I am so not ahead of the curve on this one. But here’s how it happened.
I don’t take all that many taxis — don’t have the dough and (I’ll admit it!) I love my subway system. So it’s taken me a while to realize that there has been a bit of a dynastic shift with our cabbies. Have you noticed it, too? Whereas they used to be predominantly Bangaladeshi or Pakistani, more and more these days are from West Africa.
Of course, I don’t care who the cabbie is so long as he knows that sometimes you have to get off the BQE and take McGuinness, but one thing you’ll notice when you ride with one of these West Africans — the music is awesome!
I always ask who’s on and the answer is “This is from my country! From Ivory Coast!” or “This is from my country! From Nigeria!” or (most common) “This is from my country! From Mali!” I’m then told the artist’s name and. . .I immediately forget. (You can guess my state-of-mind if my normal miserly state is usurped by the need to take a taxi home.)
Forward a few weeks and I’m watching channel 25. My girlfriend Julie Laipply isn’t on, but for some reason I don’t immediately change the channel. I see it is a replay of a concert from Summerstage. And after a few minutes I start to realize how incredibly terrific this band is.
I’m listening to Amadou et Mariam, a blind married couple from Mali. It is hard to define their sound other than just plain AWESOME.
Afrobeat, sure, but they really tear it up. Both have terrific voices and they lay down a tremendous groove.
Turns out that they sang the theme to the last World Cup (so, like, the whole world but me has heard them already) and they are huge in Europe. I was able to get their last album (Dimanche A Bamako) out of the library and it has been on constant repeat for days. It’s a little overproduced, but it is easy to overlook this. If you have an opportunity to hear their music, don’t pass it up.
