MY LONDON LIFE: GIGS! GIGS! GIGS!

TURKISH PSYCHE & FLAMENCO ROOTS, LOWRIDER SOUL & SAHARA BLUES, AMERICANA & AFROBEAT (the good, bad & mediocre of recent London gigs).

Beneath grey skies: Steam Down perform at Lambeth Country Fair.

Since returning from Italy I’ve been grinding out a living from writing words such as these (thank you all my paying subscribers: your support is appreciated), running around seeing friends, trying to stay on top of all the stuff I have to and going out.

I’ve not been going out to exhibitions - I’ve not been to one for an age - or films (OK, the one movie I’ve seen was Shanghai Express (1932), which was brilliant and at the Cinema Museum, a remarkable space which I must celebrate on the Yak in the near future). Or the theatre (I do try and do so, but not regularly).

Predictably, I’ve gone to lots of gigs - here then is a run down on what I’ve seen.

GAYE SU AKYOL - The Moth Club

Back when I first arrived in Europe and lived life as a backpacker, I’d buy cassettes of local artists from the nations I passed through, trying to get an idea of what music was being made there then.

Not every nation: I never bought cassettes of German or Scandinavian artists. But from the first time I set foot in Turkey in 1992 I was enamoured by the local music. Way before I started writing on Balkan music I was listening to lots of Turkish music - folk, pop, classical - soaking up its lush, moody atmosphere, then unaware of how influential it had been (and was) on the music making of Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.

I mentioned on my recent post on Turkish green grocers that Turkish music never broke through to what was once called the “world music” audience. What I didn’t note was how Turkish psyche - essentially Turkish rock bands from the 1970s who had blended their folk music with the influence of US/UK rock (especially psychedelic and art/prog rock elements) - has found an audience in the UK this century.

Which means old Turkish psych bands have found their original LPs now very collectable and being reissued (and gigs being offered in rock venues). And younger artists, none more so that Gaye Su Akyol, building an international audience.

I’d never seen Akyol, 40, perform before I went up to Hackney. I enjoyed her music so went along hoping she would deliver. Did she ever! Akyol leads a fluid 3-piece band - guitarist and bassist both being gifted multi-instrumentalists - and she possesses a smoky voice and a big character. Which is to say the band rocked and Gaye was very engaging (and funny) in her between song chat. Really, really good.

THEE SINCEERS & THE ALTONS - Jazz Cafe

I wrote a feature for The Guardian late last year looking at the Los Angeles genre that’s referred to as “low rider soul”. Low riders are those customised cars that roll slow and low (ie the suspension has been cut so the chassis sits close to the road). If you’re not from East LA then you’ve most likely seen a low rider in a rap video, or movie like Boyz N The Hood.

The Chicanos who popularised low riders liked to listen to old school soul ballads as they cruised, leading to young bands forming who write and perform this kind of material. Most high profile of the low rider soul bands are Thee Sacred Souls, but my favourite outfit are Thee Sinceers.

This 9-piece band are led by vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Joseph Quiñones who possesses a very sweet voice and a gift for pleading (both qualities help sell a classic soul ballad - think of The Del-Fonics, The Impressions, Little Anthony etc). Quinones’ songs are memorable, not just homages (as some contemporary soul bands are) and the musicians are not only skilled but imaginative: the horn section open up space while the guitarists’ blend melodies that suggest the influence of rocksteady records (which fits with the soul ballads - they being Jamaica’s gentle, lo-fi take on R&B).

The Altons are an offshoot band of Thee Sinceers, six rather than nine members, and focusing on Adriana Flores’ as lead vocalist (as opposed to her shadowing Quiñones in TS). They possess plenty of promise but, right now, remain a work in progress.

Thee Sinceers perform with confidence and grace - watch their NPR Tiny Desk concert for a taste of how good they are. Definitely the kind of concert where rocking your loved one in your arms as Quiñones sings of love and happiness adds to the experience.

BOMBINO - Islington Assembly Hall

Omara "Bombino" Moctar is a Tuareg musician who currently lives in Niger. The Tuareg are a nomadic people who live in the Sahara desert and, in recent years, have been engaged in armed conflict with Mali’s government.

Tinariwen, the Tuareg group who originally hail from Mali (but initially took shape in refugee camps), have popularised a sound that’s referred to as “desert blues” or “Sahara blues” due to their ability to create a trance-like music that employs elements of blues and rock guitar, while retaining extremely distinctive Tuareg qualities.

Bombino’s life has been a fraught one, war and fleeing conflict being constants, so its remarkable that he has managed to not only develop his music to a high level but succeed internationally - the likes of Dan Auerbach and David Longstreth have produced Bombino albums + he has performed at such noted US music festivals as Boonaroo and Newport Folk Festival.

My knowledge of Bombino’s music is slight - I’ve not followed his career closely and only attended this concert due to my pal Andy Morgan asking me along (Andy used to manage Tinariwen and is currently writing a book on the band and Sahara culture: it will be an exceptional read when published).

Going in “blind” to a concert can be a burden - you don’t know the material - but also allows for hearing the artist without preconceptions. As soon as Bombino took the stage, accompanied by a Tuareg guitarist and two European percussionists, I recognised the distinctive Tuareg sound: guitars that drone, music that moves with the rolling gait of a camel train, voices which murmur rather than sing.

Its quite lovely, even if Bombino’s music doesn’t strike me as distinctive as that of Tinariwen. After thirty minutes or so of keeping things chilled one of the percussionists goes behind the drum kit and the quartet begin to rock. And boy, do they love to rock - both guitarists blasting away like its 1973 and they’re at a seance trying to call Jimi Hendrix’s spirit up.

I’ve noticed this trait amongst certain desert blues guitarists - Vieux Farka Toure also boogies far too much - and I wonder if these artists have won bookings on the US jam band festival circuit where endless soloing is cheered on. By the time the concert’s an hour in my ears are ringing and I’m waving goodbye to Andy. Less flash, stronger songs, Mr Bombino please.

JP HARRIS - The Lexington

JP Harris is another musician whose music I’m largely unfamiliar with, but as we don’t get a lot of youthful country artists performing in London - and a Kiwi friend who pays close attention to contemporary Americana music recommended him - I rocked up and bought a ticket (£18).