Seckou Keita & The Homeland Band – Live Review – Howard Assembly Rooms, Leeds

By David Schuster, November 2024

Seckou Keita has a deep love and understanding for music. Not content with being a virtuoso kora player in the traditional Senegalese style, he’s taken the instrument and integrated it into modern, and commercial, genres such as mbalax and hip-hop. His fingers and thumbs (both are used to play the instrument), fly across the many strings, producing exquisite and complex showers of notes.

However, it’s halfway through the third song of the night before I’m struck by a realisation that only deepens my respect for the musician; the kora was designed to be played sitting down, not wielded on stage with such dynamism. It’s a beast. Imagine half of a huge pumpkin, with the neck of a sitar attached, and you get the idea. When he first comes on stage, Keita straps the instrument to himself using a harness that spreads its considerable weight over both shoulders and midriff. He then carries it for the whole evening, and still he manages to play astonishing melodies, whilst singing, swaying in time and smiling all the while!

I’d been eagerly anticipating this concert ever since I first heard the marvellous Homeland, his latest album, and it didn’t disappoint.

“Joyous”

As you’d expect, the set contained many of the great tracks from the most recent release. However, these were often given different arrangements, both to add interest, and to fit the line up of The Homeland Band, who accompany him on this tour. The multi-instrumentalist is well known for his collaborations with other renowned artists, and many of the band tonight are famous in their own right. Keyboardist Mousa Ngom has produced the mighty Youssou N’ Dour, whilst Moustapha Gaye, has been that same stellar singer/songwriter’s lead guitarist for over 15 years. Talented co-vocalist Korka Dieng has her own group, Orchestre Djiguen Gni, but also regularly performs with the likes of Orchestra Baobab. With drummer, Mouctar Diongue, percussionist Dialy Kemo Cissokho and bassist Modou Gueye, there’s six other musicians on stage.

So, the opening track, the aptly named ‘Bienvenue’, which is performed in French on the record, is thoughtfully delivered in English tonight. “Welcome travellers.”, it starts, “Welcome everyone. Welcome my brothers and my sisters.”. You’ve got to admit, that’s one of the most polite and genial openings to a concert that you’re ever likely to get. And the beautiful Howard Assembly Rooms in Leeds is the ideal setting: Moderately sized and subtly fitted out in modern warm pine, beneath the darker wood of the Victorian barrel vaulted ceiling, intimate and cosy are the two adjectives that spring to mind.

The songs taken from Homeland are an impressively eclectic mix, by turns joyous, poignant, humorous and powerful. There’s the afro pop feel of ‘Chaque Jour’ and the complex percussion of ‘Bé Té Sona’, contrasted with the spoken-word poetry of ‘Deportation Blues’ and ‘Reflections’. Both the latter being narrated off tape by the original artists from the album. Yet, somehow, these juxtapositions are woven into a harmonious tapestry of sound. It helps that Seckou is such a charismatic front-man, providing interesting snippets of background, encouraging the audience to sing, dance and clap along, and occasionally sharing a joke with us.

“Life-affirming”

Highlights of an exceptional night also included gems from earlier albums, ‘Alhambra’ and ‘Nay Rafet’. ‘Alhambra’ is a complex instrumental, showcasing clever changes of tempo and played in a key which gives it an appropriately Moorish feel. It truly conjures images of the world famous medieval Islamic fortress in Spain, where Keita performed in 2009. ‘Nay Rafet’ is a joyous tune with a message of kindness, which highlighted Korka Dieng’s amazing vocal talents.

The Howard Assembly Rooms is a fully seated auditorium, but it conveys some of the sense of joy and optimism which characterised the whole show that, in the latter half of the set, the majority of the audience were on their feet dancing, singing and swaying along. This culminated with ‘Wakili’, an uplifting song, which Seckou explains means ‘courage’, accompanied by the front-man, the band and the audience all punching the air in celebration. Sadly, there was only time for one encore, the marvellous ‘Hakko’, whose chorus “I can do it. You can do it. We can do it. They can do it.” is truly life-affirming, especially when sung by a room full of happy people.

My favourite gig of 2024, by some way.

images: David Schuster