Trio Da Kali at The Junction Cambridge 21.2.15

A griot’s job description is rather diverse. Musician, historian, town crier, the hereditary bards or djeli of West Africa are revered for their skill. Billed as the `new generation of griot soul’ Trio Da Kali from Mali showcased this craft to The Junction Saturday night leaving Cambridge in awe.

The latest offering from world music promoters Making Tracks,Trio Da Kali’s concert began with the clear vibrato voice of Hawa Kasse Mady Diabaté singing an a capella welcome. Joined by Balafon (xylophone) player Lassana Diabaté and Mamadou Kouyaté on three stringed N’goni lute, the musicians wove regal melodies around Hawa’s haunting voice whilst she provided percussion, tossing and catching a Yabara calabash shaker. 

Explaining in French that the trio formed to `revive this music before it disappears’ the first half consisted of songs of advice and responsibility sung in Bamanakan, typical of the repertoire for which Hawa is in high demand at wedding parties in Mali’s capital Bamako. Dressed in the stiff damask or bazin cotton reserved for such occasions, the trio glowed in every sense.

As Lassana played bright runs and arpeggios on his buzzing balafon, Mamadou answered by expressively fretting his n’goni, whilst even Hawa’s humming was magnificent, eliciting shouts of `namu!’ (indeed!) from serenely smiling Lassana.

Speaking before the show, musical director Lassana explained `before radio, internet or telephone, the griot was all of these’ and stressed the djeli’s role as messenger and mediator. Asked if life had returned to normal after the recent crisis in Mali he replied positively but with the griot’s economic eloquence `it’s easy to make war, but not easy to make peace.’

After an interval in which many purchased the group’s eponymous EP released by World Circuit Records, the group returned for a second half consisting of celebratory danceable numbers such as` Yirimadjo’ a homage to the Bamako neighbourhood where Lassana resides. Kicking of her heels, beaming Hawa who in the first half had been as commanding as any teacher, proved the griot know how to party as well as advise.

Closing with `Eh Ya Ye’ a song by her famous father Kasse Mady Diabaté, Hawa, Lassana and Mamadou (whose curled slippers were straight out of One Thousand and One Nights) humbly received the audience’s overwhelmed ovation.

Originally commissioned and published by Local Secrets