Emily Robb was a solo guitarist from Philly. She hovered over the electric and spit shards of dissonant shrapnel. The result was abrasive but hypnotic and I just caught the last tune.
Baba Commandant hails from the tiny African country Burkina Faso. The set started with guitar, bass, and drums setting the groove. The ample crowd parted and a tiny figure approached the stage. We learn that this diminutive shaman is BC. He played tambourine, sang, growled, and played something that looked like a kora. A guitar playing friend could only commit to “kora-like” in describing his instrument. The music was decidedly Afro-beat, as BC sang in his native tongue. Most tunes had some call and response passages that kept the crowd dancing and engaged. The bass player and drummer were younger than the other two, and bassist acted as translator/ ambassador. No sooner did I comment that the bass player could join Santana, when a Burkina Fasoan rendition of Jingo appeared. At one point, the bassist asked the crowd to shape the song, “how you like? Salty, sugary, or spicey?” The guitar player was definitely older, but like BC, he could have been 30 or 70. The show seemed to be fostered by the excellent Sublime Frequencies record label. True afrobeat is a rarity in the US, many like Antibalas or Kaleta and the Super Yamba band, have one member with African roots and a crew of Brooklyn hipsters. I’m not dogging this configuration, we can’t all be from Ougadougou (the capitol of Burkina Faso). I’m always amazed at the confidence of these intrepid travellers and am glad they made the trip. Keep an eye out for this crew at a summer festival, you won’t be able to stop dancing.
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