Duckpond
House Concert No. 55
The Calabash
6
July 2025
(Photos
by Samtha Press & Jonni)
For our first house concert after the Covid enforced hiatus we had the wonderful
West African 'super group', The Calabash, and Jonni had such a good time
he's been keen to get them back ever since. So, it came as no surprise
when he suggested we get them back for a Sunday afternoon concert.
Kofi Kunkpe,
who is an Ewe master drummer and multi-instrumentalist
from Ghana, has been based here in the Yarra Valley since 2012.
As well as a highly sought after performer, he is a wonderful teacher,
and I should know - he's our drumming teacher.
Amadou
Suso, originally from Gambia, is a virtuoso on the kora,
a traditional West African harp. I was glad to see that his kora
was in better shape than it was last time.
Aboubacar Djelike
Kouyate is from Mali, via France,
and now lives in Melbourne. His music represents a lifetime
of dedication and passion for his country's traditions.
He had many stories from his childhood for us.
We had seen
both Amadou and Aboubacar do solo shows and had contemplated getting
each of them to play a solo house concert at various stages. So, to get them
together,
along with our friend and mentor, for a concert togrther was just amazing
With
nearly a full house there wasn't much spare floor space
but the infectious rhythms
proved too hard to resist for
some
of the guests and they found
just enough room to get up and boogie.
To
find out more about Kofi, go to his
website
Aboubacar also has a website
Amadou can be found on his Facebook
page
Highlights from this concert are on YouTube