Concert Review: Bela Fleck

By ELGIN SMITH

Attention world music fans: the current incarnation of Bela Fleck’s tour features some of the most interesting African music around. Too bad it wasn’t billed as such. 

​Lawrence’s Liberty Hall listed the performance as simply as “Bela Fleck,” but the show certainly didn’t focus on the banjo extraordinaire. Demonstrating a myriad of eclectic sounds, the show focused on two Tanzanian musicians, Anania Ngoliga and John Kitime, and a seven-piece group from Mali called Ngoni Ba. Fleck did play with them, but was certainly not the focal point, although he did serve as the MC for the evening’s performance, which was nearly sold out.

The first portion of music featured the Tanzanians, and the focus was squarely on Ngoliga. The audience seemed to take a deep breath as Kitime helped Ngoliga, who is blind, on stage and set him up with the instrument that gives his music a classically African sound, the kalimba. Ngoliga’s voice was unreal, stretching from the highest falsettos to the deepest bass tones. The kalimba, combined with Kitime’s drone-like guitar playing, filled the auditorium with a rustic flavor, and the harmonies between their voices had a distinctly exotic sound. One of the highlights of their set was a lighthearted, comedic song that told a story of two girlfriends, “one who had a very pretty voice, and one who had a voice like a chicken.” Delighting the audience with a variety of vocal stylings, this one garnered chuckles and laughter throughout, and enthusiastic applause at the end.