Neuneneu - A Musical Journey To The Heart Of The Amazon, St George's, Bristol <!-- none onestar twostar threestar fourstar -->

The term "world music" was invented for nights like this. Aside from Ravi's virtuoso kora playing and Marlui Miranda's passionate interpretation of Brazilian Indian music, this UK tour is to showcase the spirit dance and chanting of the Amazonian Mehinaku tribe, five of whom are here tonight, performing in the the UK for the first time.

Credit must go to the co-ordinator Miranda - who is dressed like an oversized ladybird, strumming on a guitar and emitting otherworldly noises at regular intervals - and Ravi for the show working so well. Their own kind of ethno-fusion brings light relief between the powerful trance-inducing shamanistic displays of the strikingly attired (black trousers, plumed headgear, body art) rainforest people.

To the left of the stage sit the Mehinaku Indians, the elder statesman and, it seems, father of the other four tribesmen, sitting furthest away. To the right are Miranda, Ravi (with a West African kora and an electric version), and the double bassist Martin Brunsden.

Divided into two sets, the show starts with the Yaupe Dance, originating from the Mehinaku Indians of Mato Grosso, and performed as a healing ceremony, which seems to involve the deification of birds and a celebration of their magical powers. "Watanate" is played on panpipes, with each member seemingly picking one note in a slightly discordant fashion.

"Tchori Tchori" and "Nham gam" feature Miranda on vocals, accompanied by tinkling kora and sonorous double bass. While Miranda sings she has the disconcerting look of a female Roy Wood (it could be the face paint), while Ravi is equally bizarrely adorned.

After the interval, two of the tribesmen hold what look like double-barrelled bamboo flutes (called "watana"), which they lift up and down as they circle one another. The flutes are cut at different lengths, giving two distinct pitches. This leads into perhaps the most powerful sequence of the night, the Kayapa Dance - a shamanistic ceremony in which the patient is healed by chanting, stamping and circular dancing. The night ends with all eight performers doing the Yaupe Dance again, this time dedicated to the preservation of the Xingu river, and greeted with rapturous applause.