Last night's BBC Prom was a celebration – of 40 years since the release of Paul Simon’s triumphant album Graceland in August 1986. Before long, the celebration had morphed into a dance-along, with the fully populated arena of the Royal Albert Hall bobbing and swaying, spurred into movement by the stylish choreography of Ladysmith Black Mambazo. And by the time we got to the final number in the programme, “You Can Call Me Al”, the dance-along had blossomed further into a joyous sing-along.
Like all good celebrations, the reasons why or how it’s actually happening can get lost in the moment, the mood, the ineluctable tide. I was told an amusing story by friends at the concert. They’d spotted a couple of teenagers up in the Grand Tier putting on their most resolute refusenik pouts, making a determined attempt *not* to enjoy the show, as in “we don’t want to be here, we’re really not enjoying this”. But for the rest of us, in our thousands and of all ages, resistance to this music that, as Hermione Hoby has written, “requires you to dance, and to dance like a child”, was utterly futile.
I want there to be a musical hero of the evening, and I need that hero to be drummer Rod Youngs. He is a musician who always makes every hit, every thwack of the drums have meaning, intent and joy, but last night, propelling the band from the back, truly was his finest hour. He was part of the Nu Civilisation Orchestra directed by Peter Edwards, and although the live sound from where I was sitting got a bit muddy at times, there were exciting things happening musically all the way through. The brass were blazing and tight (Becca Toft and Joseph Oti on trumpets and Rosie Turton and Hanna Mbuya on trombones), and the first-time inclusion in this orchestra of Josh Middleton on accordion and tin whistle added some fascinating and unexpected timbres.
The vocal soloists had a great night. Laura Mvula (pictured above by Andy Paradise) shone, particularly as she flew free in an emotional capella version of “Homeless”. James Bay’s channeling of Paul Simon will have expanded his fan base last night, and everyone was charmed by Flyte (Will Taylor & Nick Hill).
The 40-year theme, and hearing Ladysmith Black Mambazo sing “The Long Walk to Freedom” dedicated to Mandela set me thinking: in 1986 there were still four years to go before Madiba would be released from prison. Who knows what Ladysmith Black Mambazo have endured during the last 40 years; surely very few of last night’s crew can have been around in the 1980s; why is it that we only ever get to see or hear such an infinitesimally small part of the glories of South African vocal music?
But such thoughts are for another time and another place. This Prom was party-time. Big-time.
