Gripping and emotional efficiency ends competition

Music / CIMF, Live performance 20: “Finale”, Kirrah Amosa, Aron Ottignon and Lisa Oduor-Noah. At Fitters’ Workshop, Might 7. Reviewed by FELIX HUBER. 

PERFORMANCES from singer-songwriters each native and worldwide have been a heart-warming and provoking conclusion to a superb sequence of concert events from the Canberra Worldwide Music Pageant, if somewhat unsuited.

Opening the efficiency was native artist Kirrah Amosa, who sang a brief, candy set of songs together with Samoan classics “Samoa Matalasi” and “Sosefina”, in addition to her personal authentic, “Island Approach”, over which she sang the refrain of Invoice Withers’ “Lean on Me”. 

Entertaining between songs, she informed tales of motherhood and interesting with the Samoan language of her heritage via her music.

Within the lead as much as the second act, NZ-born jazz pianist Aron Ottignon carried out two items solo. His enjoying was typically virtually classical, with improvised melodies sounding like one thing Mozart might have written. This made it all of the extra thrilling when he tore into sprawling blues licks or twisting strains extra typical of the jazz vocabulary.

Ottignon was then joined by Kenyan singer-songwriter Lisa Oduor-Noah who lower straight to the chase, requesting the complete participation of the viewers. 

For her first track, “No Approach”, we have been requested to hitch in with one, two and three-fingered claps to mimic rain. Embarrassingly for an viewers containing many prolific members of Canberra’s music neighborhood, she overestimated our capacity to clap alongside in advanced meter and the rhythms she gave us have been pulled slowly away from what was supposed to suit a extra conventional grid.

Oduor-Noah’s songs integrated quite a lot of kinds, morphing between the wealthy chords and acrobatic vocals of soul to extra poppy, upbeat sounds that wouldn’t be misplaced in musical theatre. 

Ottignon stuffed within the areas with musical portraits; lyrics about birds from Oduor-Noah impressed a flutter of keys from his adept palms. 

The preparations have been spare with solely the pair of them enjoying, however this proved a power because it supplied a a lot clearer window into the soul of this extraordinary lady via the barebones equipment of her track writing. 

She was in tears as she launched her track “The Oasis on Mbaazi Road”, which she defined was concerning the house she grew up in and was performing stay for the primary time.

The choice to complete a live performance sequence whose performers and viewership have hailed primarily from the classical world with a set of singer-songwriter performances appeared to come back somewhat out of left subject.

This confirmed through the efficiency as, upsettingly, the participation from the viewers leant in the direction of lukewarm and Oduor-Noah’s songs suffered somewhat because of this. 

Oduor-Noah and Ottignon nonetheless managed to ship a gripping and emotional efficiency regardless of this.