You would think that Lagos would have become jazz central par excellence by now, being a city whose very soul personifies the boundless freedom of the musical form, that expresses the wild and often crazily beautiful and just crazily crazy, abstractions and juxtapositions of contemporary life so succinctly. But we start where we can and typically Nigerian, we catch up very quickly once we do.
The Lagos Jazz Series that debuted last week had that feeling of being where it ought to be, of having instantly achieved the right fit. Part of it of course was setting. Until you have lived in cold climes you cannot truly appreciate the beauty of warm, welcoming balmy nights. When you have to battle with infrastructure till you yearn for a state of grace, you learn to appreciate artistry that has been honed on dedication and practice to a state of effortlessness.
That was the signature of Somi, the sinuous and sultry singer in voice and appearance of Ugandan and Rwandan parentage. Her phrasing was reminiscent of Miriam Makeba, Cassandra Wilson, Sibongile Khumalo and Sade, but she was also very strongly her individual self. Her lyrics had the clear stamp of someone who was telling her own story and in an unmistakably African genre. Somi has a well-modulated voice and can make it do exactly what she wants: a sign of control and maturity and a promise of greater things to come in one still so young.
Somi opened the evening on Saturday, November 6, singing against the night sky of the Federal Palace Hotel back garden with the nights of Lagos twinkling in the background. She was backed by her four-piece band and followed by Aremu in full throttle with the Vision Band.
You could hear the strong gospel strains in Aremu’s sax as he treated the crowd to full bore Fuji style Nigerian “jazz”, toasting members of the audience and teasing them out of their seats to offer a spot-lit rendition of how low they could go, partying down Naija style. It was loud and it was dramatic, nuance was thrown to the wind: showmanship beat out style.
Is that Nigerian jazz? It had a sense of highlife and dance rhythms interspersed with talking drums, a trio of backing horns rounded up with a chorus of three women and one man all in good voice on that night and well capable of holding an audience on their own even though theirs was to provide a canvas for their maestro.
The night was anchored by the jazz group from New York led by Morrie Louden on acoustic bass, who thrilled the crowd with their energy, artistry and versatility. Louden was accompanied by Mike Eckroth on piano and keyboards with two other players on drums and box, and sax. This was a tight disciplined group of artisans married to their sound, which had a wholesome many-cultured appeal to it, anchored by an almost primal force. Louden’s quartet had the audience oohing and gasping with their virtuoso solos on the Friday opening round midnight at Moorhouse Hotel’s restaurant in Ikoyi. The rain gods had shaken their heads, forcing the venue to move from poolside. So it was a close intimate atmosphere that surrounded the sound and drew South African guitarist Jimmy Dludlu to a hair raising pearl of a jam session where the sounds just melded together seamlessly.
And so let it be that in the jazz series to come artistry that has been honed on dedication and practice to a state of effortlessness will be the signal element.
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