Audio By Carbonatix
Last year at South by Southwest, I happened to catch Malian singer Khaira Arby at NPR’s day show, as I was waiting to see Tune-yards and Wild Flag. I don’t remember anything about their sets, because Arby knocked the wind out of me. Her voice, in the tradition of praise singing, was bell-clear and emotive, even when switching between several different languages, and her backing band swirled around in waves of rhythmic, psychedelic soul. Still touring behind 2010’s Timbuktu Tarab, Arby settles into the Kessler, the perfect venue in which to channel a higher power. Yells At Eels open, and the Gonzalez family’s free jazz push adds another layer to this intricate night of musical exploration.
