Musical love takes many forms

Music has been called the universal language, capable of bringing together people of many different countries, cultures and genres. West African percussionist Aiyb Dieng also considers it an expression of love uniting performers with each other - and with their listeners.

Dieng, a native of Senegal, has worked with a wide range of musicians, including  Mick Jagger, Yoko Ono, Bill Laswell, Bob Marley and Herbie Hancock. The list also includes Karl Berger, who founded Woodstock NY's eclectic, avant garde-tinged Creative Music Studio in 1972 with his wife, singer Ingrid Sertso, and encouragement from Ornette Coleman.

Aiyb Dieng

Dieng shared his music in three different formats on Friday, February 15, at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in downtown Fort Myers FL. His huge arsenal of drums and other hand percussion instruments, surrounding him on racks and tables. were at the heart of it all, even when he had some help from two different groups of musical friends.

Clint Robinson

The program began with four or five solo percussion numbers, as Dieng improvised moods and exotic melodies on his drums, shakers, other noisemakers and a musical bow.

The evening took the first of two sharp turns when he brought three other players to the stage for a healthy dose of Jamaican music, a tip of the hat perhaps to his association with Marley. It started, quite appropriately, with Marley's "One Love," included a reggae version of "If I Were a Carpenter" and closed with Marley's "Rasta Man Chant" - its poignant "Fly Away Home to Zion" lyrics delivered by singer Clint Robinson and keyboardist-singer Dave Walker.

Amina Claudine Myers

Rachella Parks-Washington

The second set was nothing like the first, as Dieng went into "free jazz" mode with some creative music notables: Hammond B-3 organist Amina Claudine Myers, tenor saxophonist Rachella Parks-Washington, violinist Charles Burnham, electric bassist Ted Myerson and drummer Pheeroan akLaff. 

Charles Burnham

Pheeroan akLaff

Together, they roared through a half-dozen extended pieces, each taking solos but also blending their individual sounds into the thick musical conversation. Dieng shifted from one drum, gong or shaker to another before returning to his congas and bata drum. No vocals, no song introductions. Just sharing their instrumental harmony.

That feeling floated out into the audience, which seemed spellbound by the moment and answered that message of love with an enthusiastic ovation. 

Parks-Washington, Burnham, Myerson, akLaff, Dieng, Myers