AFROCUBISM - AfroCubism (World Circuit WLWCD085)

What’s fourteen years between friends? The myth of the delayed visas (or vagaries of West African musician patronage, depending on who you ask) has been recounted often enough, as has the tale of how the scuppered African-Cuban get-together turned into the happy ending to a lifetime’s artistic expression for the venerable gentlepeople of the Buena Vista Social Club. Meanwhile thwarted Malians Djelimady Tounkara, Bassekou Kouyaté et al ploughed successful, if less internationally lucrative, furrows of their own whilst the initial plan simmered away in the back of producer Nick Gold’s mind.

Cut to Madrid 2009, and finally the original idea has come to the boil in the form of BVSC constant Eliades Ochoa and his Grupo Patria alongside the aforementioned guitarist and ngoni player, who are joined by compatriots Toumani Diabaté on kora, Lassana Diabaté on balafon and Kasse Mady Diabaté on vocals.

It’s the Cubans that form the basis of the sound, laying down the trademark BVSC shuffle – the brush of tres guitar against deft, polyrhythmic congas, double-bass keeping things ticking along – in and out of which the Malians interlace their finest Cuban-inspired melodies.

There’s an even split between songs of African and Cuban provenance. Amongst the Cuban highlights is the Beny Moré son La Culebra, on which Kouyaté’s ngoni acts a delicate echo of the acoustic guitarists. Lassana Diabaté adds light rhythmic spice and Tounkara interjects with chiming electric guitar right out of the (Cuban-inspired) ‘70s Rail Band songbook.

On Al Vaivén De Mi Carreta the full ensemble is tight to the swaying guarija groove, with Eliades and Kasse Mady alternating verses between short, improvised leads-in from each instrumentalist. Overall lead vocal responsibilities are shared between the two singers, Ochoa’s succinct delivery - that familiar plaintive lived-in tone - complementing Diabaté’s silky elongated phrasing.

Other highlights include Mariama, a traditional Malian song co-adapted and robustly delivered by Eliades and Bassekou; a shivering version of another standard Jarabi, with Kasse’s vocal soaring majestically over Lassana’s balafon swells; and the rollicking Mandé song Benséma on which Eliades proves to be a riffing equal to Bassekou and Toumani.

It’s been some wait, but a pleasure delayed and all that, and word has it that the ensemble recorded another album’s worth of tracks while they were in the Spanish capital. A fourteen month gap will be quite enough next time round then, guys.

www.worldcircuit.co.uk

Afrocubism

It's coming!!

BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB - At Carnegie Hall (World Circuit)

Ten years ago, with the help of Juan de Marcos González and support of Ry Cooder, a bunch of elderly Cubans dusted off their instruments, cleared their throats and, with seemingly effortless ease, delivered arguably the most acclaimed album in world music history. And a decade on from an exultant (and to most of these veteran performers, previously unthinkable) New York performance, comes a timely reminder of the vitality and breadth of appeal of this old-school son, bolero and danzon music that sent sales of the original album into the stratosphere and sparked a franchise that still seduces to this day, despite the sad loss of many of its core members. One such loss being pianist Rubén Gonzalez, such a vital part of the sound here, and given many opportunities in concert (and hence this double CD) to add an improvisational flair that was (necessarily) reined in on the original recording (particularly on a number of fluid and richly textured solo spots). Compay Segundo is here too of course, and the gorgeous Omara Portuendo, as well as the delilghtfully playful tones of Ibrahim Ferrer on vocals, with sterling support from the likes of Eliades Ochoa (his guitar playing as lyrical as ever), Manuel Mirabal on trumpet and the incomparable Cachaito on double bass. I guess the question on the lips of many of the eight million purchasers of the original album is whether this live recording has enough differences to justify purchase? Well, the answer’s a resounding yes; eight of the eighteen tracks weren’t on the original album but hold their own amongst the many favourites-turned-classics that are — Chan Chan, El Cuarto de Tula, Dos Gardenias and Candela all sparkle and shine in a familiar yet subtly different, livelier way than the ‘originals’. And Cooder’s production sounds great, too — the audience’s waves of applause washing up on the shores of each pause between each immaculately delivered song. A perfect way to mark the tenth anniversary.

MADERA LIMPIA - La Corona (Out Here)

A soulful blend of Cuban roots and contemporary Latin pop that shows the brighter, warmer and more welcoming face of a controversial corner of the Caribbean. Madera Limpia ("pure wood") are Cuban duo Yasel Gonzalez Rivera and Gerald Thomas Collymore who hail from Guantánamo, home of the notorious US military base and fulcrum of that country's war against terror. There's no sign of that dark and controversial subject in this youthful, organic music where a pleasing mix of rap and smooth soulful vocals are mixed with Latino pop and arranged on a subtly-woven blanket of programmed beats, tres guitar, percussion and horns (including some beefy big band tuba at times). It's a poppier, more naturally rhythmic version of Cuban urbanistas Free-Hole Negro, with welcome diversions into a straight, sunny pop sound.
Against a relaxed backbeat that contains shades of reggae as well as the local beat, changui (which possesses a similar languid charm to the Jamaican rhythm), the group intone on the usual universal concerns of love and living as well as more local concerns such as poverty and the travails of locals who go to Havana to seek their fortune. A reflection of the well-honed combination of modern musical sounds and roots music to be found in this consistently catchy and edgy album.

SARA McGUINNESS

Midway through my conversation with Sara McGuinness we’re interrupted by a couple who have ventured over to express their thanks for her help in a recent project of theirs.
"It was an exercise in communication through music with a bunch of refugees from Yemen, Afghanistan, and various parts of Africa", Sara explains when the clearly very grateful couple have departed, "15- and 16-year olds who have only been in the UK about six months. We had this lad from the Ivory Coast, he hadn't said two words since he got here, but by the end we had him up singing a whole Craig David song."
When she’s not persuading hapless new arrivals to imitate doe-eyed beigebeat crooners, Sara McGuinness can be found employing her wide-ranging talents as sound engineer, producer, songwriter, keyboardist, band manager, teacher (knowledge-spreading trips to Cuba and Mali swiftly followed our interview) and all-round feisty fixture on the UK Latin and Congolese scenes, which she stumbled into nearly twenty years ago. “I did my degree in engineering, which led to a friend asking if I could have a go at doing the sound for his soul band. Somehow I ended up as their keyboard player, and started playing in various soul and reggae bands. I found that a lot of the music I listened to had Latin styles in it, so I took lessons in Cuban and Latin piano. That was about eighteen years ago, and I was really lucky to meet and work with people like the Afro-Cuban All Stars, Sierra Maestra and my mentor [the late Paris-based Cuban piano player] Alfredo Rodriguez."
Eventually McGuinness formed El Equipo with ex-pat Cuban Jimmy Martinez and ace Colombian timbalero Roberto Pla, as well as a number of British-born players. They released an album on their own Malecon label in 2001, and have since been consolidating their place on the live circuit. But it's getting progressively harder for bands to make a living this way, according to Sara: "The live scene has changed quite a lot over the years; it's tougher to get Arts Council touring grants. Salsa dance seems to have contributed to the drop in demand for live music. Only Europeans could take music and dance and separate them”, she jokes, “but many people do only want to dance to the tracks they've already learnt to dance to. So, a lot of musicians feel quite negative about it, but I can see the good side because finally people are starting ask about hearing the music played by a live band."
Sara’s latest project is Latin-Congolese band Grupo Lokito, which she formed two years ago with Kinshasa-born singer Jose Hendrix Ndelo. “I met Jose at a course at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, and we started writing songs together. The Congolese scene in the UK is not entirely underground, but it is a long stronger amongst Africans than locals these days. I play sebene [the guitar-led gear change that ratchets mid-tempo Congolese rumbas up into hip-shaking dance tunes] with these guys for hours and it’s great, all cheesy chords, lovely marimba lines and stabs of horn, with guys in their designer gear and bling dancing away. It’s a scene that’s dominated by Africans of all nationalities, but everybody who is part of it welcomes me as part of the family; I’m sure they asked who that funny white woman was when I first started playing, but now when they see me on the bus or tube its ‘ah, there’s Sara keyboardy’!”
The natural link between Cuban and Congolese styles is well-documented of course, but Grupo Lokito have their own, unique Anglo-Afro-Cuban approach to the music; there’s a charming sweetness to their sound, one that's infused with El Lokito’s international take on Latin music but which will readily appeal to admirers of fans of acoustic rumba veterans Kékélé and Kanda Bongo Man alike. With a shifting line-up around core members Ndelo on vocals, McGuinness on keyboards, guitarists Burkina Faso and Limousine (“fantastic musicians, with a great groove”, enthuses McGuinness) and drummer Eugene Makuta, Grupo Lokito can be found rocking the regulars at their Sunday night (make that Monday morning: they rarely start before midnight) residency in Canning Town, East London, as well as branching out into less niche venues.
"We are working hard for more exposure, which we are getting more and more from the World Music scene, getting gigs via people like Jamie Renton and his Chilli Fried night in Clerkenwell. But some people seem to value musicians more if they come from abroad,” she claims, “there’s a bit of an authenticity problem, people booking gigs want to know if the musicians are based in Africa. I say the bands are made up of musicians who have chosen to make London their home, why not give them a chance here? And when they know that I’m a white English woman, that’s even more of a problem. Maybe I should stress my Irish-American-Lithuanian-Jewish background more!”

Myspace site for Grupo Lokito

This feature first appeared in fRoots magazine.