REVIEW Baaba Maal at the Hollywood Bowl (LA Times)

Wednesday June 23, 2010

From the LA Times

Pop music review: Baaba Maal at the Hollywood Bowl
By Reed Johnson

No continent has parented more musical children than Africa, and its progeny were out in force on Father’s Day at the Hollywood Bowl.

Never mind that many of these creative offspring — reggae, blues, gospel, beat-happy electronica — make their primary homes in distant parts of the planet. Sunday’s ebullient concert, headlined by the veteran Senegalese sonic nomad Baaba Maal, reminded us that in today’s digitalized global village of file-sharing and YouTube, African music lives everywhere.

Everywhere, at least, where rhythm rules.

For gotta-dance purists, there was the straightforward, gospel-infused reggae of Playing for Change, a fine collective of vocalists and musicians assembled by Grammy-winning producer Mark Johnson to promote musical connectedness and cross-cultural understanding.

Maal, resplendently attired in traditional West African garb, led his large, virtuosic band on a joyful romp through songs old (“Mbolo”) and new (“Television”), snaking his hips and switching idioms with ease. It was an Afro-pop master class by one of the genre’s undisputed stars.

Earlier, the Saharan “guitar-poets” Tinariwen held the stage with a captivating set built around simple, trance-inducing melodies and blissful harmonies. So euphoric are the band’s repetitive riffs that one woman in the audience danced on her crutches. “They made the lame walk!” my box-seat next-door neighbor observed.

To read the article online click here

Photo Credit: Anne Cusack, Los Angeles Times / June 19, 2010

Dakar Moon	3:15	Baaba Maal
Television	7:07	Baaba Maal

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