23/02/2010 by bakary.

The irony of going to see 11 and 12 at the Barbican Theatre on Friday night did not escape me.  Only the day before, a military coup in Niger (West Africa) saw the President deposed and the government dissolved.

11 and 12 is about a conflict which sees a country in West Africa divided by a conflict over whether aspecific prayer has to be recited 11 times or 12 times. This simple enough question leads to violence and deaths. Families are torn. The country, under French occupaton, is divided. This makes the role of the French easier.

The set is simple and functional. The plot is easy to follow. What makes this play work is the sheer power of the acting. The same actors make us reflect on the futility of conflict and how we see violence and tolerance. Yes, violence and intolerance are never far from the surface but if we took the time to talk and understand each other, imagine what we could achieve?

And how relevant is this in this current world of ours?

Posted in Theatre Review, London, Africa | No Comments »

21/02/2010 by bakary.

Well… there go my travel plans out of the window!

Deadly grenade attacks in Kigali are allegedly linked to next week’s visit from French President Sarkozy or the forthcoming August elections. As it is always best to avoid election times in Africa, I’m moving on to plan b… which is a great shame, as I’d started working on my itinerary and booked the time off work!

Posted in Africa, Travel | No Comments »

22/09/2009 by bakary.

“The treacherous, unexplored areas of the world are not in continents or the seas; they are in the minds and hearts of men“. ALLEN E CLAXTON

The worst continent in the world to fly from is Africa. In 2003, it generated only 3% of all the flights, but accounted for 28% of all the air crashes. (source: BBC QI Fact of the Day)

Posted in Africa, Travel | No Comments »

07/11/2008 by bakary.

Hmmm… The recent events in DR Congo are depressing and I can’t help but think that another huge humanitarian crisis may well be on its way. As usual, the international community is taking too long to act and I fear the worse. Hey… but after finding out today that Sarah Palin thought Africa was a country, what hope is there!

Rwanda getting involved is not good news for a country which was slowly getting back on its feet and where the tourist industry was looking more than promising. As you know, Rwanda made it to my list of top five countries to visit next… At the moment, the Foreign Office is advising against all travel to the rural border areas with DR Congo, but no doubt people will be thinking twice about travelling to Rwanda at all until the situation improves. What a shame! Rwanda was recently tipped as one of the hottest destination for 2009.

Posted in Africa, Travel | No Comments »

30/10/2008 by bakary.

This is an amazing story…

Posted in Africa | 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 »

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 »