AFRICAN KEENING

Sikiru Ayinde Barrister is the most striking African singer yet to appear here. In his show at the Music Machine Friday, the inventor of Nigerian fuji music delivered long vocal lines recalling the keening wail of an Islamic mullah--not surprising, since fuji music’s roots are in an earlier style used to awaken Muslims for fasting during the feast of Ramadan.

Barrister’s 17-member troupe of percussionists and singers created a non-stop polyrhythmic undertow broken up only by occasional cannonades from the talking drums and machine-gun snare-drum rolls. The absence of pop dynamics demanded an even greater adjustment of a Western audience’s expectations than King Sunny Ade’s juju music, and it’s difficult to envision the fuji style making great inroads here. But Barrister’s enthusiastic showmanship kept the dance floor swaying and, in accordance with Nigerian custom, a steady stream of visitors plastering his face with money throughout the two-hour set.