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The music of Meta Dia & The Cornerstoners was new to me, as reggae expert. The band performed in our country twice in the last couple of years. Their surprising performance in De Casino, located in Sint-Niklaas, turned out to be a discovery of a true gem in the reggae scene.
Last Friday De Casino had the band Ma Shi Faï play, followed by Meta Dia & The Cornerstones. As a way of preparation I listened to a couple of songs of Meta Dia & The Cornerstones via their Youtube channel. My expectations were high for this band. The multicultural band with roots in Israel, Senegal, Jamaica, Japan and Texas creates a roots sound true to reggae. But with different solos and sounds coming from other musical worlds.
Ma Shi Faï, known for their strong live reputation and mystic roots rock reggae, again delivered a sound performance.
The concert's after party was kicked off with a roots and dub selection by the Arab Brothers Sound System, better known as the Ketami brothers.
Meta Dia, who emigrated to New York in 2002, has an atypical character. He has succeeded into adapting to the American life style and has managed to surround himself with a good team musically.
His slender physique impresses the crowd. In front there are a bunch of unconditional fans, mostly Senegalese, rocking to the music. Meta has a jovial way with the crowd, which is why it only takes a few songs before the crowd is with him on his musical journey.
The Cornerstones' two hour show entertains the crowd including songs as "Cornerstone", "My Beloved Africa", "Rooftop", "Price of Everything" or "Without Heart" and other parts from their albums: "Ancient Power" and "Forward Music".
For its rhythm section Meta chose a drummer and a Jamaican bass player who guarantee a strong musical basis. The melodies are then taken care of by an Israeli rock guitarist, a classic trained Japanese keyboardist and a Texan guitarist. All of these nationalities and talents create a unique and magical sound! The varied breaks and mixes are well worked out and make for a surprising result. Class!
The English repertoire of Meta & The Cornerstones is filled with some lyrics in Wolof, Meta's spoken language. Together with Meta the band is full of positivity. Antagonism is not in his dictionary. In short, "Peace, Love & Harmony".
We also want to thank the organisers of the concert hall "De Casino" in Sint-Niklaas for letting us discover "Meta & The Cornerstones", a band we will probably find in the festival circuit next year.