REVIEW Acoustic Africa: Immense Talent, Great Music

Monday March 14, 2011

From the Madison Times

Acoustic Africa: Immense Talent, Great Music
By Elana Siegel

The music floats out of the speakers. It filters through the room and settles lightly, as a repeating guitar lick mixes with undulating percussion. I find myself punctuating the beat with my body. The rhythm is impossible to ignore, although the percussion is subtle and understated. Restrained voices mingle and join together for cadenced choruses. The melodies are natural, the harmonies complete. This music just feels right.

That natural feel comes from Acoustic Africa, a conglomerate group that combines the artistry of three of Africa’s greatest songwriters, Habib Koite, Oliver Mtukduzi and Afel Bocoum. This musical ensemble manages to beautifully integrate the acoustic mastery of these three artists. The group will perform at the Wisconsin Union Theater on Thursday, March 10 at 8pm. The performance will feature solo performances from each of the three artists as well as combined numbers.

Malian superstar Habib Koite is known as a modern griot, the African bards who sing stories, play praise songs and keep the history of their people. He is a wanderer; in the past ten years, Koite and his band Bamada have performed over 600 times for audiences from Japan to Kazakhstan to Brazil. His musical talent is immense. Within six months of enrolling at an arts institute in Mali, Koite was made conductor of the school’s most prestigious band. When he graduated four years later, he was immediately hired as the school’s guitar teacher.

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