Start of the Annual event on the New Haven Green, AK and the NHSO were blessed with nice weather. I will get the rant portion of this post out of the way. The show was listed to start at 6pm, we arrived at 545 only to get the obligatory “thankyou half hour” followed by an opening set from a local drum healer troupe. At a Dead show, when the setlist moves to drums>space>Bertha tease> drums> space, it is one’s clue to visit a portolet either to A) pee or B) get high behind it. This same crew was at last years folk at the edge series and their insistence veered more military and less healing to my ears. So I guess we were 1.5 hours early given that the opener was listed nowhere in the plethora of emails and fb posts. Happy then to be rewarded with some lovely music from the Beninese-songbird Kidjo. Raised in Paris, her artist parents figure prominently. Her father promoted Women’s rights and she started a foundation to help educate West African girls. Her global love of music starts with African influences like Fela Kuti and Miriam Makeba but increases through the lens of Hendrix, Santana, and Aretha. Last years rendition of Talking Heads Remain In Light was classic. She sang some standards in her native tongue like a good reworking of Summertime. The symphony took a back seat and the sound configuration was challenging. She had a couple of dancers that were visible thanks to the big screens flanking the stage. AK is listed on Time’s 100 most influential people and her activism and positive message bear that out. If she was asked whether or not to list the opening act on festival information, I’m thinking she would say “ yes, please.”
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