juju (nigeria)

back to africa for another of songlines magazine's 50 rhythms of the world
although it's origins are disputed, the term juju music was first used in the 20's
to describe the dreamy, hypnotic rhythms emerging from the yoruba neighbourhoods of lagos
with the arrival of amplification after world war 2 it took off as the capital's premier urban dance style
the music then undertook another dramatic development in the 60's with the dense, tight grooves
and multiple guitars of bands led by ebenezer obey and king sunny ade
back to nigeria having already visited afro-beat courtesy of fela kuti
there are some obvious similarities between these 2 performers
apart from their origins they both seem to favour large bands
with the compulsory female backing singers come dancers
both like to get the audience involved
but my first impressions of king sunny ade who's name is familiar
is that his music is far less politically charged than fela's
he seems to smile and laugh a lot more too
not sure where or when the selected video was recorded
but judging from the huge number of africans in attendance
i suspect it was from a concert or festival in his home country
the audience does generally seem to be quite uninspired
i don't think that is because of the music
get the impression this is a result of hardship
that life in general in nigeria is not to be celebrated
anyway digressing from the music and the man
there is a real nice groove to this tune
reminds me of various african artists seen at womadelaide
nothing quite beats the mastery they have of their music
making it seem very easy to produce the highly infectious beats
reminding me now of an interview i saw once of miles davis
basically saying he may be black but he's not african
meaning he can't generate the rhythm like they do
so what chance any other non-african musician?
(19 of 50)