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Diabate and his band sparkle
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Times Union, Diabate and his band sparkle >>
ALBANY - Guitar heroes wail away. They spin their long hair in circles about their heads. They punch their fists in the air between speedy licks and thrashing chords. Right?
Not so for Sekou Bembeya Diabate. After all, you need to be full of more than cliches to get a nickname like "Diamond Fingers."
Diabate led his band, Bembeya Jazz, through more than 90 minutes of lively, life-affirming music Monday night in Washington Park, and he never once climbed through a rock scale, fell back on a blues riff or even twanged out a country run. Still, he dazzled.
Diabate's style is based in the sparkly, tinkling sound of township jive, but it's about much more than that.
His "Solo Hawayenne" merged the sweet sound of Hawaiian steel guitar with West African grit. He mixed over-the-neck fretting with percussive, funky picking in "Petit Sekou." And by damping the strings with his right palm during "Sou," he managed to create a hypnotic sound akin to corn popping inside a mandolin.
Diabate also sang lead on a few tunes, including the mostly mellow "Sou." His cooing on the latter was a far cry from the Howlin' Wolf-like rasp he let loose on "Camara Mosso" earlier in the set.
Most of the vocals were handled by Salifou Kaba, whose light voice bounced over the ever-percolating beats of the band.
The group has long been legend in their native Guinea, where the original nucleus formed in 1961. After a rough patch in the 1980s, the band reformed in 1998 and began touring the world in 2002.
Albany was certainly glad to see the band Monday.
Many in the crowd of 2,000 made their way to the front of the stage to dance. Late in the set, the horn section of Dory Clement and Mohamed Kaba began inviting children up to dance on the stage.
Clement did some nice dueling with Diabate on "Sou," and he and Kaba punched up other tunes, including "Lefa" and the combo's theme song "Bembeya."
The band must have been glad to be in town, because it went past the end of its usual set, capped by the terrific sway of "Mami Wata," and just kept going.
The audience got in on the warmup for the show, too. An open drum circle was led by members of the Hamilton Hill Arts Center, and as patrons walked into the park the shifting throb sounded like an invitation to the dance.
FACTS:MUSIC REVIEW BEMBEYA JAZZ When: 7:30 p.m. MondayWhere: The Lakehouse, Washington Park, AlbanyLength: Open Drum Circle, 40 minutes; Bembeya Jazz, 100 minutesMusical highlights: Sekou Bembeya Diabate showed off his many talents during "Sou"Crowd: 2,000 folks danced in front of the stage or sat on the hill in Washington Park.Upcoming: Cathie Ryan and special guests The McKrells make it a Celtic night in Washington Park on Monday. 07/20/04
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