linducha

Monks in Minneapolis

We saw the Gyuto Monks tonight at the Cedar Cultural Center. After a lengthy introduction, tribute, and lecture from a tall Western guy who has some association with a suburban monastery, the monks had a five minute meditation before they started their deep bass chants. I realized that this would be a spiritual ritual more so than the typical entertainment we usually expected from this venue. Aside from a handful of people who couldn't last through the entire set, everyone sat peacefully and listened, in awe, to the consistent long tones, sparked by the sounds of horns, drums, and ancient cymbals. I was very relaxed by the time the oldest monk honored the Cedar Cultural host with a white silk scarf as the other monks quietly exited the stage; some of them slowly easing into a smile.

Extreme Trance!

The Frenchman introduced them with glee, the group that was all about percussion, consistency, and ongoing dance. They entered the stage; the older woman in full costume, the wiry conga player, the charismatic lead singer and electronic thumb organ player, the snare drummer, and the bell player, followed by the two elderly electric thumb organ players. The Cedar Cultural Center announcer did say that the last time KONONO N°1 CONGOTRONICS played in Minneapolis, the first "song" was a mere 45 minutes long. But, the truth is that this group played an entire set of trance-infused percussive rhythm for a lengthy hour and 45 minutes! They are from the Congo; true street musicians who play from dawn until dusk! They didn't sing much, but they sure did arouse the crowd with chants, taunting us to continue dancing. It's almost like you get tired of dancing, but you want to keep going. I felt like a moving train that never ran out of coal! When we all reached the end of the set, drenched after dancing continuously, they left the stage. I think we were all relieved, musicians included, that the trance dance was over! By the way, they did not come back for an encore!

Vieux "Farka" Touré

I was surprized to realize that Ali Farka Touré died last year from bone cancer at the age of 67. I always thought that he had to be in his mid-fifties. I guess we expect people to live forever, or at least as long as we do. Fortunately, his son Vieux has followed in his father's footsteps as another great Malian blues master. Ernesto and I saw Vieux Farka Touré and his band at the Cedar Cultural Center tonight. They are the kind of group, much like a lot of west African groups, that could very well play until the sun rises. Vieux spoke a few words in English, so his bass-playing counterpart filled in here and there. He said that, typically a son is named "Vieux", or "old", in honor of his grandfather. The bass player also pointed out that Vieux periodically changes keys throughout the set, assuming that everyone else will follow. I suppose he earned the same nickname "Farka" as his father. "Farka" means donkey. Just like his father, he is stubborn like a donkey; nobody will ever ride him! It was a very good show.

Moby a Memory

We went to the Moby concert at First Avenue the other night. I think that it was one of those unique concerts that won't happen again. I thought that it was cool that Moby would play at such a tiny venue, as opposed to, say, Excel Center where he could certainly pack in a mere 1,500 fans. It was great because it was really just his band without any pre-recorded music. Absent was the common, random gospel musicians that are typical in his recordings. I have not seen 1st Avenue so incredibly packed since David Thomas and Pere Ubu. It was really nice to be able to breathe somewhat clean, yet stale air at the club since the smoking ban. There were a few randomly-placed vegan reps outside distributing vegan literature. I think that Moby is a pretty cool guy. Did you know that he is a decendant of Herman Melville...hence the name, Moby, er, Moby Dick?

Continuing the Sufi Aura

I am so amazed by these two brothers of Qawaali music, the nephews of the former world-reknown Qawaali great, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The nephews Rizwan and Muazzam Ali Khan had a special performance at the Walker Art Center this weekend, along with six other musicians.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan has been called the "Pavarotti of Pakistan" mainly for his ability to have reached out to so many people through his spiritually-lifting, poetic chants. He also played to larger venues. Here's a pretty concise history of Qawaali music and his performances.

• Listen / Purchase music from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
• Listen / Purchase more commercial music from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
  (Soundtrack of Dead Man Walking including Ry Cooder, David Robbins, and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt)

What's in a name? Local greats!

When Ernesto said that we had tickets to Savage Aural Hotbed, I didn't know much about them except that they were a band. The name begs to be some hot, sweaty orgy of some sort. It proved to be a great show at the Southern theatre. These four guys can really put out a great drumming performance. The whole set design was based on a construction site...the most common place for found, drumming objects. I was amazed that so many ordinary things could be used as a percussive instrument such as large plastic and metal drums, electric table saws, bent pieces of scrap metal, and basically anything that can be plugged to an amplifier! It's good to be reminded that Minneapolis has plenty of great talent, from music to performance to spoken word.