We began the tour with Bela Fleck And The Flecktones guesting alongside Baaba at Denver, this included some superb contributions from Victor Woten and the drummer and brass player. They seemed to revel in mingling with the authentic African songs and groves that Baaba sets up, Baaba himself, celebrating this and other collaborations.

American crowds love to dance. The dancers we have on this tour, Emily and Awa, stir the audience into showing appreciation for the performance of the band. The female contingency in the crowds, in particular, seem to thoroughly enjoy the overtly female dance styles, they seem to understand the freedom of expression this gives the dancers. The joy of inhabiting a female form and the strength of being an African woman comes across to the American women and the cheers are loudest from the female audience!

The show changes from venue to venue, Baaba deciding to begin acoustically when time allows. This allows the American audience an authentic gathering of a few of the band, recreating Baaba's past experiences of the 'little songs' his Grandmother used to sing to him. He is allowing the audience to join him on his journey as he builds the show by adding the other players to build into the full band performance. It does not take long for the audience to begin to sway and clap, these grooves are primal, easy to sink into and call all people.

Once the band kick in you can see the more 'unrestrained' members of the eager crowd begin to search for a place to dance so as not to disturb the others, still seated and mesmerized by to colourful performances. It is wonderful to see the emergence of the audience from the stage, it is as if Baaba, with the dancers, are pulling at strings that allow the crowd to escape into the dance! It is rare for anyone to be seated at about three quarters into a gig!

In San Diego we had to honour of the English guitarist, Richard Thomson playing before us. His magnificent guitar work inspired a superb set from Baaba's band. The gig is on the bay-side, boats everywhere and clear skies. The group of musicians is very organic, they react greatly to the crowd's reactions. As soon as they see dancing in the audience, they respond to encourage it. It is easy to underestimate the importance of the dancers in the band, they come on in various costume and perform to some of the music but the effect is to seal the audiences understanding of Baaba Maal's performance. It is all about the joy of song and beat. The show is the very soul of African music, voice along side driving rhythm allowing freedom to all performers and audience whom blend into one expression. An artist speaking to an audience in the purest way. With the joy comes a message of peace, a cry for harmony and consideration for others when Baaba explains the songs and his feelings for the future. Many times, he is rewarded with a spontaneous round of applause when he speaks of his passion for orphans and his desire to see a world more united in a pursuit of political harmony. I get the feeling his message is received with open arms and is getting across to an eager, perhaps politically aware audience who are realizing that Africans and Americans are not too far apart in thought.

David Preston
able to multi-task as long as it's one bloody thing at a time!