IN THE BEGINNING

Kevin Nathaniel, Yacouba Sissoko, Dawn Padmore, Ayansola Adedeji, and Olusegun Ajayi

We know Jessica Gould as a singer, an expert in Pre-Romantic Music, and as the Founder and Artistic Director of Salon/Sanctuary Concerts. Her original programming and exemplary scholarship in support of these programs have instilled within us a willingness to follow her wherever she takes us. Last night at the Bernie Wohl Center, she joined with Afro Roots Tuesdays to take us to Western Africa with Ensemble Longbor Mor.

This ensemble comprises the engaging songbird Dawn Padmore, kora player Yacouba Sissoko, percussionist Olusegun Ajayi, mbira player Kevin Nathaniel Hylton, and Adedeji Ayansola who can make his drum talk. That's not a misprint!

The music we heard has been passed down for centuries among the various peoples of West Africa and showcases both their diversity and unity. The name Ensemble Longbor Mor takes its name from the Vai language which is spoken in Liberia and translates as "people singing". Ms. Padmore's maternal grandmother has Vai roots.

The evening felt more like a celebration than a concert, although we would be happy to sit still and listen to Ms. Padmore's gorgeous voice for several hours in a formal recital hall.  This astonishing artist comes across as gloriously spontaneous, both in her description of each song and in her vocalism.

There was no awareness of technique, although her voice teacher Ira Siff (present in the audience) is of great renown. Similarly, her vocal coach Brian Holman (also present) must have contributed a great deal. 

Any singer could learn a thing or two from her warm and welcoming stage presence. She made the audience feel like a collection of friends and family at a social gathering. At one point, to emphasize the spirit of the evening, she enlisted an audience member to dance with her. 

Her voice is luxurious in tone and able to negotiate whatever she asks of it, making it all look effortless. Spirited gestures accompanied the singing as she used her entire body. Her generosity of spirit illuminated every story she told, and indeed, most of the songs told stories--stories of birth, death, pregnancy, illness, gossip, and family issues.

We especially enjoyed the a capella singing in the first of six Yoruba Folk Songs and the high lying tessitura of the first of four Igbo Songs.

Ensemble Longbor Mor amazed us with their virtuosic playing. We were reminded in some ways of a jazz group improvising; the spirit of joy in making music was contagious. The rhythms were complex in nature and just as difficult to wrap one's ears around as the rhythms of flamenco music.

The Kora is the most famous of Africa's stringed instruments. It has no frets and no bow. Rather it is played by the simultaneous plucking of 21 strings by both hands. The strings, each of a different pitch, are affixed to a large calabash cut in half and covered with goatskin stretched and fixed with leather laces. There is a long wooden neck made of hardwood. Mr. Sissoko's virtuosity was impressive, revealing several interwoven melodies. The sound was, to our ears, something between that of a harp and that of a celeste.

The other instrument that grabbed our attention was the talking drum. We couldn't figure out how Mr. Ayansola could make the drum talk but we read the program later and learned its secrets. The pitch is regulated by the player squeezing the drum between his arm and his ribcage which moves the leather tension cords connecting the two heads of this hourglass shaped instrument. It is struck with a wooden stick that has a crook on the end. We refer you, dear reader, to the carousel of photos on our Facebook page--Voce di Meche.

Completing the ensemble is a pair of drums which look like what we call Congo Drums, some shaken gourds (likely ancestors to some present day percussion instruments) and the unique Mbira or thumb piano. This instrument was not so strange to us since we had one of our own some years ago. What was different about Mr. Hylton's Mbira was that it was set in a calabash which enhanced the sound.

Although this was just a taste of what West African music has to offer, our appetite was whetted. Next month's concert by Salon/Sanctuary will also be unusual; Carthage Conquer'd; Dreams of Tunis in the Baroque Imagination will pit a Baroque ensemble and a North African ensemble improvising in the Taksim manner.  Think Queen Dido!

© meche kroop

IN THE BEGINNING--OUT OF AFRICA

Kevin Nathaniel Hylton, Dawn Padmore, and Yacouba Sissoko

Salon/ Sanctuary Concerts was founded by Jessica Gould seven years ago, during the depths of the economic downturn; they have not only survived but thrived by virtue of presenting music from the pre-Romantic period.  Her finely tuned taste has managed to expand the horizons of our 19th c. ears. Last night she presented a program of the very earliest music extant.

Anyone familiar with the National Geographic website knows that mankind originated in Africa. So it is not surprising that music originated there as well, making African music the very oldest music one can hear--older still than Greek music.

With the collaboration of The Goddard Riverside Community Center on the Upper West Side, and with special thanks to Susan Macaluso, Salon/Sanctuary Concerts presented an evening of music entitled "In The Beginning" that was compelling and satisfying both physically and emotionally.

We entered to find the stage littered with unusual instruments; we could barely wait to learn how they would sound. The musicians were of world renown--not only performers and recording artists but scholars of African music and providers of outreach to several populations.

The music came from Western Africa with Yoruba songs, Igbo Songs, and one Liberian song--Liberia being the birthplace of the singer Dawn Padmore who sings with a generosity of spirit and lovely tone. The traditional songs spoke of celebrations and grieving, birth, healing, and death. We loved the one sung for the birth of twins, and the one about a neighbor's dearth of hospitality.

Although the Igbo songs were purported to be westernized, to our ears they seemed as authentic as the Yoruba songs.  Our favorite was a love song in which the man is described as a man who doesn't beat his woman but brushes her with eagle feathers. Ms. Padmore's warm spirit informed her every gesture, making this simple song sensual and erotic.

Mr. Hylton accompanied with the melodic Kalimba which has different names in different parts of Africa.  Actually, he played an entire selection of them, often within the deep bowl of a gourd which we imagined would amplify the sound. This instrument was not unfamiliar to us since we once owned and played a very basic version.

Another familiar instrument was the Djembe, a skin covered drum played with the bare hands of Anicet Mundundu. Although we had never seen one before, the playing style reminded us of the playing of a conga drum, providing incredibly complex rhythmic accompaniment.

The other two instruments fascinated us by virtue of their complexity and uniqueness. The string instrument known as the Kora was expertly played by the smiling Yacouba Sissoko, a Malian musical storyteller by heredity. The Kora has 21 strings with a row of 10 strings on the right side to be  plucked by the right hand, and 11 on the left side to be plucked by the left hand.  Each of the 21 strings is separately bound to the neck with cowhide thongs and must be separately tuned. There are no frets. The closest sound we could think of was that of the small harp played by Mariachis. The neck runs through the hide covering the calabash.

The second astonishing instrument is the Talking Drum. We would have a hard time summarizing the various sounds as "talking"--we heard grumbling and shouting, whispering and wailing, and a few gurgles. The technique for producing these sounds is fascinating. Kofo "The Wonderman" Ayanfowora (and he is indeed a wonder!) tucked his drum under his left arm and, using a curved stick, proceeded to produce the most amazing sounds by altering the pressure of his arm and the technique of striking the head. The pitch and variety of timbre seemed limitless in their range.

Also on hand for the second half of the evening was Fatima Gozlan who improvised on a most unusual flute and provided additional percussion by tapping on gourds covered with beads.

Although we did not accept the invitation to get up and dance, we were surely dancing on the inside!

(c) meche kroop