Toumani Diabaté + Sidiki Diabaté @ St George's Hall, Liverpool, 27 May

As one of the most famous griot clans from Mali, the Diabaté family have been bringing West African folk music and the kora to a wider audience for decades. Merely hearing a kora played by a Diabaté is a treat in itself. Those at St George’s Hall tonight, however, witnessed a true passing-of-the-torch moment from father to son, and the direct comparison between Toumani and Sidiki made the performance all the more mesmerising.

Much of tonight’s audience would have been drawn to this event by Toumani’s name, but from the outset it is clear that Sidiki would play the frontman. Opening the proceedings with a solo piece, Sidiki’s limitless energy and inventiveness is on show throughout; Toumani prefers lilting calm. It’s a testament to two confident performers that they are able to express their own personalities through their interplay. (It’s a mode Sidiki is used to, given that he’s perhaps better known for his work with Malian rapper Iba One.)

While Toumani plays with an air of statesman-like cool, Sidiki’s approach to the kora has more than an element of swagger: he attacks the strings with rhythmic stabs, makes virtuosic flurries and provides a certain sense of joyous urgency to the occasion. With Toumani and Sidiki clearly glowing off each other’s presence, it’s all the more affecting.

The tradition of kora music has been held in more than capable hands for around three centuries with the Diabatés, but what’s on display this evening is perhaps the first Diabaté to embrace a truly global culture and, with it, inform his practice of Malian folk. Toumani is already a star of world music; his son has the potential, perhaps, to be celebrated on an even bigger stage. [Jon Davies]