Concert mini-review - Afro-Semitic Experience at Tufts

[Jonathan Delatizky <delatizky...>]

The Afro-Semitic Experience, led by Warren Byrd and list member David 
Chevan, played a free concert at Tufts University last night.  This was the 
band's Boston-area debut.  Attendance peaked at about 70, almost all of 
whom looked to my middle-aged eyes to be undergraduate students.  I didn't 
see any of the usual Boston area Jewish Music crowd - a pity, as this was a 
memorable night.

The band is clearly a group that has played together regularly, and that 
just as clearly enjoys playing together.  They started with a wide-ranging 
medley, going from _Sha, Shtil_ to the familiar shabbes nigun _Shalom 
Aleichem_ through some tunes I either didn't recognize or don't remember, 
and ending with a rambunctious rendering of _Honeysuckle Rose_.  The set 
included one item from the high holy days cantorial repertoire, _V'Ani 
T'filati_ (a duo played by David Chevan and Stacy Phillips), the full band 
rendition of _Eiliyahu Ha'Navi_, and the closing number, _Let Us Break 
Bread Together_.  For me, a particular highlight was their rendition of 
Abdullah Ibrahim's _Water from an Ancient Well_.  They captured the feel 
(if not quite the sound) of a South African qwela band that transported me 
back in time and space to the South Africa I grew up in.

I hope they will play the Boston area again, and soon.  Publicity for this 
gig, apart from the one email David sent to this list, was 
nonexistent.  Hopefully, the next time they visit, word will get out and a 
larger audience will attend.

<j>

Jonathan Delatizky


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