After volunteering for Summer Streets on Saturday the 8th, I caught four silent films at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. And after that, I stopped by to hear some of the Great Jazz on the Great Hill concert, presented by the Central Park Conservancy and the Jazzmobile, as part of the Conservancy’s 35th anniversary. The Great Hill is in upper Central Park, accessed via either West 103rd or West 106th Streets. I heard performances by the George Gee Orchestra and the Solomon Hicks Quintet. Both groups were very good, but the amplification proved too loud for me, so I didn’t stay very long. Also, the large-ish crowd was not quite my cup of tea.
Sunday, however, found me at the northern tip of Central Park—the Harlem Meer—for a performance by the Harlem Blues & Jazz Band, a group that has been playing together for at least 40 years. But talk about longevity, the saxophonist recently celebrated his 100th birthday! And he can still swing with the younger guys. At various times the group consisted of guitar, electric keyboard, double bass, trumpet, tuba, trombone, saxophone, and harmonica. A female vocalist was also on hand, and some of the instrumentalists contributed vocals, as well. The band did a great job, people in the audience were urged to (and did) dance, and the audience thoroughly enjoyed themselves, including me. I happened to have stumbled on a listing for performances at the Meer a couple of weeks ago, so I missed out on earlier Sunday afternoons, going back to June 21. I may skip Aug. 16 (Cuban) and Aug. 30 (African Peoples of Central America), but Aug. 23 (The Ebony Hillbillies—Bluegrass/Appalachian) and Sept. 6 (Dee Dee LeVant Gospel Ensemble) both hold a lot of appeal for me.
The performance I read about and experienced on Aug. 2 was Famoro Dioubate & Kakande, performing West African music. The driving rhythms seemed to compel some of the audience members to get up and dance. There was also a somewhat religious aspect to the quality of the music, as well, played on guitar, double bass, drum set, and an African hand drum, along with a female vocalist, and
Mr. Dioubate playing the balafon.
And that’s what interested me. During a break in the sets, I asked him about it and he told me that he would be discussing the instrument when the band started up again.
The balafon is a xylophone-like melodic percussion instrument with keys made of béné wood (though I can’t find a good description of that) strung over a fixed frame. The individual keys have a calabash gourd beneath them, graduated in size to match the keys, acting as a resonator. A small hole in each gourd is covered with a membrane (usually thin paper or thin plastic film), which gives the instrument a buzzy sound to go along with the pitch of the keys. The keys are struck with mallets that have rubber heads. The sound was really intriguing and interesting. The music itself ended up being too much sameness for me, so I didn’t stay for the entire performance. But the balafon stuck with me for quite some time. There’s a whole new/different world out there, and I’m going exploring.
ConcertMeister
Sounds like a great event!
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