Womadelaide 2008

[kiwigeo]

Not directly related to luthiery but there were a few nice guitar players at Womadelaide this year. My wife did the full three days but I opted for day pass to Sunday's offerings. Jon Butler played on Firday night and my wife reckons he was cooking. On Sunday the highlight for me was Billy Cobham and his septet..including Ernie watts on Sax and Australia's Frank Gamble on guitar. Cobham put on a better show than at last years Womadelaide...hes much better surrounded by other musos playing his work than playing solo as he did at last years event. Gamble was cooking as was Billy and Ernie Watts got a big response from the crowd whenever he soloed. Later on in the evening Cobham took part in a discussion at speakers corner and after same I got to shake his hand and tell him what I thought of his music. Cobham came across as very down to earth and articulate and his recollections of his work with Miles Davis were fascinating and at times entertaining.

Brisbane based bluesman Mojo Webb was a blast.....an excellent multi instrumentalist bringing down the licks on guitar, sax and blues harp and also an excellent vocalist. As well as performing his own work he did justice to pieces by BB King and Muddy Waters. His band was also a knock out.....tight as a well fitted pair of kid gloves. His man on second guitar ("JB" sorry forgot his surname) did fine work on a lovely looking Gibson Explorer.



Cheers Martin

[sebastiaan56]

Sounds excellent, as with Port Fairy Radio National broadcast some of the concerts on the weekend. I reckon they get 1/2 a year of music programs from these festivals. I listened to the Mavis Staples set and it was really good. Great vibe,

Sebastiaan

[kiwigeo]

Yep, Mavis was cooking too......Im glad I wasnt that guy she pulled onto the stage.

[Richard]

Had an absolute blast as usual. There's something really special about this festival.

Mojo Webb was great; I've seen him countless times up here given he's a local but it never ceases to amaze me. Happened to see him and band (the guitarist is JB Lewis BTW ) on my flight back to Brisbane on Monday.

That was Sharon Jones on the final night who pulled a guy up with her. Mavis Staples played on the Friday and was without a shadow of doubt my personal highlight; though Sharon Jones was great to see again as she's really doing great things. One of the most energetic performers I've ever seen. These two were probably my overall highlights.

John Butler hasn't impressed me the past few times I've seen him but his performance on Friday night which I stayed at briefly turned things around a bit for me.

Mamadou Diabate was an interesting find. He's a guy from Mali who plays the kora, a sort of traditional African harp that has an almost flamenco guitar sound to it. I immediately recognised that I'd heard him play before on an Eric Bibb album. Beautiful instrument... one day I'll have to get my head around how it's made.

Looking forward to Bluesfest next week... Womad for me is just a warmup.

[kiwigeo]

Sharon Jones......I stand corrected. I must admit by the time she came on I didnt care what the performers name was, the dust was really starting to get to me and I was ready to go home. I managed to last one day while my wife managed to do the whole three days.

[Richard]

Yeah the dust wasn't fun. Add to that the fact that I'm used to Brisbane humidity and we've had a very cool summer. Dry Adelaide 40º days with dust thrown into the mix and it can get a bit much. On the upside, thanks to the Coopers family, at least I was able to keep well hydrated.