The stage in Old Cabell Hall looked empty. With a lone chair centered on the stage, accompanied only by an amplifier and a microphone, the space felt emptier than during orchestral and choral performances, when a row of chairs and music stands dot the stage. A large, tall man strode onto the stage carrying a single instrument, the kora, and sat down. Placing the kora between his legs, its 21 strings facing him, he began to pluck with his thumbs.
A harp-like, gentle sound drifted through the air. The music was lonely and solitary, but also wondrous.
Mamadou Diabaté’s concert, “An Evening of Malian Music and Culture,” proved an intimate, personal affair sponsored by the Music Department. Not only did Diabaté perform a solo two-hour concert with no intermission, but he also gave his audience musical lessons. In between songs, he would sit back and smile, telling his audience about the history of the kora, what materials it is made from and what innovations current kora players add to this traditional Mali instrument. It was a performance, but also an education.
The sound of the kora itself was shimmering and bright — not the heavy timbre expected from such a large instrument. Diabaté’s compositions were like repeated variations on a theme, circling around the same melody again and again while adding the occasional ornament. The music was lilting and hypnotic — listening felt like staring into the center of a whirlpool. The syncopated, quick rhythms drove each song forward. This was a music of motion, repeating familiar themes but never stagnant.
Diabaté’s music, with its happy rhythms and swirling melodies, should be danced to, not observed. Looking around the auditorium, I noticed the majority of audience members silently clap their hands, tap their feet, sway in their seats and bob their heads. This was music that called for movement — the venue, however, did not. Nonetheless, it was a peaceful, serene evening of music. As each new piece began, time seemed to float away from Old Cabell Hall.
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