Graceland by Paul Simon is an album lauded for its importance in helping to popularise world-music.
Recorded during the tail-end and turbulent years of apartheid in South Africa the record earned Simon a fair amount of controversy for the fact that he hired local black session musicians.
Barney Rachabane, one of the forty-plus musicians that Simon enlisted, has since said, “at a time when there was apartheid in South Africa and blacks like me were nothing but just labourers, he saw beyond that and gave Africans an opportunity to showcase to the world and break the circle of apartheid.”
So, the impact of the record can’t really be understated, and in the year of its 30th anniversary, the waves that Graceland created are still rippling away as the influences of many of today’s young artists.
One such group are Bwani Junction, who decided to cover the whole album from start-to-finish as a fun project in the summer of 2015.
They recruited a local horn-section, as well as accordionist Phil Cunningham for their rendition in Edinburgh’s tiny venue Sneaky Pete’s.
Donald Shaw, organiser of Celtic Connections was in the audience for the show and was so impressed with it that he immediately offered the band the chance to re-play the set at 2016’s festival.
Taking place in the much more grandiose setting of The Old Fruitmarket was not the only twist in store.
Barney Rachabane, Morris Goldberg and Diane Garisto each contributed their musicianship to the creation of Graceland, and all flew into Glasgow to share the stage with Bwani Junction, along with brass group The Doppelgang Horns, Donald Shaw on accordion, and Rachabane’s daughter, Octavia (as well as two other’s who’s names escape me).
Walking into an empty Old Fruitmarket is an experience in itself; warped stone floors, authentic looking signage, and a purple tinged light selection all add to the atmosphere that the venue is going to be playing host to something magical this evening.
It is also pretty cavernous, so I can’t help but wonder if Bwani Junction and co. are going to be able to fill it, but by the time the opener Moh! Kouyate takes the stage the place is pretty packed.
Kouyate’s brand of African music is sung in French and frantically digs out the grooves the same way Fela Kuti does: long, winding songs punctuated by fierce, jazzy guitar solos and underpinned by an unshakably brilliant rhythm section.
After this, I’m so impressed that I don’t envy the headliners for having to attempt to better Kouyate’s performance.
Bwani Junction then takes the stage and the air thickens with a collective sigh of anticipated nostalgia: many of tonight’s punters are here just because of Paul Simon (but they’ll almost certainly have left remembering Bwani Junction).
After introductions, Donald Shaw’s accordion riffs out the first track, ‘Boy In The Bubble’, and the sheer number of musicians on stage take Bwani’s sound through to a new dimension.
Every single track is a spectacle and to gaze around at other crowd members is to be met by total joy.
‘Diamonds On The Sole’s of Her Shoes’ is opened by an acapella refrain that showcases tonight’s backing singers and ‘You Can Call Me Al’ gives Morris Goldberg space to blast out his insanely perfect whistle solo.
As I mentioned before, every track is inch perfect, and I’d imagine everyone’s idea of a highlight is different (Goldberg and Rachabane’s saxophone back-and-forth was particularly badass), but one thing is certain and that’s how fucking commendable Bwani Junction’s commitment to the Graceland album has been.
When I first became interested in the band four or five years ago, Paul Simon’s name cropped up as an influence in a lot of the interviews, so as a witness to the evening’s events, it’s a great pleasure to offer my opinion that Bwani Junction performed an incredible ode to Simon, completely obliterating my expectations in the process and providing a night I will remember for a long time.
Words: Greg Murray
Photos: Andrew McColl
