GIG REVIEW: Dele Sosimi at Bimhuis

Since starting a world percussion course at CREA in February, I tried to find some concerts that would have a touchpoint to African artists and/or African percussion. It's quite a broad spectrum, so the search didn't take too long before I found a concert of Dele Sosimi at Bimhuis in Amsterdam. He is one of the most active of the original Afrobeat scene, founded by Fela Anikulapo Kuti. He played keyboard with Kuti for 7 years. 

If you removed the vocals, the music was pretty much funk. So interesting how vocals can make such a unique spin on it. The band was amazing, along with the solos from the trombonist and tenor saxophonist! Dele himself was very energetic, positive and a good band leader. 

The concert was a seated one, and was hard for some audience members to sit down, so they got up to dance at the back of the hall! Soon enough the vibes were running through the whole crowd and we ended up all getting up for a little dance.

One thing I did think was missing though, was more use of (West) African drums. The saxophonist sometimes played a hand percussion which was a wooden block, but I really missed some djembe or conga or bongo drums... Another was the female back-up vocalists/dancers. The trombonist and drummer doubled as the choir which sounded quite good, but just wasn't the real deal, if you know what I mean. 

The Bimhuis broadcast the concert on Bimhuis Radio and can be found here on Mixcloud. If we had known earlier, Bianca and I would probably have agreed that it would have been better to have a glass of wine with the music playing in the background. 

More about Dele Sosimi:
Official Website: http://www.delesosimi.org/