At Taste of African Groove with OluJazz
Tough-looking bouncers with strong muscular hands at the Shell Hall, MUSON Centre in Onikan, Lagos couldn’t stop a jazz-enthusiastic journalist from having a taste of the much-trumpeted homecoming concert with OluJazz as the headliner. The hall had been split into two: the regular and the VIP tables or so we learnt at the foyer. Well, it turned out that another special seating area was carved out of the supposed regular seats for special guests who got the same view as other regular seats occupants. One constant, indisputable truth was the fact that everyone in the hall would listen and see Olujazz in performance.
The show commenced about an hour behind the scheduled time. The wait afforded everyone the luxury of soaking in the transformed Shell Hall, which obviously lack raked chairs. The rectangular arrangement of the VIP tables was well-thought out as there was no obstruction to the view of the regular seat occupants except for those petite female ushers standing like pillars in the music-charged hall.
An ensemble of disco lights formed the backdrop for the stage as the intersections of the beams from the numerous spotlights played some minds games with the audience. Alex Osho, the night’s compere attempted some all-too familiar jokes before introducing the spoken word artist who performed, “Christianity is Boring’’. The poetry was to set a tone for the night, making a case for Christianity as a compelling religion that is grossly misunderstood by many pleasure-seekers. Later on, the comedian called Acapella made up for Osho’s pedestrian jokes. “It is only in Nigeria where NEPA takes light and you go out and check whether it is the same with other houses on your street,” he said, throwing the audience into hearty laughter.
Xtreme band kicked-off the show with its jazz rendition of “I believe I Can Fly’’ and other gospel flavours. Next came the pianist extraordinaire, Wole Oni who performed the National Anthem alongside the impressive green-themed stage lights. The ensuing applause was remarkable, possibly shared by Oni for his orgasmic touch to the anthem on the piano and the technical director for the right judgement in the use of light and colours.
With no score board in sight, the Xtreme band members continued to hold the tempo of the night with its dexterous drummers and back-up singers. The US-based OluJazz arrived on stage with his signature instrumentthe saxophone. If one describes Olujazz as a centre-stage artist, it has nothing to do with his relationship with the stage geography. The young saxophonist sustained the attention of his audience with his flutters and vibrato. He broke down the abstract language of jazz into small digestible pieces, spiced with cultural instrumentations including bata and gangan.
Clearly, Olujazz understands that jazz is far from mainstream music category so he crosspollinated his own interpretation of jazz with the populist gospel. Thus, the concert ended up being like an extended Sunday Church service with his slow-tempo worship songs. His gospel inclinations aroused the curiosity to examine why many contemporary Nigerian jazz musicians play gospel music as opposed to the smooth, swing or orchestral jazz. Majority of jazz artists from Nigeria are groomed by the church, which explains that liturgical element in their cross-over jazz flavours.
Olujazz’s fusion of jazz with African instrumentations transported his music to a series of danceable tracks, electrifying the audience from wall to wall, while whetting their appetite ahead of future concerts.