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/
GIG REVIEW: Hanging with Kaki King at Bimhuis
Like BFFs with Kaki King. Haha.
I saw Kaki King perform in 2009 in Melbourne and that was not her best gig. More than two years on, without her band, and in Amsterdam’s most beautiful venue for jazz and improvisation, Bimhuis, I was ready to give her another chance. When my friend Laura and I walked towards the entrance and saw this spectacular view over 'het ij', I already knew this gig was going to be special.
Kaki had four guitars, including her custom-made seven-string from West Virginia, 6-stringOvation Adamas 1581-KK, 12-string Gryphon, and a Taylor guitar her dad gave her. She played each one by one, like a singer-songwriter evening in a round.
Kaki was in a great mood. It was the first stop of her solo European tour and she said she really loved Amsterdam. Holland in general. How she was amazed by Dutch architechture and how Bimhuis is held up only by two pillars. The first song she played was Bone Chaos in The Castle and she said she named that song after a friend who broke their collarbone. The rest of the set was fantastic, with Kaki’s funny introductions and amazing us with her mesmerising instrumental music.