Pop Music : Tireless African Band Demonstrates Versatility

Add Sam Fan Thomas to the list of artists introducing new facets of African pop music to American audiences.

Variety was the hallmark of the Cameroon singer/guitarist’s vibrant, flavorful makassi style during his explosive local debut at the Music Machine on Saturday. Backed by a shifting array of seven musicians, two vocalists and three dancers, Thomas combined forceful vocals with a direct, no-nonsense stage manner. There was exactly one between-song break, lasting all of 10 seconds, during the entire set.

The seamless segues between the pieces weren’t just minor variations of the same old groove. They were distinct songs that included everything from the circular guitar melodies of soukous , flashing horns recalling soca, thumb-pop funk, gospel-tinged chord changes, and that rarity in African pop music, a slow ballad. But Thomas fared best with such up-tempo romps as “African Typic Collection,” an absolutely magnetic groove that established him internationally five years ago and could turn the trick again if given the opportunity by commercial radio here.