Tony Allen, the drummer who helped Fela Kuti start the Afro-beat movement, is headlining the Snoqualmie World Music Festival this weekend.

The festival runs from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., with Tony Allen going on around 8:30. The opening acts are great, too, as are the DJs playing between sets, so try to make an evening of it.

In addition to Tony Allen, the show features Grupo Fantasma, Occidental Brothers Dance Band International featuring Samba Mapangala, and Quetzal-Acoustic with special guest Laura Rebolloso.

As of this writing, I have a few comps for the show. Please e-mail me right away if you’d like one.

Jon Kertzer, who put this festival together, will be giving away tickets on his KEXP radio show, “Best Ambiance,” tonight (Monday) 6:00-9:00 p.m.

I’m very sorry to pass along this news from the King Sunny Ade tour manager.

It is with great sadness that we announce the cancellation of the entire April/May 2010 North American tour for King Sunny Ade and his African Beats.

On March 26th 2010 a tragic car accident took the lives of two members of the African Beats, talking drummer Gabriel Ayanniyi and percussionist Omo Olope, who were en-route to a video shoot for a forthcoming recording. When the US Embassy refused to grant visas to replacement members in a timely manner, there was confusion about the possible courses of action.At the same time, it became clear that the artist and the band had neither recovered from the impact of the tragedy, nor were they able to find consensus on how to move forward with normal touring.

As a result, the North American April/May 2010 tour has been canceled until such a time as King Sunny Ade and his group have sufficiently regrouped and are ready to face the rigors of an International tour again.

We offer our heartfelt condolences to the band and the families of the deceased. On behalf of the artist and his band we extend our apologies to all who will be disappointed by their inability to perform in North America this year.

GRAViTON: African Arts (N.A. management fo King Sunny Ade)

Well, that was a whirlwind.

I started the day playing for Lara McIntosh’s Wassa Dance class. Musicians today were  Denny Stern, Thierno Diop, Naby Camara, Shemayim, and me. We had one really sweet groove early on. I turned on my recorder hoping the catch some of the magic, but the rest of the class was only above average, not sweet and specatacular. Oh, well, maybe I’ll catch it next time.

Headed for the Ballard outdoor market after class and met up with a group of friends that included Middle Eastern and Central Asian dance expert Helene Eriksen.

Then it was off to Seattle Center for  Brasilfest, where I caught Eduardo Mendonca’s group Show Brazil, Kofi Anang’s Ocheami, and the samba band Vamola. As soon as my computer and internet connection start behaving, I’ll put up some videos from Brasilfest, including a great one of Daniel Pitta Santos choreographing a dance for the crowd at the Show Brazil performance.

From the Seattle Center, I went to Hidmo to catch the African All-Stars. The group is different almost every time Mohammed puts on a show, and tonight’s orchestration was really nice. Mohammed Shaibu on guitar and talking drum, Jimmy Free on bass and vocals, Etienne Cakpo on percussion and vocals, and Shemayim on percussion. Mohammed was using the wah-wah pedal a lot, to very nice effect, and by the end of the night everyone in the place was up dancing.

Sorry, but I’m tired of fighting with my computer, so I won’t be able to get videos uploaded tonight. Heading off to bed with visions of a MacBook dancing in my head (and of this old Windows laptop being shipped off to a friend in Guinea).

Well, it turns out that Kane did connect with Toumani. Here’s his report:

Dude, it totally worked out. We sat around for another 45 minutes after you left and eventually Bela Fleck came in and walked over while I was playing and said, “sounds great.” He and I had a short exchange and complimented him on his performance the night before. Since Bela had arrived i was expecting Toumani at any moment but their manager told me they were just then going to get him. At that point we actually got kicked out! The house manager said they needed to prepare the room for the concert and so we could not be sitting in any of the seats but that we could sit on the edge of the stage or better yet OUTSIDE!

So with you gone my dwindling posse of Andrew and Michael we go outside and as confused and expectant as we were it was nice to be outside in the fresh air and sun. UNTIL…..a guy about 50 feet away starts spray painting a LADDER of all things with some of the nastiest smelling paint I’ve ever smelled and we all had to run away and it got Andrew coughing. We waited outside for about another hour and I was just playing Kora and then I hear my name over my shoulder and there is Toumani!

Finally, so we all go inside. But now Toumani invites me to follow him to the green room which is TINY!!!! and on top of that there is film crew trying to get footage of Toumani and Bela and so I am basically at the servers station two feet across with my Kora annoying EVERYBODY. While the hall clears for a moment the film crew starts filming me and are getting ALL up in my grill getting artsy angles and stuff. They lady takes my card and I have no idea what it was about UNTIL Toumani starts arguing with his manager about how the film crew has arranged nothing with him and he does not want to submit an interview without some kind of contract and why haven’t they contacted him ahead of time. He refuses to be interviewed and somebody in charge tries to tell me to get lost because they are having an interview and I shouldn’t be there, that strongarm jerk didn’t speak French and had no clue that not only was there no interview going on currently but there would be no interview. So HE’S telling me to get lost and Toumani is telling me to come inside and the film crew is bummed I’m coming inside with Andrew and Michel because they haven’t heard the news that they are getting nothing. In the meantime Toumani is trying to engage with me. The film crew gets bummed and kicked out and then it’s just me, Toumani, Andrew, and Michael and Toumani’s manager. So then it gets odder because the service people bring in lots of little glasses with ice and no water and then bring in lots of little cups of creamer an sugar but no coffee. Neither coffee nor water ever come and we are all tired and hot in this tiny little room.

Finally Toumani and I chat and we play for each other and Andrew and Michael and all talk to him for a bit, we get a picture and by the time we leave people are being seated for the 7:30 show. Man we got there at 4:00. The main house guy was super cool and gave me the number of their manger to see when Toumani would be there etc.

Man, that was odd.

After the Bela Fleck/Toumani Diabate show at Jazz Alley Monday night, I ran into Toumani in the hall. In my rudimentary French, I thanked him for the show and asked him to wait for me for one minute. I ran around the corner and grabbed Seattle kora virtuoso Kane Mathis, with whom I had watched the show (along with Michael Goude of Earthtribe Percussion and my sister, who just happened to be in town).

I then had the great pleasure of introducing Kane and Toumani.

A little background. There is a running joke in Kane’s circle about how Toumani better watch his back because Kane is gunning for him. Now Kane is a great kora player, but, really, he’s a first-generation student of the instrument, whereas Toumani represents the 71st generation of a griot family that dates back to the dawn of the instrument.  So, there’s little reason to think that Toumani was shaking in his boots.

A little more background. The same night that Toumani played here last year on the main stage at the Triple Door, Kane was playing out front in the Musiquarium lounge. Other obligations and the timing of his performance prevented Kane from seeing either of Toumani’s shows, but Toumani had glimpsed Kane’s show and was interested in meeting. Toumani was also interested in seeing Kane’s Jeff Bodony kora. But it didn’t work out that time.

So, anyhow, last Monday night I introduce Toumani and Kane, and Kane starts chattering away in Mandinka, which, he told me later, a Bambara speaker like Toumani would be able to make enough sense of to hold a conversation.  They chatted for quite some time, and then Toumani invited Kane to the sound check the following day. Michael and I, of course, asked to ride Kane’s coattails, and he was agreeable, traveling, as he does, with a posse to most events.

The three of us, along with one of Kane’s main musical collaborators, Andrew Oliver, arrived at Jazz Alley at 4:00 on Tuesday and settled in to wait for Toumani. He still hadn’t arrived when I had to leave about 45 minutes later, and I don’t know if he ever did arrive. But Michael, Andrew, and I were treated to some nice kora playing and impromptu ethnomusicological discourses from Kane while we waited. (Sorry about the bad lighting in these videos – the lights weren’t on at Jazz Alley, and I was using my cheapo Flip video camera.)

In this video, Kane Mathis talks about the relationship between the sabar clave and kora music.

Kane and Andrew are talking about a cut on Ali Farke Toure and Toumani Diabate’s “In the Heart of the Moon” when I pull out my iPhone and play the cut that they’re talking about, freaking out Michael in the process.

I don’t know the name of this kora song, but it sure is nice.