Hot now, summer in the city...

Apologies for lack of blog posts this month but I've been enjoying the Sydney Festival, reviewing films and live events for The Australian and otherwise trying to take it easy after near-burnout at the end of an incredibly busy 2009.

Summer is balmy and bright and yet not too hot. Add this to the festival in full swing - so far new artistic director Lindy Hume seems not have put a foot wrong - and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else during January.

Here you can find my review of two events in Parramatta at the weekend, an extraordinary indoor concert by one of the greatest of African bands, Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra (pictured), and a huge outdoors free concert by Bollywood composer A.R. Rahman the following evening.

Extract 1 (Diabate):
"As Diabate demonstrated in a spoken interlude, the group's complex rhythms take their cue from the kora. First he set up a bass line (taken by electric bass), added the melody line in counterpoint (picked up by electric guitar), then let loose with cascading notes to form the third element, dazzling improvisations taken up in group playing by both kora and Fodaace Lassana Diabare's xylophone-like balafon..."


Extract 2 (Rahman):

"On display was an Indian-based global melange encompassing everything from sitar music to catchy pop, faux-reggae, heavy metal, balladry and even a Michael Jackson impersonation (by a female dancer). As spectacle it was consistently energetic and often impressive. As music it moved me little..."

Last night I went to the first show in the intimate Spiegeltent by another band led by a kora player, this time the UK-based Seckou Keita.

Clearly his outfit is not in the same class as Diabate's - I doubt he would pretend otherwise - yet after a pleasant but unexceptional opening half hour things warmed up considerably.

Keita performed a magical solo interlude on the harp-like kora, showing himself to be an accomplished player, with his Italian electric and double bass player helping to whip along the group playing that followed. My only serious doubt about the group is Keita's use of a violinist (from Egypt).

The violin is sometimes used in African music but not as a staple and for me its folk and classical associations sounded kind of wrong in this context.