Not quite knowing what to expect, I arrived just minutes before the concert started and found the hall almost completely full as the audience patiently waited for Youssoupha Sidibe, from West Africa, to play in Capistrano’s music recital hall Saturday evening.

Sidibe walked out with a long instrument called the kora. He said the kora is an African harp that was often played in the villages of Senegal, where he is from.

He began with a upbeat tempo, something resembling the sound of Bob Marley, and would play the kora by itself for the first five minutes of a song then begin singing in his native language, Niger-Congo.

Erina Saito, junior music major, felt like she was taken to some other place during the concert.

“It touched my heart. I didn’t feel anything but his music,” she said. “I’ve never felt that way before with any other music.”

The first few songs played were extremely relaxing and meditative. Looking around I saw a few audience members with their eyes closed in prayer; some even had fallen asleep to the soothing music. I even felt the urge to nod off during his spiritual performance.

Sometimes in between songs he would stop and talk, reflecting on current issues going on in the world or about his life back home in West Africa.

Toward the end of his performance he sang his one and only song in English titled, “Music is my life.”

“My music is all about freeing yourself, ” he said. “About all of us being together as one.”

Clearly a spiritual man, he then gave a quick speech about being the richest man in the world. Rich in the sense that all of the worlds’ resources come from Africa, calling it “mama Africa,” giving him all the satisfaction he needs.

I was surprised to find a number of older people in the audience, what looked like a retired couple even sat in the front row with eager, excited eyes.

He played for two hours, paused for only a few moments in between songs that lasted almost 10 minutes each. I found myself wondering where he got all his energy from considering how heavy the kora looked.

By the last few songs, the audience was standing, dancing and singing along with Sidibe as he effortlessly plucked the strings on the kora with his eyes closed as if the songs had been tattooed on his heart.

After the performance, Sidibe said that he is a self-promoter.

“I have a booking agent, but other than that, I do it all on my own, you have to in this business,” he said. “Music is my life, and this is my craft.”

The self-promoter that he is, that is how Andrea Rosa, attorney, heard about him.

“I saw him in The Sacramento Bee and checked out his myspace page and said I have to come,” she said. “This was exactly what I needed, it was good to relax and leave my work behind.”

All in all a chilled-out, spiritual evening full of surprises, just the way Sidibe wanted it. Amber Wertman can be reached at [email protected]