Live review: Trio Da Kali at NCEM York

By David Forsdike

Think of Mali and music and what comes to mind? Perhaps the pulsating electric guitars of one of the Touareg desert blues bands Tinariwen or Tamikrest. Or maybe the rippling harp-like sound of the kora played by a griot master such as Toumani Diabaté or Ballaké Sissoko.

Trio da Kali shed a different light on this corner of the former Mande empire, transporting us to a forgotten era before many griots laid aside their traditional instruments and took up the guitar. Here, it is the balafon which leads the ensemble, and Lassana Diabaté proves to be a complete master of his instrument. He is joined by the singer Hawa Kassé Mady, and Mamadou Kouyaté, who plays a large bass version of the ngoni, Africa’s oldest string instrument.

Each half of the concert began with a solo. Hawa surprised a few in the audience when she launched into her short opening song, and soon the trio were on stage in full flight playing one of the work songs taught to her by her grandmother on the family farm, complete with mimed actions illustrating the work in the field. Love songs and wedding songs made up the majority of what was on offer, and it was soon apparent that this is a trio whose members are acutely aware of each other at all times. There was great delicacy in some of the interlocking patterns between voice and balafon, and a wide contrast in textures, often within the same song. Lassana switched from short delicate strokes of the bars of the instrument to fast dazzling scales up or down at a moment’s notice. The punchy bass notes of Mamadou’s ngoni were often to the fore, and both instrumentalists revelled in the chance to shine when given the spotlight, wearing huge smiles as they did so.

This tour was Trio da Kali’s first visit to the English regions, having only previously played in London, and we were treated to nearly two hours of spellbinding Mande music. Here’s to hoping they will be back to share more of their music with us in the near future.