Nonesuch at BAM: Rokia Traoré
Over the past half-century, West Africa has yielded an incredibly rich crop of musicians who have merged the indigenous music of the Griot tradition with rock, blues, and R&B, including Femi and Seun Kuti (sons of Fela), Salif Keita, Vieux Farka Touré, and, of course, Youssou N'Dour, who recently appeared as part of the ongoing Nonesuch at BAM festival.
Add to that list Malian singer-songwriter Rokia Traoré, who appeared at the Howard Gilman Opera House Wednesday night with her band for a two-hour set. Traoré, 40, had a serene, almost regal bearing, her hair cropped in an anrogynous buzzcut. Her voice wasn't particularly beautiful, but it did penetrate the haze of psychedelic cowboy electric guitars and lute-like Ngoni.
Traoré sang in three languages: her native French and Bambara, as well as English. When she wasn't accompanying herself on guitar, she danced around the stage in a Dervish-like trance, flowing along with the loungey groove. Most of the crowd stayed seated for the performance, save for one inspired audience member who approached the stage during "Mélancolie" (from Traoré's 2013 release Beautiful Africa) to do a traditional African dance while Traoré accompanied her in a seemingly endless torrent of lyrics. It was rapturous, transporting.
Before her final song, "N'Téri", Traoré asked us all to stand, then spoke to us from the heart in English.
"This song is about our ability to appreciate this life, about appreciating each moment. We all have only two things in common: we are born, and we die. Everything else that comes in between is what we make of it. We should take care of each other, look after one another, appreciate this gift of life."
During her first encore, Traoré brought out the members of the Kronos Quartet, fresh from their performance of Laurie Anderson's Landfall at the Harvey across the street. They performed "Manian" and "Bowmboi" from their 2004 collaboration, Bowmboi, with Traoré expressing her sincere admiration for the legendary quartet and their globe-spanning musical pallette.
For her second and final encore, Traoré returned with her full band. "I am not a griot," she said, referring to the millenia-old bards of West Africa, "but I am going to sing this song inspired by griot singing." She then unleashed an almost superhuman wail that was both grotesque and mesmerizing, carrying herself away in Qawwalli-like ecstasy. Traoré may not be a griot, but the impact she had on the thousand of us gathered in the Gilman Opera House was no less magical.
More pics here.
Set List:
- Dounia
- Yandé
- Lalla
- Sarama
- Kamounkè
- Mélancolie
- Zen
- Sikey
- Kouma
- Beautiful Africa
- Tuit Tuit
- N'Téri
Encore (with Kronos Quartet)
- Manian
- Bowmboi