Welcome to My Living Room But No Interview For You

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ALBANY – The Touré-Raichel Collective, a quartet of musicians from Mali and Israel, rolled into The Egg at the Empire State Plaza in Albany on Saturday, November 22nd. They played for 90 minutes, almost non-stop and with one encore.

The Collective is made up of Israel native Idan Raichel on piano and keyboard, Malian native Vieux Farka Toure on guitar, Souleymane Kane on a percussion instrument that looked like an upside down turtle shell and Yogev Glusman on bass and electric guitar.

Raichel was the main showman, speaking the best English of those on stage, telling stories and getting the crowd to sing along with Ki L’Alom Chasdo. When Raichel, dressed in a head turban, wished the Saturday night audience a good evening, he said it was really good morning for him because he was jet lagged. This gave me the instant notion that he is not an observant Jew since he was travelling in an airplane on Shabbos.

The 450-seat Swyer Theatre was three-quarters full with 300 enthusiastic audience members. Raichel said the cozy theatre was like he was jamming in his living room. “Welcome to my living room,” he said, one audience member tried to connect with him by screaming out lines attempting to make conversation.

The performance was enjoyed by the few random audience members I chatted with after the show. The performers were engaging and the music was at a quick foot-tapping pace.

When I approached Raichel after his performance, asking for a quick interview, he called over his manager who said the process for requesting an interview starts with the public relations firm and trickles down four more levels to him. The way his entourage protected him, you would think Raichel was Billy Joel, Neil Diamond or the late great Lithuanian-born violinist Jascha Heifetz.

Some performers clearly think more of themselves than others do. They should check their ego at the door.

Photos courtesy of Andrzej “Andre” Pilarczyk