Abuja AfroJazz Festival: A Delightful Mix of Jazz, Alternative & Electro Music

The Abuja AfroJazz Festival is not strictly a full-on Jazzy affair, rather a delightful mix of AfroJazz, alternative and electro music.

The evening started on an energetic note with A’sian’s performance; a high-spirited set was made more interactive by her bilingual songs rendered in her local Akwa-Ibom dialect interspersed with English language, and enhanced by her perfectly timed traditional Akwa-Ibom dance movements that had the audience slow-twisting in tune to the rhythmic beat. This was AfroJazz with a traditional twist.

Sustaining the tempo set by A’sian, is the first act of Tosin Salako’s three-song set, ‘Kosi Miyo Damile’ (Simioko) a typical AfroJazz that got the audience all pumped up. It also saw Abuja’s Mike Wonder – display an impressive guitar riff-off mid the performance, much to the audience’s delight. This wasn’t a Jimi Hendrix standard aggressive riff-off, rather a softly- tempered riff that played off Wonder’s strength.

Salako took the improvisation a notch higher with the next act, a scat singing – where he strings lyrics of nonsensical ‘catty’ sounds – to which the audience responded “Owe wayeeo wayeeo wawoo” in chorus.

Ekundayo Dbass brought a different sort of energy, a shade muted than Salako’s. His songs ‘Abule’, ‘Mofere’ and ‘Mugoshe Ga Meyakwura’ have memorable choruses the audience sang along to.

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Jessica Bongos and Abdulkass launched the ‘chillax’ section of the evening. Both had the best interactive acts of the night, not for their ‘call and response’ nature (they are not), rather for two reasons: Bongos for the little intros she did for each of her songs, and Abdulkass for the nostalgic influence of his songs. Thus, when Bongos launched into ‘Little Things’ – which as she had first explained is a song written about healthy love, or ‘Hide and Seek’ – written to address the dwindling number of good men, or ‘Mr Macho Man’ – about a toxic and immature guy, the lyrics makes a lot more sense. Dbass ‘Ahan Ye Yaro’ – heralds feelings of nostalgia for the millennial audience, while his second soothing fluty piece, with a guitar and piano accompaniment gives a calypso-ic vibes.

At this point, the festival’s headliner, Audun Aschim takes to the stage. Either for the lateness of the hour or the unfamiliarity of the music, a midsection of the audience had left. Those seated, however, seemed curious about Aschim’s music. To it, the Norwegian musician, with a heavy metal, big band and theatrical music background, is an unfamiliar novelty. One it is inclined to listen to, absorb rather than dance to, and applaud. Generally, Aschim’s music is emotions interpreted into sounds, or a collation of individual sounds evoking moods or atmospheres. Hence, his highlight piece –an Arabian-like instrumental, reminiscent of a fascinating mystery.

Aschim was then succeeded by Salako who ends the night with a string of high thumping songs. As indicated earlier, though it is not a strictly Jazz event, the mix of performances made for an enjoyable evening for the audience; one that guides them through a set of emotions, with something jazzy, alternative, traditional, modern, energetic and relaxing for its varied and eclectic audience.

For a local event going international at its second edition, that is not a bad start. Founded in 2023, by Tosin Salako, Abuja AfroJazz Festival is dedicated to the promotion of African music heavily influenced by Jazz.