African Soul Rebels - The Anvil, Basingstoke 12th March 2009

Spring has sprung and so once again a young (oh alright then, middle-aged) world music fan's fancy turns to the theoretically incongruous but in practice pretty successful agglomeration of disparate artists that make up the African Soul Rebels concept. This is the fifth year running for the brand that was presumably named for the initial triumvirate of artists billed in 2005 when soulful rappers Daara J (whatever happened to them?) were sandwiched between genuine former gun-toting desert blues rebels Tinariwen and faux rebellion of the leather-trousered variety in Algeria's Rachid Taha. Since then, despite featuring big West African hitters such as Salif Keita, Amadou and Mariam, and Femi Kuti, there has been a feeling of diminishing returns about the impact of the set-up. On paper the line-up doubts resurfaced again this year, especially as the recent UK performances of the best know artist, Senegalese singer-songwriter Baaba Maal, were full of eye-catching Lion King antics visually but had a going-through-the-motions air about them musically. Opening act Extra Golden compounded the fears, with a US-Kenyan blues-rock mix that was more barroom than benga. What melody existed tended to be drowned out by the four-square thump of drums and unimaginative indie electric guitar riffing. Somewhat surprisingly perhaps (but not in retrospect, as will become apparent) Baaba Maal was second on the bill, and the contrast could not have been greater. Here was the soul we'd been promised, Baaba in acoustic mode for this tour and sounding sure and strong. Opening with a couple of ballads, then ratcheting up the energy, he promised an African dance party and that was duly delivered with aplomb during a perfectly-paced hour-long set. As soon as Oliver Mtukudzi appeared onstage to jig along with Baaba, it was clear that the line-up order had been set with good reason, and from the moment the veteran Zimbabwean and his band kicked off the sizeable Zimbabwean community that had turned out to see their hero were up shimmying and singing along to every word. Tuku's sunny electro-jit - featuring guitar, marimba, mbira and rumbling bass alongside two syncopated percussionists - can at times be a too-smooth mix on CD, but it all comes together in a sinuous, dance-friendly fashion in concert, Mtukudzi's rough sandpapery vocals dovetailing with sweet female harmonies and his light, undulating lead guitar lines. Approaching sixty tears of age, Tuku is almost ancient by the standards of his native country, blighted as it is by the actions of the tosspot despot Robert Mugabe. And he certainly cuts a skeletal (if encouragingly energetic) figure as he shivers and shakes across the stage. There's no "chimurenga" about this music, no rebellion from a man who has chosen to remain in Africa, just pure, subtly persuasive pop music. And with that, he might just have produced the most consummate set yet of the fifteen that have now appeared under the African Soul Rebel banner.

BAABA MAAL - On the Road (Palm Pictures)

As the long wait continues for a new Baaba Maal studio album, and as his full-band concert performances start to edge into going-through-the-motions territory, this collection of live acoustic performances from the past ten years is a welcome reminder of the Senegalese singer at his intimate, unadorned best.
The configuration where one or two picked acoustic guitars and kora or xalam create a natural, spacious swing to Baaba's songs is one of the most pleasing musical frameworks in music, enabling Maal's soaring force of nature of a voice to ring out with clarity and passion. Established concert favourites such as Baayo - a tender, hypnotic mainstay of Baaba's live performances – and Cherie from 1998's Nomad Soul album (here in improved, rawer form) exemplify this, but as you’d expect from an album that is proclaimed as a “Bootleg Edition “, there are rare and previously unreleased tracks too for hardcore Maal fans to savour. The best of these is the previously cassette-only Farba, a gratifyingly raw and rough-edged xalam-led offering with call and response vocals. Is that the rich timbre of long-time collaborator Mansour Seck on this track? Unfortunately, the CD notes are as sparse as the instrumentation, with scant information about accompanists or dates and locations of performances, so we can't be sure. It's easy to recognise the sharp, melodic kora work of the late great Kaouding Cissoko though, and on Koni it's locked down by a characteristic Baaba Maal circular guitar-picking rhythm, and it’s lit up by a judiciously restrained Ernest Ranglin solo electric guitar spot.
At nine tracks and under forty minutes in length, On the Road serves as a decent enough stop-gap release, but with Baaba Maal tied up on so many worthy projects in his native Senegal, one wonders when he'll find time to lay down a full, original studio album. When he does get round to it, musical fare along the lines of the simple, stripped back, melodic songs showcased here would be most welcome.

Baaba Maal Website