Posts Tagged ‘Black Atlantic’
Tinariwen in San Francisco (@Afropop.org)
Desert rockers Tinariwen of Mali have been on tour in the US this winter. Jeffrey Callen caught the show—on an off night, it seems—in San Francisco, February 22, 2010. Here’s his review. The photos by Banning Eyre are from Tinariwen’s performance at New York’s Highline Ballroom about a week earlier.
It’s easy to review a great performance. The feeling of elation from being taken out of the daily flow of life stimulates the creative centers of the brain and the words flow. Reviewing a bad performance also comes fairly easily. As an exercise in figuring out why the event didn’t work—the music didn’t gel, the crowd didn’t respond—it offers its own kind of satisfaction. But when a show almost works, when nothing is terribly wrong, there is little to say. It just fell flat. The emotional and intellectual drivers to write fail to appear: elation is missing, no intellectual problem to unravel. The performance just fell flat. And that’s what happened when one of the great bands working today, Tinariwen, played the Palace of Fine Arts on Sunday, February 22nd. (for more go to Tinariwen in San Francisco).
“Desert Rock”
Desert Rock
Tinariwen brings rebel music out of the Southern Sahara.
A slow Hendrix blues riff, deep, rough and insistent, slashes through the aural space. Broken down and repeated, the opening riff is joined by the offbeat upstrokes of a second, trebly electric guitar establishing a shuffle counterpoint. A fast rap barely breaks through the sound of the guitars, becoming louder when it morphs into a sung chorus with backing vocals (three, maybe four words). About four minutes in, the guitars drop out and the song is stripped down: a fast rap over a loopy funk bass line, accompanied by handclaps and soft percussion. The offbeat guitar upstrokes return joined by an arpeggiated riff on a second guitar, then a lead guitar. The vocals become secondary as the guitars propel the song to its ending and the opening riff returns. While the description could fit a performance of an up-and-coming indie band at the Noise Pop festival later this month, (to read more click here for the East Bay Express article)
"Desert Rock"
Desert Rock
Tinariwen brings rebel music out of the Southern Sahara.
A slow Hendrix blues riff, deep, rough and insistent, slashes through the aural space. Broken down and repeated, the opening riff is joined by the offbeat upstrokes of a second, trebly electric guitar establishing a shuffle counterpoint. A fast rap barely breaks through the sound of the guitars, becoming louder when it morphs into a sung chorus with backing vocals (three, maybe four words). About four minutes in, the guitars drop out and the song is stripped down: a fast rap over a loopy funk bass line, accompanied by handclaps and soft percussion. The offbeat guitar upstrokes return joined by an arpeggiated riff on a second guitar, then a lead guitar. The vocals become secondary as the guitars propel the song to its ending and the opening riff returns. While the description could fit a performance of an up-and-coming indie band at the Noise Pop festival later this month, (to read more click here for the East Bay Express article)
Selected Writings from my examiner.com page (3/09 to 12/09)
For the Archives: a selection of entries from my SF International Music Examiner page on examiner.com:
Moh Alileche at Ashkenaz — a musician with a mission (March 2009)
Latin jazz pianist Omar Sosa explores the music of the Black Atlantic (March 2009)
Joshua Nelson rocks the Jewish Music Festival but I wanted more (March 2009)
Post-modern Listening: new Justin Adams / Juldeh Camara release (June 2009)
U2 tour & global warming (August 2009)
Strong on-line presence for London International Festival of Exploratory Music November 2009)
Review of Melvin Gibb’s Ancients Speak (Afropop.org)
Ancients Speak (published in Afropop.org in March 2009) — review of Ancients Speak, a journey by Melvin Gibbs’ Elevated Entity through the past, present and possible future of the “Black Atlantic continuum.”
Review of Melvin Gibb's Ancients Speak (Afropop.org)
Ancients Speak (published in Afropop.org in March 2009) — review of Ancients Speak, a journey by Melvin Gibbs’ Elevated Entity through the past, present and possible future of the “Black Atlantic continuum.”
Deciphering Culture
Deciphering Culture 