globalFEST with Mory Kanté

The Public Theater; Sat. 8

The crossover dream isn’t necessarily over among Afropop veterans, but several who once saw the future in electric keyboards and other Western trappings are opting for more rustic pleasures.  The new millennium brought with it fine neotraditional discs by both Baaba Maal and Salif Keita, but perhaps the most surprising came late last year when international star Mory Kanté dropped Sabou (Riverboat; UK).  The slickness dominating his recent albums is gone, replaced with the ancient sounds that nurtured Kanté’s riveting, acrid voice before the world came calling.  You’d have to go back decades—prior to Kanté’s 1987 dance-floor smash “Yéké Yéké” or his tenure in Mali’s pioneering Super Rail band (he replaced Keita as lead vocalist in the mid ‘70s)—to hear the singer record griot style, with balafon and his own meditative lute (the kora) up high in the mix.

            That means Kanté’s first appearance in the States in 14 years (as part of the Public Theater’s second annual globalFEST) will be markedly different from the last two, when he rocked Central Park and the Apollo Theatre within months of each other.  Like Maal and Keita, however, Kanté hasn’t given up all the tricks he’s learned over the years: A few tracks on Sabou, most notably the subtle boogie track “Mama,” are evidence that Kanté is still adept at making his native traditions work in da’ club.  Bet his touring band is prepared to field praise songs of Afrodisco.

-K. Leander Williams