame! And their stage show, complete with all sorts of antics and Zulu dancing only adds to the atmosphere. Sensational!
African music dominates my WOMADelaide experience this year, with many other notable performances coming from across the continent. From the South African sounds of Ladysmith, to the East, West, and North, there were some amazing African performers this year.
Representing the western sounds, the style of music that for me embodies the essence of WOMADelaide, were Bortier Okoe, a locally-based djembe master from Ghana, encompassing a wide swathe of West African sounds, from quintessential melodies to rhythmic groove akin to Afrobeat, and of course some sensational djembe soling - Bortier and his band are great!
The eastern side of Africa is well represented too, which makes me happy as I have a bit of a soft spot for music of the East. It’s not the immediate sound that people associate with African music, but the eastern styles, with heavy influences from the Arabic world and beyond, are fantastic!
There are great performances by Alsarah & The Nubatones, a Sudanese songstress who travelled from her northern Sudan homeland to Yemen and on to the US, where she crafted her music to incorporate all those eastern (middle and African!) influences into some sensational Nubian sounds. With an oud and darbuka, Alsarah is also joined by a bass and a second female vocalist/percussionist to form a relatively minimalist set up capable of some very big sounds. Hypnotic bass grooves, eastern melodies and awesome vox… these guys are fantastic!
Also representing the East, and the North too, is Orange Blossom, a group centred around an Egyptian songstress and her French band. It is truly east-meets-west, with Arabic-influenced vocals mixed in with western styles; elements of folkloric music, electronica, and even rock chord structures, dub, and reggae adding to heavy grooves with a thick Maghreb vibe perfect for the humid evenings, these guys are great! And they have a couple of djembe solos too!
Representing the great Saharan sounds, were Songhoy Blues, a Malian band who mix two styles of blues: the western sounds we’re used to hearing, that underpin just about every element of rock music, and the desert blues of Mali, which is the original style that gave birth to pretty much all of our modern musical styles. These guys certainly know how to put on a great show, blending heavy bass lines and solid grooves with fantastic high-pitch guitar lines and melodies that ride high and proud. It is very bluesy, but also very African!
Of course, I couldn’t wrap up talking about African sounds without mentioning Angelique Kidjo, who is joined by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in an unusual yet sensational pairing. Angelique is an amazing performer who I’ve had the pleasure of seeing (and even dancing with!) a number of times, but this performance is definitely the most unusual. Unusual because African music is essentially rhythmic, and yet there’s barely any percussive instrumentation in a symphony orchestra… despite this however, it actually works quite well! The staccato of the violins punctuates the rhythms, while the African melodies ring out on symphonic instrumentation that gives the whole thing an air of ‘movie score’! There is a jazzy element to it too, almost reminiscent of Latin jazz, which highlights the links between the genres. Of course, despite completely filling the huge Stage One with instruments, and despite being very good, the ASO are no match for Angelique’s vocals that pound out over the enthusiastic crowd. She definitely has a voice from heaven!
Obviously there’s more to WOMADelaide than just African music. My other big musical love comes with a spicy Latino flavour, a style that panders to my love of the South and Central American continents and culture. WOMAD came to the party in fine form this year with a couple of great acts that stand out for me.
Melbourne’s Quarter Street (or Calle Cuarta if you prefer Español!) are fantastic, with a flavour of New York meets Cubano; you just can not help but dance! There is a certain authenticity in their sound, comprising only traditional instrumentation, laden with percussion like timbales, congas, bongos, güiro, maracas and more, with piano, bass and horns. These guys completely capture the essential Latin vibe and sexiness, and are awesome to behold!
For a completely different Latin American flavour we had Edmar Catañeda Trio from Colombia. These guys are quite traditional, with Edmar being a true master of his harp instrument. Colombia is one of my favourite countries to visit and Edmar and his crew, which includes his beautiful wife on vocals for a few tunes, embody what I love about Colombia. These guys are traditional, emotional, spiritual, sensual, and sensational! Edmar even plays a prayer on his harp. This is a side of Latin music that the West doesn’t often get to hear, so it is great to have it as a part of WOMADelaide!
From Japan comes Mount Mocha Kilimanjaro (and you’d be forgiven for thinking they were African with such a name) with a brand of jazzy funk that Tarantino would love! These guys nail the ultra-fat grooves of the 70s, with smooth instrumental playing, and lots of jazzy soloing; there are some great stage personalities too!
From the U.S. we have Hazmat Modine, who, as a band, are rather difficult to define! They are funky, bluesy, swinging, and even have elements of Klezmer! With a tuba for bass (including some great tuba soloing!) and some wild harmonica up front, these guys had a gritty edge that makes them a whole lot of fun!
Of course, things do need to come to an end, but just like saving your favourite morsel of food to be the last thing on your plate, I like to save the best for last, and for that we go back to Africa for Seun Kuti & Egypt 80! Returning triumphantly to WOMADelaide this year, Seun brings his massive 12 piece band with him and, starting traditionally, eventually moves into the hypnotic realms of Afrobeat, where we are all led and remain for a massive trance-like 90 minute set.
There are massive grooves, solos aplenty, unbelievable bum dancing, and a brand of music that is unique and completely under the control of the amazing Seun Kuti. Following in his dad’s footsteps and easily filling the giant shoes that such a task requires, Seun wows the audience once again!
With that, so ends another WOMADelaide festival. And what a year it is. The rains just before the festival kept the dust down, the humidity kept the scorching temperatures at bay (though it was still hot!), the kids all seemed a little calmer - perhaps because, thankfully, the organisers decided against that stupid colour run paint exercise this year - and the whole thing is as beautiful as ever.
Only 361 more days to wait until WOMADelaide 2017!
Luke Balzan
