A novelty is often regarded with cautious optimism. It was the same for some during the opening night for the first instalment of the New Horizons Concert Series on February 22 at the Muson Centre in Lagos.
Tagged ‘Jazz and African Connections’, it was indeed a good way to begin the series conceived by artistic director of the centre, Tunde Jegede, and still to hold three more shows. Jegede, a Kora maestro, featured alongside acts like Venus Bushfires, Age Beeka, Cef, Imoleayo Balogun and Dike Chukwumerije.
For the uninitiated, the caution from a large number of the audience perhaps stemmed from the fact that the night got off to a not so very charged start when the Etuk Ubong Quartet opened with their own compositions. That is not to say that they did not make a good impression on the guests. Jazz lovers gloried in their performance, nodding to the beats, applauding whenever there was a lull and even humming along. Not very much for the first time guests who tagged along to check out the experiment.
It was for this reason that the New Horizons Jazz series threw the doors to the Muson Centre open to all and sundry with these series of performances and the intent to marry jazz with spoken word poetry and contemporary music.
Kitoyi Ibare-Akinsan, an architect who is the Chair, Artistes and Programmes Committee of the Muson Centre, during his introductory remarks at the beginning of the show, warned that things were not going to be the usual classical concert business the regulars had come to know. The classical music world has after all been steadily getting involved in a relationship with contemporary music. Citing the recent appointment of Susanna Malkki, a specialist in contemporary music, as the new chief conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, he said the concert for the evening would not be a typical one. He was right.
Things charged up when Jegede, Bushfires, Beeka, Balogun and Cef mounted the stage, particularly whenever Jegede strummed the kora strings. Like the master of ceremonies (MC) for the night, Wale Ojo stated, the kora is the instrument of royalty. For that night, only royal sounds issued from it. Indeed, all ears in the Agip Recital Hall were royal that night, including the first-timers who now shed their caution.
By the time the concert reached the 10-minute intermission, no one needed to tell any of the guests that it had indeed been a successful outing. They could hear Beeka’s voice, which had been rather quiet for a time, singing ‘Breaking Barriers’ and ‘Always in Love’. They could also hear Bushfires’ hang and voice do ‘Last Winter’s Sparrow’ and Cef’s ‘Angeli’, ‘Moving on’ and ‘Power’.
It was a powerful performance that got even more oomph as the night wore on and Ubong returned with the other musicians in the Etuk Ubong group to begin the second part. It is this second performance that many would remember them for, especially their rendition of Herbie Hancock’s ‘Cantaloupe Island’. They would also fondly look back on Tombratade Robert’s mystic with the drums.
Also to be remembered and pondered upon is Chukwumerije’s spoken word performance, particularly the poem that asked ‘So, Where is Jos?’ But it was the Art Ensemble of Lagos with Jegede, Ubong, Cef, Roberts and a host of others that took the concert home. They performed three of Jegede’s compositions titled, ‘How Many Prophets’, ‘Behold’ and ‘Jairaby’ so powerfully that, had it not been late into the Lagos night, there is no doubt the guest would have asked for an encore.
