Words by Tim Hills

As a sixty year old, I’m getting used to being one of the oldest audience members at concerts. Well, I’m pleased to report that on this fine evening, I like to think I was perhaps a little bit younger than the average.

When the concert began we quickly realised we were watching three highly talented and skilled masters at the top of their game, a mesmeric and intuitive groove flowing between them. Seckou plucked lead lines from his double neck Kora in and out of Omar’s piano playing with Gustavo underpinning it all with insistent and driving rhythms on a bewildering array of instruments but never overwhelming the conversation between Kora and Piano.

Omar Sosa & Seckou Keita - EFG London Jazz Festival Photo by John Reed

For fifty minutes we toured the rhythms of African and South America and back again (Omar Sosa is a Grammy nominated Cuban pianist, Seckou Keita a Senegalese kora master and recent BBC Radio 2 Folk Musician of the Year, Gustavo Ovalles a Venezuelan percussionist). We went from meditative to jazzy and off to downright funky. There followed an audience warm up. First clapping, then singing. Enthusiastically it has to be said but muffled by masks. Seckou and Omar stood and had a bit of a boogie together at the front of stage as Gustavo kept us all involved.

It was obvious from the first piece that there is a great affinity between Seckou and Omar, their interaction is really personal. They thoroughly understand each other musically and their friendship is clearly equally strong. In fact all three of them had a brilliant time playing for us and we loved it too.

Towards the end of the concert, Seckou and Omar left the stage to Gustavo who took two maracas and performed rhythmic miracles. As Seckou and Omar returned, he moved to kneel at the front of the stage, picking up two open ended wooden tubes and banging them on the floor, altering their tone by moving his hands over their tops, and then proceeding to jam with Omar’s piano riff. Astonishing.

I thought the next bit even more astonishing. The tag line of their latest album, or as Seckou and Omar refer to it, “their second baby” is, “It Begins With Water”. For the piece “Voices On The Sea” from their latest “Suba” album, they wanted the sound of water. Gustavo, still at the front of the stage turned to a strange looking bag hanging at the front of the stage and made an adjustment. The sound of running water filled the Lakeside auditorium. Not content with playing us a digital sample of some flowing water, Gustavo had set a sack of water over a mic’d up plastic box that the water ran into! We hear the actual sound of running water, not some digital sample, a real live sound. He then ran his hands under the water and used a plastic scoop to “play” in the water building up gorgeous rhythms that swept in and out of the Kora and piano melodies.

At the end of their set there were quite a few standing ovations as they bowed to us and left the stage. To our relief they returned for another final couple of pieces. We were encouraged to clap again so we clapped and to sing again so we sang. We were then invited to come and dance. Someone took to the floor, applauded by the audience and warmly encouraged by the band. Soon there were about thirty people off to one side of the stage, Mum and Dad dancing without a care in the world. By now the rest of the auditorium had joined in, easily 95% of the comfortably mature audience were on their feet expressing themselves. A sight I have never seen before but would happily see again.

What a privilege it was to spend time with such prodigious and capable talents, doing what they love and sharing it with us for a couple of hours. I can’t wait to see them again.