Live Review: Bombino, Bashka

Bashka warm the crowd with an interesting fusion of Turkish and Middle Eastern music with a palette of contemporary electronic sounds. Their short set provides a sophisticated blend that finds appreciation among those in the crowd who clearly appreciate world music fusion.

In a chin-stroking moment PBS’ resident expert on African music, Stani Goma, talks to Omara "Bombino" Moctar ahead of his set. It provides a kind of amusing ‘lost in translation’ moment as the reticent Bombino cannot speak a word of English and when he does speak to Goma in French it becomes evident that he is a man of very few words. Bombino doesn’t need to say much about his music. As we are about to see, these live shows are all about making his music come alive. His charismatic smile goes a long way to speaking to his English-speaking fans. 

Towards the end of the interview, Bombino quite touchingly talks about how he plays his guitar for peace and that his music essentially rejects violent confrontation and war. Bombino belongs to the nomadic Tuareg, a tribe that has existed across borders in an area that extends across Mali, Niger, Algeria and Libya. These days they are essentially stateless and to make matters worse they have been dealing with the difficulty of political uncertainty. Although the situation improves slowly it is impossible to understand how the government in Bombino’s native Niger had infamously once declared it illegal for the Tuareg to play guitars. In this context, when Bombino declares that he is playing for peace he is subtly speaking to the politics of his homeland.

After a short break, Bombino and his band take to the stage resplendent in Tuareg robes. While the spotlight is on Bombino he is assisted by another guitarist, bass player and drummer who play it fast and super tight. Singing in Tamashek, the Tuareg’s practically extinct language, it is impossible to understand what Bombino is singing about, although we know that many of these tunes contain political messages. Consequently, there is an emphasis on the sound of their joyous fusion of exotic styles that feels warm and inviting. Across their songs, the blues and western rock meet the traditional music of these nomads at an oasis somewhere in the Sahara to create uplifting vibes that make the crowd gathered here just want to dance the night away. 

Stunningly, Bombino, influenced by the likes of Hendrix and Santana, demonstrates that he can play with the best of them, shredding with casual ease and without any of the usual rock star posturings that go with the territory. A sweet trickle of notes typically evolves into an overwhelming crescendo of intense riffing that sees Bombino’s nimble fingers blur across the frets. Unlike a lot of African desert rock acts that tend to work together as an ensemble, Bombino is an amazing solo act. The ferocious energy of his playing means that he just dominates the mix with memorable riffs and casts a spell over the audience tonight. Hilariously, the band's bass player advises the guys at the mixing desk that his bass needs to be louder for the drummer and that both guitars also need to be louder as well as Bombino’s vocals. After these instructions, everything is suddenly much louder, more powerful and clearly designed to blow us all away. Sadly, it is often all too rare to see this advanced level of musicianship but tonight it goes down a treat.