The Soothsayers@Guildhall Yard,London

While Rach and me were in London for the Groundation gig we heard that The Soothsayers were going to be playing a free out door concert as part of The London Festival Of Music.I had heard of the band before,even seeing their brass section credited on some reggae songs but was not familiar with them playing as a band.So the rain had stopped for a few minutes and we went along to see them play not really knowing what to expect.

A stage had been set up in a very impressive court yard surrounded by equally impressive buildings.Some chairs had been set out for all comers and a few did turn up to see this show.From the first musical notes you could tell that this band are very talented musicians.I would say that they are a mix of Santana,Third World and The Average White Band in their sound.All the band are talented for sure and seemed to really enjoy what they do.The brass section consisting of Robin Hopcraft(trumpet) and Idris Rahman(sax) are truely outstanding.I was not familiar with any of the songs that they performed,Some had a reggae drum and bass line,while others were more Funky style,but all of them got my foot tapping and received appreciative aplause from the crowd.I have since found out a little more about the band,the last album they released was almost two years ago called `Tangled Roots`.The album features an array of vocalists including `Adesose Wallace`,Faithless star `Maxi Jazz`,Zimbabwean Soul singer `Netsayi Chigwendere,Nigerian star `Keziah Jones`,Kora player `Mosi Kondi` and reggae singer `Rikki Rankin`.So it truly is world music.They have recently been in the studio with the likes of `Johnny Clarke`,Linval Thompson` and `Michael Prophet` so i`m very much looking forward to checking out these new tracks when they are released.I`m told that they are at this time mixing the new album which is due for release in about six months.It will be deffinatley one to look out for and review.Watch out for this band and go and see them if you get the chance, I`m so glad that we did.....

Review by `Idread`.

>> Back To Live Events Reviews

>> Back To Reviews Home