Cheikh Lo, the Senegalese singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is known for fiery, percussion-driven performances. Whether at big festivals like Womad or in small, sweaty clubs, he's always good value. However, his current album, Lamp Fall, has a more mellow, devotional agenda. The current tour is dominated by this material, which doesn't quite deliver the non-stop dance party promised by Bath Festival's Worldbeat Ball.
Yet Lo is a commanding figure. Regally dreadlocked and dressed in the patchwork threads of the Baye Fall brotherhood, he opens the set with the gentle Sante Maame before launching into the slightly more upbeat Xale. Lo adds rattling timbales to the song's choppy triple time, while star percussionist Samba N'Dokh drives the complex rhythm by simultaneously playing three congas and adding tama (talking drum) for colour.
So far, so polyrhythmic, but in the space cleared in front of the tables, potential dancers tended to jiggle and listen. Lo's ensemble sound is a patchwork of figures and riffs that jigsaw together - a bit like reggae - to make a supple whole. The weakest element, happily absent on his records, is a nasty string synthesizer sound that occasionally fizzes up in the background. For several numbers the band is beefed up by one-time James Brown saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis (who also plays on Lamp Fall), now a local resident.
The outstanding number is Sante Yalla, with its loping, Cuban-style groove, and a long, articulate guitar solo from Lo himself. Lo constructs his solo as if he were telling a story, with the narrative rise, fall and pauses of human conversation - his performance feels like a wonderful gift to the crowd.
But the "ball" part of the evening doesn't quite happen until the encore, when the band let rip with some infectious high life featuring incandescent guitar solo from Jobarteh, plus trenchant riffing from Ellis and alto saxophonist Thierno. As Lo's rich, passionate vocals soar above his vigorously propulsive band, Bath's dancers finally get their chance to shake a tail feather.
