New York City’s Central Park summer stage was the place to be on 5th of July as Afrocentrists and music lovers gathered to watch live performances of Asa (pronounced Asha) from Nigeria, Les Nubians – two sisters from Cameroun, and Oumou Sangare from Mali. All top-notch chanteuses and with ties to the African diaspora in France.

Asa, an interesting Nigerian, British and French Blend
Asa was born to Nigerian parents in Paris, France.  She spent some of her growing years in Nigeria where she immersed herself in the sounds of Nigeria.  She learnt about Afrobeat artists like Fela and Femi Kuti, as well as other artists as Sunny Ade and Angelique Kidjo.  Being a young Nigerian , growing up in Nigeria – she could not help but become also inspired by many artists who are American by birth like Erykah Badu, D’angelo, Lauryn Hill and of course, Tracy Chapman of whom many who listen to her music can see the strong similarities to Tracy Chapman’s.

Asa  anchors her lyrics to her African musical heritage and it is not strange to see her sing of the issues that Fela sang about but put within a context that resonates to many young Africans. To be quite frank, that was my first time of watching Asa perform and I was very impressed with her stage presence and most of all her voice. Asa was just simply herself as she had fun on the stage and let her joie de vivre flow through the crowd of more than 4000 people (one of the biggest crowds that summerstage has seen in recent years). After she was done performing, I had so many people comment at the brilliance of her performance. 

Asa, with her interesting way of speaking (a mixture of British, French and Nigerian accent) showed that we (the listening audience) definitely had a show  coming up as she warmed the crowd and got us ready for the next act.  It was clear to all that were there, that in no time at all, probably very soon – Asa might be the act headling the show next year.  I will have to add that I was proud to see Nigerians come out in numbers to support their artist.

Les Nubians, grammy nominated Afropean R&B sisters
Les Nubians is a two-sister act. Hélène and Célia Faussart who are currently based in France though born of a French father and Camerounian mother.  This group has captivated audience by producing sounds that are uniquely theirs using artists like Miriam Makeba, Ella Fitzgerald, Fela Kuti, Manu Dibango and the fugees as their musical platform.   It was interesting to note that the presenter wasn’t aware that these artists were from Africa until they had to correct the presenter by making everyone aware that they are from Cameroun and that they have spent significant amount of time in Africa. 

A lot of their musical fusions often seem to have more of an entertainment value but in recent times, some of their music seems to have become more educative, introspective as well as consciousness raising as these sisters find themselves branching out and singing about some of the issues that exists in Africa.  I could hear the pain in the sisters voices as they spoke about their experience in  Chad during the war and one  of the things that they said that struck a chord was this, “many people think that war is just an abstract but really it isn’t – war smells, it has a distinct smell and it hurts”.  There was silence after that pronouncement since many know that with war, often comes death – most times death of the innocent. 

I definitely enjoyed the performance of this group because they had no problem fusing R&B with reggae and African rhythms.  I especially enjoyed listening to them perform Manu Dibango’s  Soul Makossa (I am sorry but I still believe Michael Jackson owes Manu for those words).

Of course,  Asa and Les Nubians showcased what some will term modern Africa which is the fusion often times of African stories, histories, myths, with modern sounds like soul, jazz, R&B or reggae and some will wonder where is the authentic African sound? 

Oumou Sangare, the female version Salif Keita
Oumou Sangare goes by several nicknames, with the most popular being the songbird  Wossoulou, I call her the female  Salif Keita.  Oumou Sangare – composes and produces her own music and brings warmth and a strong feeling inclusiveness in her performance.  

Just like Salif Keita who ensures that the listening audience is aware of the plight that albino’s go through in Mali and other regions of Africa (I believe this issue has been discussed quite thoroughly on African loft), Oumou uses her music to bring attention to the plight of the African woman in Africa.  I will call her a womanist.  Her music is more of a fusion of musical rhythm as well as social consciousness. Though Oumou’s English speaking language skills was lacking, she went out  of her way to try to include the audience by speaking some English and if she couldn’t make it, she turned to French.  Mali was once a French colony.  

Oumou has performed in so many world renown arenas with  famous artists like Alicia Keys,  Baaba Maal (Senegal ) and Femi Kuti (Nigeria).  One of the things that struck me was when Oumou stopped the show to talk to the audience in semi broken English about the importance of women in society ( African or non African) and she stated, “No women – No light”.  Which means that  without women, there will be no continuity of life.

I definitely had a great time at central park summerstage, I couldn’t help but dance to the music (as you can see from the shakings of the video clips) and I urge you all to go out and support your African musicians this summer wherever you may be.

Related posts:

1. African Guitarists Rock Brooklyn!
2. Magic System Rocks Apollo Theatre
3. 2009 MTV Africa Music Awards Nominees
4. Being Paul Play Dairo
5. Invisible With Ugandan Hip Hop Artist: Krukid
6. R.I.P Sonny Okosuns: The Legend Lives On (1947 – 2008)
7. Paul Konye, Nigerian Conductor & Violinist