New Africa Shrine, Revisited

Being accused by one of my readers of not keeping my blog up, I feel compelled to post today. Sometimes we take things for granted. I suppose I fall into that boat about the New Africa Shrine, which is no more than 400 meters from my doorstep in the estimation of a colleague from London, who was simply amazed at the music coming out of what is ostensibly my neighborhood bar. I haven’t been going there so often lately as the show has become repetitive for me. However, on Thursday I had a contingent of work visitors from the U.K. and U.S. who wanted to pay homage at the Shrine, despite its rough reputation among the Nigerian professionals in our office. The Shrine’s star shines much more brightly overseas than it does locally.

The three foreign guests were simply stunned by the show that Femi Kuti and Positive Force put on at the Shrine that night. The glow of first experience. The place itself, the front-row table, the band rocking its warm-up set, the full horn section, the percussionists, the dancers both on stage and in cages alongside, the crowd, Femi’s star power, his rap, his circular breathing shtick on alto. All things that have become less impressive to me after dozens of times in the same seat over the past year or so. Time to take a fresh look. I will return tonight.

I saw tenor saxophonist Dotun “Dotsax” Bankole up on stage; he sounded excellent in his one solo feature during the first set. Dotun dropped by my house yesterday for a jam. He doesn't get to showcase his talent on stage as much as he might like and always cuts loose whenever I see him privately. We jammed for about an hour and a half before he had to leave for his far-away home in neighboring Ogun State. Free association, Lester Leaps In, and Milestones were all we had time for. As last time we met, we swapped tenors; we both have silver-plate Mark VIs of about the same vintage and he swears mine sounds better because the silver plate is gone and the bare brass resonates differently. Here is a brief track of Dotun improvising unaccompanied on tenor; he is working on a new album of originals which he expects to be complete in about two months.

Femi and the band will be leaving for a summer tour of the U.S. in a couple of weeks, beginning late June. Tenor fans, look for Dotun on stage if you want to hear one of contemporary Africa's best saxophonists.

Two Original Tracks from Saxophonist Dotun Bankole

Tenor Saxophonist Dotun “Dotsax” Bankole dropped by my house the other night for a jam. He plays a 156k silver plate Mark VI which is about a year younger than the horn I've been playing lately, a 148k Mark VI that is basically bare brass, having been stripped of its silver plate a long time ago. The horns are brothers from the late 60's, although his has a high F# key and mine doesn't  Dotun really liked the resonance of my horn and we traded instruments for the evening. He is playing on a Jody Jazz metal mouthpiece which was given to him by the manufacturer while on tour in the States a couple of months ago with Femi Kuti.

Dotun was bemoaning the scarcity of jazz in present-day Lagos. There is not a single venue in this city of 17 million that features live jazz every day. I thought maybe it was just me because I have played out less this past year than in any year in recent memory, although I have been working in a city which is lauded in some media circles as one of the really happening places in the third world. Not really happening for jazz since there is practically no place to jam, even for excellent local players, and not much happening even for home-grown styles like afrobeat although the music press refers to afrobeat as being really popular worldwide – I've previously written about that paradox.

In any event, Dotun continues to improvise and create on his saxophone. Recently he has been working on two original tracks in the studio: Irawo Owuro and Aja Nti Ele, where he plays soprano sax rather than his more usual tenor. You can listen to these two works-in-progress here and look for and buy the CD when it is released. Click on the track names to download and listen. Meanwhile, you can catch Dotsax playing tenor behind Femi Kuti at the New Africa Shrine in Ikeja, Lagos, on Thursday and Sunday evenings.

Christmas at the Shrine

Went over to the New Africa Shrine last night to catch Femi Kuti and band one last time before the Holidays. It was one of the looser sets I've witnessed. Femi came out at about 8:00 PM without much fanfare and joined the band on trumpet. It was the first time I've seen any of the hornmen solo while Femi was on stage; he usually reserves all the solo space for himself and the horn section serves solely as backup. Both the baritone player and tenor man Dotun “Dotsax” Bankole took long solos last night while Femi climbed the riser at the back of the stage and played trumpet with the section. He then did some time on soprano sax but didn’t touch his alto at all, nor his rarely-heard tenor. The first half hour was more jazzy and improvisatory than usual but then segued into some of Femi's more recognizable tunes like Dem Bobo, which in Pidgin means something to the effect of “they deceive” (Dem bobo your mama, dem bobo your papa, in the name of democracy….). 

I did my Christmas shopping at the Shrine and picked up a nice Fela singlet. Won’t be finding one of those down at the local mall. I'm off for Penang via Dubai tonight.

Dotsax - Tenor Saxophonist Dotun Bankole

Dotun "Dotsax" Bankole

Currently featured in the tenor sax spot in Femi Kuti's Positive Force band is 36-year-old hornman Dotun Bankole, aka Dotsax. The band just returned from its summer tour of England, France, and Spain and I had the chance to catch up with Dotsax at the Africa Shrine in Lagos last Thursday during Femi's rehearsal.

We spent a couple of hours jamming on Saturday afternoon and in between the music I was able to explore Dotun's musical interests and background, on top of jamming on one of his original tunes, Coltrane's Africa, some blues and some free explorations.

The Silver Mark VI

Dotsax started on trumpet rather late in life, at age 19 or 20, and played until his trumpet was stolen at age 24. He switched to sax because he had access to one, and learned it by practicing 12 hours a day for six months. His interests started with highlife but he found himself fascinated by jazz after fellow musicians introduced him to the sounds of Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and Sonny Rollins. He's played with Nigerian masters like Peter King and attributes his current sound to the music he heard in his village growing up plus his fascination with jazz improvisation. Over the past decade he fronted his own band with his brother on keys, although the jazz scene in Nigeria is rather limited. Around nine years ago word was that Femi Kuti was looking for him, and four years ago he finally joined Femi's band full time. He's been touring and recording with Femi ever since and you can catch him and his silver Mark VI on stage at the Shrine on Thursdays and Sundays. 

In addition to his regular gigs backing Femi, Dotsax wants to develop his own original music with a group of his own that offers more room for improvisation. At our jam Saturday he showed easy fluency on tenor and instinctive harmonic knowledge, no problem ripping off interesting and coherent unaccompanied solos. He and I discussed a shared idea of recording a further fusion of jazz and afrobeat and I hope that can come to fruition in the next year. Listen to Dotsax perform a couple of his original compositions here on his MySpace site, which also contains a detailed bio.

Femi's Back in Town

Femi Kuti and band completed their European summer tour and returned to Lagos this week. Last night, Femi was back in action at the New Africa Shrine for the first time in a month. He seemed mellow and relaxed compared to the weeks before the tour, with all the build-up to his 50th birthday celebration now over. 

I walked into the Shrine during the warm-up set in the middle of an extended tenor solo by Dotun Bankole on his silver Mark VI. At this point the staff of the Shrine know me pretty well, to the point where I don't even need to tell them what I want to order. Showboy met me and a few minutes after we sat down, he was called up on stage after it was announced that the composer of African Soldier was in the house. 

Rilwan "Showboy" Fagbemi

That led to two extended tunes with Showboy fronting the Positive Force band for about half an hour. Something is in the air, as you might recall that last month Showboy played with Femi's band for the first time ever, 15 years after Fela's death. When Showboy finished I kidded him that he now has a second gig (in addition to being musical director of Seun Kuti's Egypt 80). He laughed and said that he hadn't been at the Shrine at all since we were last there together in mid-June. Showboy's two tunes got a rise from the typically stoic crowd since long-time fans recognize him from his days with Fela. 

Showboy and Femi's Dancers at Rehearsal

Femi came out on trumpet and then displayed his considerable prowess in circular breathing on both soprano and alto. 

I'm back in Lagos now and within easy striking distance of the Shrine. More to come in the next few days. Here are a couple of photos of Showboy from last night, in the meantime.

My 15 Minutes of Fame Passed Quickly

Out of the frying pan and into the fire. I really asked for it. Only two weeks in Lagos but carrying the dream of playing at the Africa Shrine for a long time, and there I was blowing my horn on the Shrine's main stage with Femi Kuti's Positive Force band behind me, standing in the spot of the man himself. 

"And then you woke up." 

No, really. Last night I went to the New Africa Shrine at about 6:00pm to meet up with Femi's tenor saxophonist Dotun Bankole. While I was waiting around Femi showed up and introduced himself. I brought my horn; Dotun had his silver-plated Mark VI with him and took me up on stage. We assembled our horns and started blowing. It turned into a 30 or 40 minute free jam which I found really enjoyable - we had no problem communicating from the first note as we alternated trading licks, playing unison lines, riffing and laying down rhythms for each other. Dotun is an excellent player and it was a blast. He made me think, blow, and sweat hard. One of the most fun times I've ever had playing the sax, seriously.

I was told that Femi rehearses his band on Thursday nights so my expectation before I went was an informal working session with the band. Not so; the band worked through some arrangements led by the music director before Femi joined up, but after 8:00 Femi came on stage and played a three hour set straight through! It was as intense a show as Sunday night's performance, only Femi and the band were dressed in street clothes and the dancers were not made up and costumed. When Femi says his performance runs 7:00 to 11:00, he means nonstop! And on Thursday nights, admission to the Shrine is free. Where else in the world can you see an international star and his genre-leading band perform a four hour set for free? 

After we jammed, Dotun asked me to sit down for a while and he would call me up on stage...I thought to join with the horn section and work out. He kept my horn up on stage and assembled it next to him. Right after 7:00 the band started playing, then about halfway through the first hour I heard my name announced from stage on the PA. The entire band broke into a fanfare. I had no clue. I put my harness on, went up on the riser next to Dotun, and picked up my tenor. He pushed me out into the spotlight, right into Femi's spot at the front of the stage with Femi's horns on their stand at my feet. I was in the man's spot facing the audience with the 12-piece band at full blast behind me. There was no choice but to blow. 

Hmmm. I've been around too much to say I was terrorized, but it was definitely nerve-racking and it took me a moment to get my footing. I hung at the mike for around seven minutes, soloing over the polyrhythms and horn punctuations, and the proof is here for posterity. Not my best-ever solo, but I take solace in the fact that Sonny Rollins can't stand listening to his own recordings either. Then it was over. I want more. 

Yes, I did it. I played on center stage at the New Africa Shrine with the world's very best Afrobeat band behind me. Whew.

Femi Kuti at the New Africa Shrine

I arrived in Lagos about two weeks ago. Lagos seems better than last time I was here, no doubt because of high oil prices rather than structural reforms in the economy or increased competitiveness of Nigerian businesses. A high tide floats all boats. 

To my surprise, on my second morning in town I looked out of the window as the car pulled up to the office and there was the New Africa Shrine! The most famous music venue in all of Africa is right across the street from where I work... an incredibly fortuitous coincidence in this sprawling, chaotic city of some 18 million. Lagos can be a daunting place so I waited to go in until I could get some Nigerian friends to go with me. Femi Kuti plays on Sunday nights when he is not touring. I went last night. 

Femi Kuti on stage at the New Africa Shrine

The Venue: Run by son Femi in the mainland neighborhood of Ikeja, the New Africa Shrine is the successor to Fela Kuti's legendary Africa Shrine. It is a large, cavernous venue decorated with Fela memorabilia, with a high stage up front. The cover charge last night was just over $3 and a large Heineken was also about $3. Definitely a people's venue. The atmosphere reminded me of the 1970s. There is no place like it in the Western world.  

The Artist: Femi Kuti is an international star but his music at the Shrine is all for the local crowd. His hard work on stage is impressive; Femi sang and played nonstop for more than two hours after I arrived, which was well after his set began. He was totally drenched from the exertion. The hardest working man in show business...totally into his music and his dedicated Lagos audience. 

Femi has the energy of a man less than half his age. My friend told me he is 51 which makes him almost as old as me, but he sings, jumps, and dances nonstop. Not a star who sings a snippet here and there and lets the band take over. He has the touch for direct audience communication.  

Apologies for the bad hand phone shots...

The Music: Femi's music has evolved from Fela's. It seems like every instrument is a percussion instrument, even the horns. Femi sang last night much more than he played. His music is dense and doesn't feature as many solos as his father's classic sides; Femi's tunes are more structured and there is less space for the instrumentalists to stretch out. Last night, he played some trumpet and later on in the set, alto sax. No tenor. The band featured three trumpets, trombone, baritone and tenor saxes, electric bass, guitar, keyboards, drums, two additional percussionists, and anywhere from two to six dancers, with Femi up front. There were dancers on platforms at each side of the stage.

Femi didn't take a break while I was there and exited backstage as soon as he finished his set so I didn't get to meet him. But while the horns were packing up I introduced myself to tenor player Dotun Bankole. When I told him I played sax, he put his cool 1950's Kohlert tenor back together and asked me to blow. On the spot audition. I hadn't touched my horn in two weeks but somehow a Bb jump blues came out and the end result is that he invited me to come Thursday for the band's rehearsal and bring my horn.