By Anote Ajeluorou
AFTER his 30 years
on stage celebratory concert in August, Orits Williki missed a chance to return
to the big stage again when he pulled out of the monthly Afropolitian Vibes’
show at Freedom Park last Friday. Of course, this threw some spanner in the
works for the Ade Bantu-led 12-piece band’s monthly gig. But the
Nigerian-German quickly rallied and Jimi Solanke stepped in. Not just a few
were disappointed as many had come expecting the old reggae warhorse on stage
to relive his 1980s and 1990s golden voice.
And so, when Uncle Jimi, all the way from
Ile-Ife, stepped in with his folkloric, deep-throated, Afrocentric lyrics
rendered in his usual storytelling style, nobody seemed to remember Orits or
reggae again and the odd mix of audience fell under the spell of Jimi Solanke’s
tales and flowed along with him. But this was after Ade Bantu, Bankole and
Wunmi had had their equally scintillating opening performances.
As usual Ade Bantu and his 12-man band were
first, and through their fusion of various Afro-mixes, the audience trickled in
from the Food Court, where they first touched down to eat and have a bottle of
beer or two. They always needed to be in the mood – Lagosians, Asians,
Europeans and what-not – savouring the gourmet and drinks. Having been a bit
sated, they then headed to the stage while still clutching bottles or cans of
beer or simply head straight to Ade Bantu’s palmwine stand for calabash or
plastic cups. But on this night it was clear the palmwine had been spiked with
too much saccharine, way beyond the limit, as it tasted wild and all sugary and
little palmwiny. It just wasn’t the way to make big sales; Bantu should have
tasked his Badagry tappers to produce more wine rather than saturate it with
saccharine. Palmwine connoisseurs will not touch that thing served with a long
cup! Fortunately, the Lagos crowd doesn’t seem or care to know better either
how glorious palmwine tastes, and they drowned their weekend sorrows and stress
on the milky liquid with gusto, anyway. Which is just as well for the only show
that gives so much for a city that is starved of it.
Several medleys from the band culminated in a
piece for the return of abducted Chibok schoolgirls. It was a prayer, a
request, an appeal that the girls be brought back home. As usual, it resonated
with the crowd. Bankole, a saxophonist, was pushed forward, and he held his own
strongly, as he blasted out several tunes. Bankole showed he’s got it in his masterly
fusion of his Yoruba and other sounds to create a unique, saxophonic blend and
backed by the band.
When Ade introduced Wunmi, not many knew who
she was. She wasn’t the sassy Omawunmu on the music scene that everybody knows.
When she appeared with her weird, matted hair that towered horn-like into the
night skyline, with her equally raffia-like, multi-layered costume, and lithe
dance steps that emphasized her suppleness and nimble feet, the audience first
held its breath and then went wild with excitement. Wunmi is a bundle of music
and dance. Although she lives in New York, there is nothing of the absurd
Yankee in her; she is total Nigerian, Yoruba package in a refreshing way. Even
her rhythm and beat essentially emphasize her African roots. Local artistes who
strive to be Yankees will do well to emulate Wunmi, who has retained her
essential African musical roots and pride.
What sets Wunmi apart is her nimble,
energetic dance, as she struts the entire stage in near-acrobatic performance
fashion. Spritely and lithely, Wunmi’s feline grace as a dancer is unmatchable,
and she wowed her audience at Freedom Park. Whatever expectation the audience
had of this unknown quantum, Wunmi surpassed it and gave some more. She is
distinctively unique, yet she echoes Fela while she still remaining herself and
in her own world. She did a piece on Africa’s peculiar predicament, as a
continent still struggling to find its feet where others have run far ahead.
Wunmi has a new album she calls ‘Body Fit’, which stresses her amazing love for
dance, as indeed, she is fit as a fiddle. Even backstage after her breathless performance,
Wunmi will not stop dancing when iMike came on.
Jimi Solanke came on after Wunmi, and
introduced another kind of African rhythm of the slow grace. Well over 70,
Solanke looked far younger as a performer as he also nimbly controlled the
stage in his body-twisting, rhythmic dances waving his way around. He had the
audience as choir, as it sang along his popular, folkloric, storytelling tunes.
Apparently, Solanke’s performance was the
high point of the night, and perhaps should have been reserved for last. But
no; when 2009 Project Fame winner, iMike came on, it wasn’t exactly
anti-climatic because he was ingenuous enough to start off on a Bob Marley love
note that got the mostly youthful audience singing along. iMike managed to hold
his own to the end, but it was a shade or two lower in rank than Wunmi and
Solanke’s performances.
By the time Ade Bantu took over from iMike,
it was close to 11pm, and the show had begun to wind down after another Friday outing
of Afropolitan Vibes at Freedom Park. At which the addicted audience could only
look forward to the December 19 show while sipping from the tepid,
saccharine-laced palmwine on offer. But this was also after Ade Bantu had, as
usual, passed round his offering-taking, beaded calabash, pastor-like, for the
sustenance of his monthly show.
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