AFRICAN MUSICIANS FORGE DIVERSE SOUND
Tradition connects the members of Okavango
Thanks to a Toronto promoter, nine musicians from seven African countries have come together to form the Okavango African Orchestra.
“Nadine (McNulty, of Batuki Music Society) said, ‘I can see the potential of you guys, I know you’re good musicians,’ ” said percussionist Kofi Ackah. “‘Why don’t I help you get together a universal kind of a thing with different countries in Africa represented and try to do this project and see if it’s going to work?’ ”
“When she told me that, I was like, ‘Yeah. That’s a really good idea, and I know it’s going to work.’”
Okavango African Orchestra is one of several acts performing at Ahfomad’17, a celebration of African music, dance and culture.
Marocouleurs, from Morocco, play the Imperial on Friday, opening night. The band’s tranceinducing gnawa music draws on North African spiritual songs and rhythms. Vancouver’s Stephanie Pedraza Flamenco Trio opens.
On Sunday night, Jamaican-Canadian musician Exco Levi brings a modern twist to reggae to the Red Room. Also on Sunday, the wild 14-piece Cuban band Charanga Habanera plays the Commodore Ballroom.
The festival includes a full day of free events Saturday at the City of Surrey Civic Plaza. The day features a number of local artists.
Okavango, which headlines its own show at the Imperial on Saturday, is named after the Okavango Delta, a basin in the Kalahari Desert in Botswana. The Toronto-based musicians hail from Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Somalia, Ghana, Senegal and Burundi and play traditional music and instruments from their respective cultures.
Members of the band speak different languages, but they find a way to communicate.
“Some of us in the group are French-speaking, and some are English,” Ackah said. “The guy from Senegal (Sadio Sissokho) is more French. So communicating with him, I have to talk to the guy from Madagascar (Donne Roberts). ‘Hey, Donne, can you tell Sadio I want to change something in the arrangement?’ But most of us speak English.”
Bringing Canadian musicians from different African countries together was previously attempted in 2004 with the African Guitar Summit. But that project focused on guitar players, whereas Okavango African Orchestra includes songwriters who play traditional instruments, like the kora (a plucked-string instrument from Western Africa) and the oud (another string instrument, used in North Africa).
The project has succeeded beyond their initial hopes. Following a concert, Okavango made a video and then a full-length record. Earlier this year, that self-titled debut won a Juno for world music album of the year.
“I remember when we were sitting at the Junos, she (McNulty) was so emotional,” Ackah said. “She was crying. And I looked at her and said, ‘Nadine, see, you told me about it, and I said it was going to work and it worked. Now we’re together, bringing our culture to the Canadian people.’ ”
Ackah, who has worked with Vancouver musician Alpha Yaya Diallo and played here with the African Guitar Summit, is looking forward to coming back to the city with the rest of the Okavango African Orchestra.
“I know the vibe in Vancouver,” he said.
“So I’m happy and I’m ready to come.”