Pop Reviews : Paris’ Ghetto Blaster--Hooked on a Fela

The Afro-French octet Ghetto Blaster probably didn’t need a lengthy post-set skull session to pinpoint the high spot of its local debut at the Flaming Colossus club on Wednesday.

When Ben Sourisse kicked off “Na Waya” with a circular keyboard riff, the band locked into a smoking performance that recalled the mid-’70s prime of Nigerian musical demigod Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. The proof was on the dance floor, where the intensity level among the sparse but enthusiastic crowd escalated dramatically from the polite swaying that had greeted the group’s first songs. And the only time Ghetto Blaster seemed fully relaxed on stage came when the the group returned to a Kuti-influenced sound on “New Generation.”

The band had just flown in from Paris and performed without a sound check, and bassist Willy N’For’s had lost his voice--all of which might have contributed to the hit-and-miss nature of the generous, two-hour performance. The weak vocals lacked confidence and were all but swamped in the sound.

Ghetto Blaster, formed in Nigeria in 1982 and later transplanted to Paris, is a second-generation African-music band that adds contemporary twists to traditional African pop styles. It was those modern touches--sparkling horn lines, forceful percussion and thrilling dynamic punctuations--that provided the sparks Wednesday.

But the group’s Pan-African grab bag of styles--brightly textured high-life, straight funk, an African-inflected blues boogie, the excursions into Fela territory--ultimately masked Ghetto Blaster’s own identity. Still, there were enough promising elements in the band’s performance to merit another listen under less adverse conditions.