CHOPPY SEAS

Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa” was a Top 40 pop hit here in 1973 but the West African saxophonist made a tepid, disjointed local debut at the Music Machine Saturday. By attempting to meld traditional African elements with heavy funk rhythms and jazz-inspired horn lines, Dibango and his 12-piece ensemble became an African pop equivalent of an American jazz fusion group.

The constant chord changes and choppy shifts in melodic direction served no real purpose beyond making the music more complex. The material acquired a herky-jerky fussiness and never settled into any one musical avenue long enough to become compelling or to generate much motion on the jammed dance floor.

There were sporadic moments of interest--a smoking trombone solo, Dibango’s coarse tenor sax flurries and a talking-drum solo that evolved into a unison cannonade with four percussionists. But even the set-closing “Soul Makossa” failed to soar.

San Francisco’s Zulu Spear offered a more exciting fusion in its opening set by moving from the slinky, South African mbqanga style to thumb-poppin’ hard funk.