Nigeria, the land of plenty

Brymo has just put his glasses down A red carpet covered the swimming pool in the leafy courtyard of Moorhouse hotel. Long tables, with chairs on one side only, had been arranged over it parallel to the stage. The organisers had thankfully done away with the usual round tables around which half of the seats can't possibly give a decent sight of the stage. Lagos Jazz Series 2017, the latest edition of Lagos Jazz Series, was an entirely Nigerian affair with its theme "back to the basics". Oti B: anything else would be uncivilised Oti Bazunu is the man that made it possible for that one night to take place. In a way, back to the basics, may have a broader meaning since the vintage and now legendary Oti's cellar is also transitioning to something new, due to open early next year. Ed Keazor, a historian, a lawyer and a keen singer, was the MC of the evening, a perfect host never short of praise for the talent of artists (maybe it helps to ...

Omar at Lagos Jazz Series 2016 End of November came the new edition of Lagos Jazz Series in Muri Okunola Park in Victoria Island. The music event organised by Oti Bazunu. Same setting as the year before, a lawn with individual mats to enjoy live music in a picnic mood. Food, wine and a new concoction called Catuma (Riesling wine infused with natural extract of guarana) which is claimed to be a mild aphrodisiac for ladies. In other words a sweet sparkling wine to be had on ice. Catuma girl The show started a little later than advertised, 20.30 instead of 18 which even by Nigerian standards is fairly late. Some people came and left before the start of the music as a result. But it was well worth the wait for those who wanted to discover some new nigerian talents like Maka or Evelle who played accompanied by the Lagos Jazz Quintet turned into a septet for the occasion. Evelle and Sandro joining forces Then the mood turned to Cabo Verde with three artists playing either...

who's wearing the hat? Lagos Jazz Series is back in Lagos, an interesting mix of jazz directions produced in a couple of venues in the course of a week. Well, this year the line-up was disrupted by the killings of Radisson Blue in Bamako, Mali which caused American artists to cancel their trip until further notice. An unfortunate confusion between Bamako in Mali and Lagos in Nigeria. While both are in western Africa, they are worlds apart. Lagos has not seen any terrorist acts or at least not in recent years. Occasional armed robberies may happen but these remain rare and police is now doing a much better job to prevent them. chinese vibe from the Collective Fortunately, not all artists were coming from the US and two big artists made the day on November 27th over a collaboration. First Seun Kuti and Egypt 80. Seun is the younger son of Fela. He is keeping alive the flame of his father Fela Kuti by perpetuating Afrobeat, pretty much in the way his father left it a...