Africa Sings- Various Artists at Harbourfront, Saturday, August 11, 2017


2017.8.11

Africa Sings – Various artists live at Harbourfront, Saturday, August 11, 2017

      As part of the annual Habari Festival of African music and culture, this one-off concert was presented free at Harbourfront on a mid-summer Saturday. The line-up included a many heavyweights from the African music scene in Canada, and enough guitarists to make the make the Allman Brothers Band look understaffed.
      A kora solo started things off in a slow meditative tone, courtesy of Sadio Sissokho who also plays percussion. Coming from a Senegalese griot family, his playing sounded steeped in a lifetime of playing music.
      Cheka Dioubate sang a few songs during the concert, and is well-suited to this ensemble. Her videos often have a light, digital - pop sound, which made her singing live with a hot band all the more invigorating. 
      Then there were the guitar players; one excellent guitar player after another kept shredding away; Donne Roberts, Madagascar Slim and Ebenezer Agyekum played enough riffs and leads to satisfy any guitar fanatic.
      The variety of national styles blended tonight presented many African music traditions, but the show didn’t sound like any contrived musical exploration; many of these musicians have played on and off together in Canada for many years. There was a natural cohesion which would have surely been hard to produce for a one-off event, even with plenty of rehearsal time. The concert flowed well and was naturally enjoyed by the crowd.
      While a tour would not likely be feasible with a large band of people not well known beyond the communities of African music fans and fans of African music, it makes one wonder whether additional dates in the GTA might could have been possible, to share the music and vibes just a few more times.



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