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Written by Glenn BurnSilver
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Tuesday, 24 October 2006 |
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Several times during my conversation with Malian superstar Habib Koité, he slipped into Bambara, his native tongue.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “that does not have translation.”
Still, it’s not hard to gather the meaning of what he said. It’s the same with his music. He may sing in Bambara about “culture others may not understand,” but the universal language of music gets his point across.
“Sometimes someone cannot know the words, but only to hear the music, through the melody they can know the feeling of the song. Even if they don’t understand what I mean, they can understand,” he explained from his San Rafael, Calif., hotel room. “They want to know outside their own culture, so they try to feel. … Melody help people feel, to go and travel with the music.”
That might just be the perfect euphemism in describing West African music. The hypnotic, poly-rhythmic beats, lush interplay of cora and balafón, talking drum chatter, loping call and response, and infectious guitar grooves make it impossible to stop moving. The music easily transports the listener to another place.
Koité hails from a family of Malian griots, traditional storytellers who play an important role in society. Both his father and brothers played guitar and Koité was naturally drawn in. “I love too much the guitar,” he said with pure enthusiasm. Koité, studied music (and later taught) at the National Institute of Music, but got his formative education playing the clubs around Mali and West Africa where he needed to perform the many local musical styles to be invited back.
“Even I don’t play very well those type of music, but I have to play— jazz, blues, African, Malian. I have to play each,” he said.
Today, his guitar playing and song structures encompass the many styles of Mali. He calls this convergence Danssa Doso.
“Malian music is very different — we have a lot of the diversity,” he continued. “I know how to listen to the music. Each music in Mali is like my culture, even if there are different rhythms and different scales. … When I make my (first) album, I choose a way to take (all) the Malian music.”
But, I reminded him, there are distinctly western influences too, like Afro-Cuban rhythms and occasional rock guitar moments, in his sound.
“Yes, there was a time when we tried to know what was happening in music outside Africa,” Koité agreed. “I know plenty of music from all over and I try to play on guitar. I have many things in my mind that have to go out. But when I want to create Malian music I do so with my own experience more clearly. … I know how to feel the music of Mali and make it come out.”
The show
Acoustic Africa Tour featuring Habib Koité
Doors 6 p.m.; show 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30
Lincoln Center, 417 W. Magnolia St., Fort Collins
221.6730 or lctix.com
$26
The rest of Acoustic Africa
Vusi Mahlasela is a South African guitarist/singer-songwriter who chronicles the struggle and perseverance of his country. He has been called the “Bob Dylan of South Africa” for his powerful words and images.
Singer and percussionist Dobet Gnahoré’s music is steeped in the traditions of the Bété people in her native Ivory Coast. Often backed only by acoustic guitar, her voice wavers between haunting beauty, contemplation and pure, joyous afropop. | Only registered users can write comments.
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