Namlo, with special guests Kadialy Kouyate and Merlyn Driver.

02.03.17

The Rich Mix

The Rich Mix is renowned for staging some of Londons finest world music evenings, I felt highly anticipated for the evening ahead.  Having not previously heard of the headlining band ‘Namlo’, I was unsure what to expect. My first surprise came upon arrival, seeing the room decked out with chairs. The layout worked well with chairs in the standing area and also nearer the back, the space was warm and welcoming. 

I happily chose a seat a few rows from the front and settled down. To the right of the stage homemade food was available; a Nepalese menu put on by ‘YakBites’, vegan and gluten-free. In the spirit of the evening I treated myself to a ‘platter’ in order to have a small taste of everything. This included ‘Chana Chatpatey’ (puffed rice and vegetables), Pani Puri (pastry balls and potato salad), Shyerpa Salad, Pukka Pakoras (coconut and chickpea fritters, and a special sauce), and finally,  Aloo Achar with Bara (lentil fritters and potato salad). Each segment of the platter tasted delicious with powerful tastes coming from surprising places. YakBites also offers a variety of workshops on how to make the food of Nepal, information for this can be found on their website/Facebook. 

Well fed and ready for some music, hosts Wallee McDonnell and DJ Ritu welcomed in the evening, whilst speaking a little of the forthcoming acts. Walllee is essentially a third of the ‘Celebrate Life’ group that hosts evenings of arts/music and aims to combine the arts with meaningful messages. DJ Ritu is a renowned radio presenter, among a multitude of other things, from ‘A World In London’ which has over 200 episodes and catalogues a who’s who of the world music scene.  

The first act of the evening was ‘Merlyn Driver’ who is a singer songwriter from the Orkney Islands in the north of Scotland, although currently based in London. Merlyn was joined on stage for backing vocals by Anna Merryfield. Although describing growing up in the remote parts of Scotland and his inspiration from Scottish Folk music, Merlyn has a deceivingly British accent. Both sat down, Merlyn started his set. The first song by Merlyn was an original entitled ‘Rain’. With just an acoustic guitar and the odd fluttering vocal harmony from Anna, Merlyn managed to silence a room with his poetic lyrics and sombre guitar. Clearly folk in genre, two of the songs Merlyn played; ‘Rain’ and ‘The Descent’ were tasters from his upcoming EP ‘This is the Corner of a Larger Field’, which will be launched in late May. Merlyn mentioned that the performance was the first time he was hearing his guitar aloud due to using new guitar pick up. The guitar sounded beautiful, being a player myself, I had to ask; the pick up was the ‘L.R Braggs M1 Active’ pick-up (and it sounded fab). Together the two also played a cover of Anais Mitchell's 'Young Man in America’, suiting Merlyns velvety vocals with Anna’s almost harrowingly beautiful harmonies.

The second act followed shortly, however in between acts DJ Ritu treated our ears to some desert blues and Nepalese folk music, ensuring tapping feet continued between acts. 

Kadialy Kouyate came alone onto the stage holding the beautiful west African instrument that is the Kora. Kadialy was born into one of the greatest most renowned Griot families in Southern Senegal; the Kouyate family. Kadialy helped to continue the family tradition of music playing and story telling beyond his home, moving to London many years ago to teach and to play the Kora. Having met Kadialy as part of my studies, I already had an idea of his character. Therefore his extremely smooth and charming performance came as no surprise. The audience heard three songs from Kadialy telling stories of the ‘truest’ love and of peace. There would be no mistake of Kadialys superior Kora playing, not only because of the extra 22nd string as apposed to the standard 21, nor because of the high end plug-in adaption on his Kora, but rather for the soulful way in which Kadialy seamlessly played at immense speed, whilst singing deep soft poetic lyrics. Although I failed to understand the language of the lyrics, through the language of music Kadialy became at one with body mind and soul whilst playing through these beautifully intense songs. Kadialy is returning to the Rich Mix after a successful album launch in December 2016 entitled ‘Na Kitabo’ of which can be found on all standard platforms, and also on the 5th of April at Sands Films.

Next up the main act! I had never heard Namlo before and therefore didn’t know what to expect. I could see a huge double bass on stage, amongst a variety of Nepalese percussions stood a wonderful west African drum named the Kalabash. There were also flutes and clarinets and a couple of guitars on stage. All of these wonderful instruments made up the ensemble based around Ganga Thapa. Ganga is the composer of Namlo, and is the creator behind the Nepalese fusion band. Although based in London, it is Gangas aim to raise the profile of Nepalese music globally. 

‘Se Se Se’ was the opening track from the Namlo band. I found it had a springily deep funky bass line throughout, a little shocked at this rock’n’roll-esc entrance, the whole audience erupted into an excited applause, kicking off Namlos set with an undeniably high energy. Ganga had put the lyrics and title of each track on screen for all to see. Doing so ensured that the true messages and themes of the songs came across to the audience. A fabulous mixture of up-beat happy songs, and some more mellow serious songs focusing on cultural and sociological issues. A particular favourite of the evening came when Ganga said: 

 “Let’s keep laughing and holding on to our memories of love”  which led to some audience participation, with a rhythmic ‘har-har’ laughing segment, everyone was involved. Gangas personality came across incredibly warm and friendly, showing great respect for his fellow musicians, ensuring they had all been introduced and applauded. 

 “I’m a little nervous today” Ganga said shortly after opening his set. Nevertheless he needn’t have been for the audience seemed completely enthralled in his completely diverse music. I at one moment found myself smiling longingly at the sweet beauty of a song, and then next completely involved in ‘Mountain Goove’ with groovy rhythms coming from the percussion and bass. Ganga helped to embellish these tracks by fusing sounds from his (apparently new) blues guitar. This mixture of sounds worked so perfectly with one another the evening flew by with a happy ease.  

Ganga said “Through the Music we connect”. From Scotland, to Senegal, Nepal to London, audience and musicians alike certainly connected through the album launch of Namlo. 

The Världens Band

View fullsize

13.11.16

RICH MIX (Brick Lane, London) 

“Fourteen musicians, seven countries, three continents, one band”. Any world music lover would have their hands full with such a rich roster of indigenous instruments as are involved in the Världens Band. This colossal collection of cultures play styles of music hailing from the furthest corners of the world. Whilst watching the Världens Band I heard classical Indian inspirations, Swedish punk melodies, Mediterranean rhythms, Senegalese fusions, classic Greek and Scottish sounds, each blended with a multitude of various influences. 

     I walked into the ‘Rich Mix for the first time and I immediately liked the aesthetics of the venue. With its soft sunset coloured lights, it seemed there was a warm energy coming from the central stage. I looked around and couldn’t observe a particular demographic from the already formed crowd. Adults, old and young, stood side by side. Myself with a group of ethnomusicology students, stood next to a grandfather, father and son; a rare sight at a concert. There was nothing linking the varied audience together, such as style. 

     Immediately the eyes feasted upon the multitude of worldly decor and instruments dressing the stage. From mbiras, to koras, clarinets to Galician pipes, guitars to ukuleles, doumbeks to tablas, fiddles to accordions to name but a few. Promptly at 8pm, 14 musicians took to the stage and, without introduction, played their first tune: Thillana. Thillana is a traditional Indian song beginning with a lady singing in a traditional ‘devotional’ way; she is then joined, by the pipe, drums and fiddle. The audience is immediately receptive, seemingly impressed, applause circulates before the end of the song punctuating the singing of Charu Hariharan, who has won devotional singing competitions and has a wealth of traditional music teachings.  

    The tone it seemed, was set. Jumping immediately into their second song: this time one of the drummers came forward and played a tar which I had never before seen played live. So this ethnographer was starting to feel satisfied by this ‘world music’ concert. Furthermore the switching of instruments highlighted the multi instrumentalism of the obviously multi-talented players. The song then proceeded to gain instrumentation: bagpipes, flute, percussion and fiddle. Heralding quickly into an unlikely speedier pace - this pleased the audience who started to dance and clap along. This pattern of strange tempo combinations with break-down bridges was ever-present throughout their performance, mixing genres, tempos, rhythms and instruments in every song. Each introduction described which member of the band had written the song, from where in the world they had written it, and what styles it incorporated. This gave the impression that the audience were being taken on a journey: from each of the musicians home towns/countries, to the collected places they have travelled together. Each song was also embellished with a personal anecdote from the musicians, thus intensifying the bond between audience and performer, and by extension, audience members to one another. Furthermore the musicians themselves represented many different ethnicities, each adorned with clothes of wonderful colours and fabrics not local to London. An array of styles it seemed, representing their native homes, or perhaps collected whilst travelling the world together.

      Halfway through the evening, they left the stage, taking a break. Breaking a set into two halves isn’t something that happens in the majority of headlining gigs. I believe perhaps this was a sign of the seriousness with which they take their music and styles. If one was to attend an orchestral performance in a concert hall, it would be expected to see the performance split into two, unlike the many rock or pop bands I have seen.  The break allowed for discussion of the performance so far, and a buildup of anticipation for the second half. 

     I’d like to speak specifically about when Abdou Cissokho (born in South Senegal), introduced a song entitled “Revolution” saying “We are the young people and the old people of the revolution and we could make this world better… trust me” at which laughter rippled through the otherwise silent crowd. Each audience member appeared to be listening intently to the introductions of each song - something that had become apparently necessary in order to understand the forthcoming fusions. Starting a beautifully intense duet between Kora and fiddle, (played by Anna Möller of Sweden), with the gentle shake of a tambourine, a slow steady reggae beat is introduced with added bass, and ukulele. Abdou then sings the soft melody of a religious hymn sung to bring people together. Then it built up and was accompanied in parts by five part harmonies. The effect was instantaneous, as I look around the audience, all eyes are emotionally clamped on the delicate ornamentations being played on the Kora. A synonymous sway seemed to connect every person in the room together with one another and with the musicians.  Supporting musicians on the accordion, doumbek, the Galician pipe and ukulele built a slow tension, to then drop out completely to be replaced by a bass/kora bridge which was almost performed in a call and response fashion. This once againreminded us of the versatility of the band. Then at once, with a flourish of Kora playing, all the instruments are brought back this time to a faster, upbeat reggae, almost afro-beat rhythm

I chose to speak about this song in depth for two reasons, firstly because not one person could be seen standing stationary during this song, and the undeniably enthused round of applause received at the end of the song, which resonated longer than any other. It felt as though, if I had listened to their album before the performance, that this song would have been the anticipated highlight of the evening. Secondly because having later listened to their recorded version and compared it with their live version, it is clear to see that the musicians themselves are versed in live improvisation; the studio version of ‘Revolution’ has much softer overtones throughout the whole track. Whereas, when played live, it built an energy throughout the whole song, which in turn, amounted to a climactic ending. The scene resembled that of a dramatic carnival like celebration, with people dancing with one another, and taking strangers by the arms. 

      I once heard a seminar on the ‘affect’ of live music between each audience member with one another and also with the musicians. It said that the audience noticing one another enjoying the music, in this case, smiling and dancing, only enhances the feeling of ‘joy’ in the occasion and that this ‘joy’ will be enhanced further if it is shared emotionally with the audience as well as the musicians. I found myself thinking back to this whilst watching the Varldens. The obvious friendship and love for each of their songs was easily seen through their smiles to one another, their laughing and energetic dancing, which certainly enhanced an almost transcendent like joy from the audience. 

     After looking into the bands repertoire,  I found this quote from their website “Världens Band performs a mix of folk and roots music from its members’ native countries in a collision of cultures and a style self-branded as ‘Transglobal Roots Fusion’”. Since Transglobal normally refers to some kind of global network it seems a suitable choice of branding. 

Reading more into their background, it was clear each musician is highly esteemed and classically trained in their native folk music. They have many awards between them with many taking music classes with ‘masters’ of their skill. This was clear in the easy flow and complexity of the whole performance. Their album released in 2015 is entitled, ’Transglobal Roots Fusion’. Upon listening to the album and finding that not one track had the same origins as the next; I found myself further impressed as the quality of the recordings are of a very high standard making for easy listening. Being able to listen to each song more intently allowed for a better appreciation of the native styles woven into every track. I felt a sense of nostalgia when I heard a familiar part of a song, taking me back to their live performance. So it’s clear even a subliminal as well as a literal impression had been made. 

     The end of the concert heard a seemingly never-ending applause punctuated with cheers, ‘whoops’ and whistles. After requests for an encore, they introduced themselves and their team, played one final song and left the stage. I found that a huge number of the audience stayed behind, chatting to one another: strangers discussing their experiences with many people buying albums from the stall. I left feeling elated, feeling as though perhaps it was the perfect place to be on cold Thursday night in London. I have since bought their album, which I rate highly.