Live review: Trio Da Kali at Rich Mix London

By Cara Stacey

It has been a few years since Trio Da Kali wowed audiences at the BBC Proms in 2013 and much has happened for the ensemble since. This February the trio have returned to tour the UK with last night’s concert at Richmix being their sole London date in a string of performances. For those unfamiliar with their work, Trio Da Kali is comprised of master songstress Hawa Kassé Mady (daughter of the great Kassé Mady Diabaté), Lassana Diabaté on balafon, and Mamadou Kouyaté on ngoniba.
Hawa Kassé Mady’s exceptionally strong and beautiful vocals opened up the concert, with a wandering solo song, and throughout the rest of the set, she wove beautifully ornamented, expressive stories for those present. Often when a vocalist has such presence (acoustically, musically, and otherwise), the accompanying musicians can fall into the background somewhat. Trio Da Kali maintain a perfect balance between Hawa’s sung melodies, the astounding virtuosity of Lassana Diabaté on his dual-manual balafon, and the resonance of Mamadou Kouyaté’s bass-heavy ngoniba. Throughout the two sets, the audience warmed up and drew near to dance, to listen, and to sing occasionally when Hawa encouraged them to do so.
Sonic space was maintained throughout the concert and some of the best moments were when Diabaté had the stage. The blur of his sticks flying across the balafon was reminiscent of Toumani Diabaté’s kora showmanship but Lassana Diabaté demonstrated how he can skilllfully highlight and develop melodic themes from the other instruments (ngoniba and vocal melody), often dissolving into racing lines and even citing Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” at some point in the flurry of notes.
The bass sound of Mamadou Kouyaté’s ngoniba perfectly completes the trio’s sound. His own virtuosity was audible as soon as he took the stage, though perhaps it would have been nice to hear more of it. The resonance of his instrument was beautifully captured by the sound in the Richmix space, and he and Diabaté casually alternated roles between accompanying short bipartite rhythmic cycles, and more improvised tuneful fills.
The Trio’s version of “Jarabi" was the highlight of the evening- a delicate arrangement of a much-loved song of love. Much of their skill and musicianship can be heard on their latest offering, an EP entitled “Trio Da Kali”, but hearing this ensemble live is a must!

Photo by Kudaushe Tawanda

New edition of the Making Tracks podcast!

Here comes a new edition of the Making Tracks podcast!
Featuring Trio Da Kali, who are due to start their first UK tour with Making Tracks on February 20th. Check out brand new tracks, some intersting archive sounds, and hear Lucy Duran talk about her work with the group. Presented by Colin Bass.

Q&A with Trio Da Kali

 
Q. Could you describe for your English fans what your home town is like?

A.    All three members of the trio have their homes in Bamako, the capital of Mali which has grown enormously in the last 20 years.  There are probably around 3 million inhabitants and like in all large cities, it is divided into small districts, each with its own character.  Hawa lives on the edge of ACI 2000, a modern ward with new hotels and office buildings.  Her home is in the more traditional housing area with connections to the zone leading directly to the River Niger.  There are many artisans in her area producing metalwork, carpentry and clothing.  There is a well-organized football school nearby that has over 1,000 boys playing under supervision at weekends and during school holidays.

Mamadou lives in Banconi, one of the first areas to attract people arriving from the countryside as they built houses, often in places determined by space on the rocky outcrop to the north of Bamako.  The area is now very densely populated.  It has many musicians living in the area and Mamadou has started his own studio which is very popular with young musicians making their first recordings, as well as others that are already well-known.

The area of Yirimajo, to the south of the River Niger, is the subject of one of Lassana’s recent songs that Hawa sings on the Trio’s new EP.  It has grown since the huge 26 March Stadium was built there for the African Nations’ Cup matches in 2000.  Now the area has been divided into lots on a planned street grid and there is much modern building and Lassana’s new house is among these developments.  Most of the families in this area are very young, and there is a large population of children and youth – who include many musicians you can see on motorbikes, carrying guitars, Kamalen Ngonis and huge Bobo balafons, as they drive to rehearsals and performances.

Q.  Hawa, you have a beautiful voice! Who has influenced the way you sing?

A.  Thank you.  It is really important to me to know that I am playing in the Mande tradition.  Of course, it is my father Kassé Mady Diabaté who is still my main influence.  He is known now as one of the most important singers in the tradition of the griot singers of the Mande area.   But he was influenced by his aunt, Siramory Diabaté who also showed me the way to sing the huge repertoire of their village, Kela, in the way that the whole Mande world felt was right.  This area spread over most of West Africa, including what is now Guinea Bissau, Guinea, part of Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and parts of other countries.  I try to follow their tradition and spent some of my childhood near their village, where everybody knew the traditional Mande songs and was quick to tell me the right way to sing them.  Now I am trying to teach my own daughters to sing in the same way.

Q. What was it like for you to play at the BBC Proms in London?

It was quite a challenge because this was the Trio’s very first public concert, and especially the first for Hawa as solo vocalist.  Plus we all come different kinds of groups: Hawa mainly with accompanying musicians (including her husband, Demba) at open air wedding parties, Mamadou as one of the 4 ngoni players in the Ngoniba group founded by his father, Bassékou Kouyaté, and Lassana as virtuoso balafon player with some of the most famous musicians in Africa and beyond.  Some of the audiences for Making Tracks may remember his part in the UK appearances by Afrocubism – a remarkable combination of Cuban and Malian stars.  The Proms Concert in the vast Albert Hall helped convince us that we really are an ensemble.  Thanks to this great experience in London, we gained confidence and resolve to maintain our pledge to perform our art at its best – the meaning of Da Kali.

On tour next: Trio Da Kali

The three musicians of Trio Da Kali hail from the Mande culture of Mali, from a heritage of distinguished griots, the caste of hereditary musical artisans.  This unique, dazzlingly understated trio returns to the original spirit of griot music before it went electric, in a fresh, contemporary voice. They revive a neglected repertoire, with stunningly beautiful songs celebrating life and love in the deep Mande countryside. The trio’s performance revolves around the soaring, rounded voice of Hawa Kassé Mady (daughter of legendary singer Kasse Mady Diabaté). While few can match the lyricism and dazzling virtuosity of ensemble leader Lassana Diabaté on the balafon (seen with Afrocubism), Mamadou Kouyaté (eldest son of Bassekou Kouyate) completes the trio with punchy bass lines on the ngoni, West Africa’s oldest string instrument.

Since their debut at the BBC Proms in 2013 the trio has gone on to collaborate with the celebrated Kronos Quartet, and as well as kora maestro Toumani Diabate, and will be releasing their first EP album on World Circuit for this their first UK tour.