saturday night at womadelaide 2009 and the night mapped out
experience proving that advance planning pays dividends
pick the 2 or 3 acts that are most appealing and work around that
forsake other shows to get a good position or buy food and/or wine
but on this night things were changed with an unscheduled show
at the end of gurrumuls set on stage 1 and the usual announcements are made
annette shun wah as m c almost casually mentioning rokia traore about to appear
this lady is the star (for me) of this years festival doing 1 big show only
but for some reason she is making an appearance on a minor stage
not in any formal show but alongside seckou keita in workshop format
so previous plans abandoned to get to see this megastar in intimate mode
surprisingly there's space down on the grass in front of the stage
so i take up position there and get involved in some story-telling
the 2 of them taking time to talk about their ancestry and countries
stories of family life, griot tradition and tribal rivalries and connections
each story then leading into a tune featuring one or other and band
most of seckou keita's band on stage and rokia's ngoni (lute) player
it's a beautiful setting to witness this scene on the morton bay stage
named for the huge fig trees surrounding this relatively secluded area
there seems to be a high level of contentment on and off stage tonight
i get the feeling that the musicians themselves are enjoying the jam
even though this is billed as a workshop it soon becomes a performance
rokia obviously enjoying the opportunity to be relatively spontaneous
at one point while waiting for the kora to be tuned she takes the lead
with her acoustic guitar she takes over and performs a stunning solo
her powerful and beautiful voice used to full effect in this setting
reminding me of the first time i saw her 8 years ago at womadelaide
then also on a small side stage mid afternoon as a relative unknown
now a world music superstar loved and hugely patronised in europe
so i for one am very conscious of her humility in being on stage here
but as the performance went on it became clear this was a mutual thing
her and seckou keita not able to disguise the fact they were enjoying the moment
similarly for their musicians and back-up singers on stage with them
lots of smiles and laughs as they made it up as they went along
possibly a rare opportunity for these globe-trotting musicians
playing in a beautiful setting with a responsive crowd and no pressure
applause and gratitude coming in abundance at the end of each tune
the final one seeing a gracious rokia traore bowing and clapping the audience
seckou keita admitting that they would like to keep playing all night
which confirmed my thoughts that this was a very special performance
now - normal service resumed - back to the planned schedule
...so happy to have been witness to this one though
