Soukous at Wiltshire Music Centre with Kasai Masai

Okay, they’ve given me a seat number but I can’t imagine It’ll hold me for long. Soukous is infectious, in a word. The dance music of the Congolese, Kasai Masai wears its crown in the UK. Popular on the festival circuit, they’ve perfected this captivating sound over fifteen years and last night blessed the outstanding acoustics of the Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford on Avon; an opportunity too good for nasty weather to distract me…..

Jesting with frontman Nickens Nkoso before they unleashed their hypnotic and irresistible rhythms, if he was from the Congo he could’ve at least brought the weather with him; yeah, a chilly evening, perhaps inapt for African music, but they sure warmed up the inside of this cathedral of music. Though Kasai Masai are London based, he originates from its capital, Kinshasa, and he briefly introduced me to the band from various areas of central and east Africa, such as Kenya and Tanzania.

I wanted to gauge Kassi if they treated a gig such as this, an audience predominantly unaware of soukous, any different than, perhaps, a London club where African rhythms are more recognisable, but he seemed certain they tackled them all with equal gusto, expressing the wealth of environments they played at, from arts centres to festivals such as Glastonbury and, naturally Womad. This said, one toe was eased in gradually, the opening songs steady in tempo and largely a Congolese rhumba, the root of soukous. Gorgeously layered, lengthy compositions, meld traditional aspects of the music of their homeland with their contemporary counterparts; the second he informed us is a lullaby, apparently! It was sweet and sentimentally executed, ambient, but still, I was edging off my seat.

It is not the structure of Kasai Masai, a six-piece combo of drummer, bassist, lead and rhythm guitarists, one sporadically swapping bongo and saxophone, and Kassi’s smooth vocals and occasional percussion with maracas, rather the unity and harmony of this tight-knit ensemble which charms one so evocatively. No player is upfront, the saxophone is subtle, bass levelled, the bongos drift, the singer binds it, sure, but the secret ingredient is proficient harmony.

Like many world music styles, you need to untrain your ear from the quadrille plod pop has accustomed you to, think of it like breaking in a pair of old leather boots. Unlike some others, soukous is made easy. Swapping to three chords midway, upping the tempo for the offbeat gives it this danceable surge, like those new air-wear souls which your feet slip straight into and off you walk; soukous is the Nike Air of African music! This theory was put to test last night at the Centre, as Massai began, an unassuming audience paid attention, as he encouraged the crowd to dance, it then became compulsory.

The last few songs of the first half I was aching to shake my thang, as the tempo upped and soukous became prominent, it demands it of you. Such is the main hall’s seated set up, you feel the British unmalleable obligation of reservation. The second half I was adamant, used the excuse I could get better photo angles to the few who made the dare to dance in the dancer’s corner, and abashed, added my real intention! Such colourful, electric rhythms, the like rare in these backwaters, I have to tip my hat to The Wiltshire Music Centre for providing such a diverse range of acts. Yeah, I was on my feet, it was hypnotic, but seconds later, I looked up to the seating, the majority were too.

They held the crowd spellbound as exquisite, exotic rhythms basked the Centre in African music’s opulence, a true and authentic show of the riveting and beguiling reverberations of a distant land; that is world music’s appeal, and that is what they delivered with certain perfection.

But the show is only a cornerstone to the whole experience at the Centre. This event was backed up earlier with a drumming workshop hosted by Kasai Masai, highlighting the educative element to the Centre’s ethos. Equal to this, upon me entering this wonderful purpose-built complex, the bar was filled with chat, and students jammed multiple xylophones, accompanied by one pianist, in the foyer; a clue to said ethos, there’s always something happening at the Wiltshire Music Centre, and as the name suggests, it’s usually something musical!

The Music Centre is hospitable and inviting, and gets full marks for its extensive and diverse programming. It was a brilliant evening, though with an act as mesmerising as Kasai Masai I can only begin to imagine the magnificence in atmosphere at a grassroots festival; if you see them on the lineup, head that direction. The remaining of us, The Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford-on-Avon is a real gem, check out what is coming up and do pay it a worthy visit.