A bunch of family and friends went out last night to St. Edwards State Park in Kenmore to hear Issa Bagayogo play at the Kenmore Summer Concert Series. Issa, a Malian kora player who uses techno elements in his music, and his band were great, and it was a lovely summer evening to be outside in beautiful surroundings with folks.
Issa will be playing live in the KEXP radio studio today at noon Pacific (90.3 FM in Seattle).
There are still two more concerts in this free series, Thursdays from 6:30 – 8:00 pm. Next week (28 July) is Fiamma Fumana, a group from the Emillian region of Northern Italy that mixes regional folk music with pop and techno elements. We heard them at the Vancouver Folk Fest last year and liked them a lot.
The following week is Janiva Magness (4 August), a young blues artist I don’t know anything about, but hey – it’s free, it’s outside, and it’s close by – what more could you ask for?
Oren Sreebny 