May 22, 2013
Techung and his band
Lhasa Spirits with Africa Brass at the Old U.S. Mint, May 18th,
2013
In honor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s first visit to New
Orleans, Tibetan singer/songwriter Techung and his band Lhasa
Spirits, who travel the world playing for His Holiness, performed at
the Old U.S. Mint with local jazz ensemble Africa Brass on Saturday
evening. May 18,2013.
After a sold-out daytime performance that preceded the Dalai
Lama’s speech “Resilience: Strength through Compassion and
Community” at the UNO Lakefront Arena, Lhasa Spirits was welcomed
into the more intimate concert room at the Old US Mint.
Beneath the backdrop of the blue, white, red, green and yellow
Tibetan prayer flags--which in the weeks leading up to His Holiness’
visit had become a familiar sight around the city, Techung
laughingly said that, in this setting, he and his band could play
their “silly songs” as opposed to the more laudatory songs that many
in the audience had the privilege of hearing the quartet perform for
His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The eight songs that Lhasa Spirits
played this evening at the Mint ranged in theme from falling in
love, as in “With You and “Tso Mo,” to a critique of capitalism in
“Jangu Dollar Bill.” Techung joked with the non-Tibetan speaking
audience that he could sing whatever lyrics he wanted since no one
would understand. Throughout their performance, all the members of
the band interacted freely with the enthused, talkative audience.
The combination of the band’s stage chemistry, their openness
towards the audience, each member’s delight in playing Techung’s
music and the beauty of said music made for a very enjoyable show
and a very happy audience.
Techung, who has lived in exile from Tibet since he was nine-years
old, now resides in the San Francisco Bay-area, but regardless of
his distance from his homeland and his multilingualism, the folk and
freedom musician says that he will continue to sing primarily in
Tibetan because of the threat that the language and culture face.
This commitment did not, however, keep him from joining Africa Brass
in a transitional song between the two bands’ sets that combined
Techung’s traditional Tibetan music with the African drumming and
New Orleans brass that characterizes Africa Brass. The impromptu,
six-minute live jam session sounded well-rehearsed and the two bands
blended well together.
The seven piece jazz ensemble Africa Brass then took the stage
joined by special guest pianist/vocalist, composer, band leader Matt
Lemmler, and banjo player/drummer Hunter Burgamy.
Dancer Kai Knight whirled in front of the stage--performing the
“dance of seduction” as vocalist Troi Bechet
powerfully sang this Guinean courting song entitled Yankadi.
Knight entranced the audience as she danced throughout the six-song
set highlighting the rhythms tapped out by bandleader and dundun
player Jeff Klein and djembe player Judah Mason.
The cross-continental musical exchange literally moved the audience.
During “Congo Square,” the last song Africa Brass played, an
ethnically diverse group of dancing audience members formed a soul
train line in front of the stage headed by Knight.
Klein says that Africa Brass will be playing a series of shows with
Matt Lemmler's New Orleans Jazz Revival Band at the Mint beginning
in early July. With their moving rhythms, enlivening melodies, and
consistently mind-blowing vocals, this culturally driven ensemble is
not to be missed.