Safarini

While some Republicans would have you believe otherwise, modern America is built on immigration. Some was forced, and some came from people searching for a better life. Whatever the circumstances, many kept elements of their culture in the New World, a continuation between their past and their future.

That's especially true of musicians, who bring the sounds of their native lands with them, and who often offer some surprises - like having one of the year's best releases of African music come from artists in the Pacific Northwest. But that's exactly what Safarini (In transit): Music of African Immigrants (Smithsonian Folkways) is, with tracks from artists whose origins are as far apart as Ghana (Obo Addy, Kofi Anang), Kenya (Frank Ulwenya and Afrisound), Republic of Congo (Wawali Bonane with Yoka Nzenze), and Zimbabwe (Lora Chiorah-Dye and Sukutai).

"It's not America that's changed my music; I'm very stubborn about that!"

"The project was originally proposed in 1994 to Jack Straw for their Artist Support program," explains producer Andrew Frankel. "It was too complex for that, but they came back to two years later and said they wanted to do it. The impetus was that there are all these great African musicians in the Northwest, none of whom is popular enough or has enough market to warrant a record deal or their own, but all of whom are worth recording and documenting. We finished it two years ago. Smithsonian Folkways agreed to release it and then there were just logistical issues. We did a little, limited local release in 1998, but it was only a few hundred copies - now it's getting the international recognition it deserves."

And make no mistake, this isn't just another local compilation. Some of these musicians, like Addy and Bonane, have big international reputations. But it was work that brought most of them to the drizzly Northwest.

"I always wanted to leave Kenya, and see what was going on elsewhere," explains Ulwenya. "But Boeing was the main reason. I was in the Kenyan Air Force. I met some guys in England, and they said ‘You should come to Boeing.'"

And how did he cope with the change in climate?

"I was born just 12 miles north of the equator, going from that to the North Pole was a shock! But I was ready for it."

And ready to play music, too. Over the last couple of decades, the Northwest has developed a very active African music scene.

"It's quite receptive," explains Ulwenya. "It used to be clubs only wanted African music in the midweek, but now it's on the weekends, too. Several thousand miles away from home, people from Zimbabwe, Congo, Ghana, you create your own Africa. I'm very happy that Seattle is accepting all different kinds of African music, whether it's folkloric, educational, or for entertainment. People know reggae, and sometimes they confuse it with African music. A few weeks ago the house was full for Kanda Bongo Man, and they hadn't really advertised it, so I think people here and liking African music."

But it hasn't always been easy, as Obo Addy, who moved to the U.S. in 1973, and who now lives in Portland, teaching at Lewis and Clark College when he's not on tour, can testify.

"Going back, the politics in America got into it - I was playing with all white people, and no one wanted me. After that I brought people from Ghana to work with me, and that didn't work, either. So I brought Ghanaians to play traditional music, and I use African-Americans to play what some people call African jazz. Americans can relate to jazz."

Times have changed, finally, and Addy's more traditional music can find an audience here. Unfortunately, however, we seem to be the exception, rather than the rule, in America.

"What we're doing in the Northwest isn't all over America," Addy points out. "There's a lot of Senegalese music on the East coast, but not much else. Americans who are playing African music tend to think of Africa as one country, but it's not. In the Northwest you can hear good Ghanaian music, Congolese music, Ethiopian music, because we have all these people here."

And it's very authentic music, too, played with very little compromise to their new home. "Probably the only difference is in the way I reach an audience," says Ulwenya. "But the music is still the same as I played in Kenya."

And Addy has made very few changes, either.

"It's not America that's changed my music; I'm very stubborn about that! People tell me things to do, but I don't do them - unless it's someone who knows my music and believes in what I'm doing."

Perhaps the most invigorating thought is that Safarini is just the tip of the iceberg, according to Frankel.

"We've only scratched the surface. I could easily do two more volumes out of the Northwest. We've all talked about doing a phase two."

From the Old World to the New, life keeps moving. And the beats goes on....

Safarini

"It's not America that's changed my music; I'm very stubborn about that!"

Related Articles in the 'North American Artists' Category...