30/10/2008 by bakary.

This is an amazing story…

Posted in Africa | No Comments »

27/10/2008 by bakary.

Who says that you can’t get anything for free these days… New Orleans came to the O2 for an amazing two days of music and street parades. And it was all free!

I got there as the Rebirth Brass Band made its way down Bourbon Street. There was a real parade feel to it with traffic coming to a standstill. An New Orleans institution… ‘from playing the streets of the French Quarter to playing festivals and stages all over the world. Rebirth is committed to upholding the tradition of brass bands while at the same time incorporating modern music into their show.’ (source: MySpace). They were fun.

I caught up with them at the Louisiana Pavilion where they were joined on stage by Big Chief Monk Boudreaux. All very jolly and brassy! People joining in, dancing and singing.

Marcia Ball was on stage at indigO2. An American Blues singer and pianist, born in Texas but she actually grew up in Louisiana. She was brilliant. The crowd really went for it and it looked like she was having fun too. By the time she sang I’m Coming Down With the Blues, you could close your eyes and think that you were in a club in New Orleans. She has the perfect Bluesy voice.

Back at the Louisiana Pavilion, Allen Toussaint was wooing the crowd. One of the most influential figures in New Orleans’s R&B scene, Toussaint needs no introduction. A legend. I stayed for a couple of songs. It was a great performance but it felt a bit more polished than the other bands I had seen so far and I just wanted to keep that festival feeling…

 What a great way to spend a couple of hours… Vibrant music and great characters… all for free! Great fun.

Posted in Festival, Concert Review | No Comments »

26/10/2008 by bakary.

What a line up! Amadou & Mariam, Sola Akingbolá, Daara J Family, Baaba Maal, Souad Massi, Oumou Sangare, Rachid Taha, Bassekou Kouyaté, Toumani Diabaté…

It kicked off with Sola Akingbolá (Jamiroquai percussionist). Okay, it did need something noisy to start off the evening and he did his very best to get the crowd going. Not quite my cup of tea however and considering how many artists were lined up for the evening, I feel that he was on stage for a long time. He made way for Muntu Valdo who sang, sadly, only a couple of songs… so poetic, so captivating… (there’s a great biography of Muntu Valdo on MySpace as well as a few live clips). I was holding my breath… and I don’t think I was the only one. And if you’re not busy on 16 November, I urge you to make your way to the Barbican’s London Jazz Festival Free stage at 18:00 as it looks like Muntu Valdo will be making an appearance. I’ll be there!

Daara J Family literally bounced on stage and got the crowd singing, dancing and… bouncing! The Senegalese Hip Hop band really brought a smile to my face, they have so much energy and they’re just such fun. I can’t say that I’m into rap but that’s the second time I’ve seen them now and they have a lot to say!

Amadou and Mariam were the last band to come on before the interval. I was so looking forward to them but I can’t quite put my finger on it; it just didn’t work for me. Quite tame. Damon Albarn joined Mariam for a song. Maybe it was the sound; I don’t know… slightly disappointing anyway.

I had to leave then, due to personal reasons.

My feelings up to that point were mixed and from a few people I caught up with a few days after the show, I don’t think I’m the only one thinking this. It seems that the show was thrown together a bit and may be the artists didn’t have time to rehearse properly. Still… the line up was fantastic and we want more events like this!

Posted in Africa, Concert Review, World Music | No Comments »

21/10/2008 by bakary.

Places capturing my imagination at the moment… in no particular order:

• Greenland
• Rwanda
• Russia (especially Kaliningrad and Karelia)
• Brazil (overland from Bolivia to Parati via Iguacu Falls and the Pantanal)
• Mozambique 

Will be interesting to see how many of these I make it to within the next two years. I’m guessing three. What’s on your list? Let me know.

Posted in Travel | 1 Comment »

20/10/2008 by bakary.

A tour company is now offering mystery trips. You pay; you pack (what? A bit of everything I guess); you meet someone at the airport who has your ticket and you go somewhere… whilst there, you don’t know what you’ll be doing from one day to the next. Intrigued?

I’m not surprised someone’s come up with an idea like this.  There’s a lot of competition out there. Additionally, a good proportion of travellers are now looking for off-the-beaten-track destinations and the ultimate adventure and you need to capture their imaginations.

I can see the attraction. These mystery trips offer a completely new experience. Seasoned-travellers looking for a thrill, I’m sure, will be up for it. Can you imagine the sense of adventure? It’s like re-discovering travel.

You could say that someone’s doing all the work for you, but at the same time, you’re probably going to be doing stuff you woudn’t have done otherwise (thought of doing even) and see things you didn’t even know existed, things that had not made it on your radar.

Would I be up for it? Well yeah… but not just yet; I still have plenty of travel destinations in mind to keep me going for now.

Posted in Travel | No Comments »

13/10/2008 by bakary.

That’s how long it takes us, according to researchers, to start relaxing a the start of our holiday… Like I needed an excuse to book long trips!

It’d be interesting to know what the figures are for other European countries.

Posted in Travel | No Comments »

09/10/2008 by bakary.

Found… on 7 June 2008.
Coastal pathway, Porth to Watergate Bay.

Posted in Elephant, Found | No Comments »

07/10/2008 by bakary.

I was really looking forward to this. There is a lot of ‘World Music’ about these days but I feel that Bassekou Kouyate still has a freshness about him that is hard to ignore. I was bowled over by Segu Blue when it came out. Bassekou Kouyate’s energy on stage was contagious and his joy was evident for all to see. mapsadaisical has a good review of the gig (with photos) so there’re no need for me to go into too much detail…

But Tartit won me over. I’d never heard of them; I hadn’t even paid any attention to the fact that they were part of the gig!

It’s easy to liken their music and style to that of Tinariwen. Tartit are also a Tuareg group from Mali. But there’s something about Tartit which is raw in the sense that they’re not yet the ‘cool’ band to see. They are being discovered now and their sound is still very much theirs. Pure.

Their outfits were stunning and hinted at the mystery that the Tuareg are. And when they introduced themselves as a Tuareg band from the Timbuktu region, I was entranced.

The songs were punctuated by what seemed like impromptu dancing and clapping… and you felt transported, almost, to the desert, with Tartit sitting in a semi-circle, as if around the fire, passing the evening.  This feeling was reinforced when one of the women said that it can be harsh living in the desert; there is little water; no educational facilities and no health posts… but it is their home and they love it…

Tihar Bayatin, the camel song, was fun. Fitting also that Tartit should have a song to celebrate camels; the Tuareg being so dependant on them. The guttural sounds and the dancing did lift the audience. You can listen to the track for free on Last.fm.

In the Barbican pamphlet, one of the female member of the band says: ‘Among the Tuareg, everybody makes music. In the camps, all the children and young people would gather together between the tents, singing and dancing‘.

What a discovery!

Posted in Africa, Concert Review, World Music | No Comments »

06/10/2008 by bakary.

The world… as seen by me!

Want to see ‘your world’? Go to World66.

Let me know how you get on…

Posted in Travel | No Comments »

05/10/2008 by bakary.

You know… with 2008 drawing to a close and no further trips booked for the rest of year, except of course a couple of weekends away, now is the time to start dipping into guidebooks, planning and scheming next year’s adventures, with an eye on 2010 as well!

I love this bit. Everywhere is a possibility. New challenges? Re-visit good old favourites? 2009 should be well interesting however. A year without flying but hey, I’m not planning a trip to the seaside either. There will be no compromises in the choice of destinations.

A strong option at the moment is a three-week trip to Germany; Poland; Kaliningrad and Belarus by train next summer.

Travel magazines and editorials are now releasing their top 2009 travel tips - the new up-and-coming destinations. Tour companies are releasing their new trips. So, the guidebooks are open. The atlas is on the floor. I’m plotting itineraries right now.

I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, I’d be interested to hear where you guys are planning to go next year.

Posted in Travel | No Comments »