Rollicking African Village Creates Hillside Dance Party

The African Village concert at the Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood didn’t quite succeed in creating the ambience it promised. In fact, halfway through the program, a large, tent-like material hanging above the stage--which was an attractive scene-setter--was unaccountably removed.

What the program did have, however, was a real sense of audience participation. The Ford’s verdant location, nestled against a green hillside with a large, open stage area behind the bandstand, provided the perfect space Sunday for audience members to dance. And, invited to do so, they responded in large numbers, executing an array of moves that ranged from the Twist to the Meringue to utterly indescribable attempts at African dance.

The audience participation was so enthusiastic, so filled with individual and collective creativity, that it often drew attention away from the music.

Headliner Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, for example, one of the great veterans of Nigerian high-life music, sang with the warm, communicative qualities that have characterized his decades-long career. But his nine-piece ensemble, Nigerian Soundmakers International, was rarely up to his level of performance and was further handicapped by erratic audio (a problem for the entire program).

And, even with Osadebe, the audience became a prime factor, as individuals leaped on stage to participate in the practice known as “spraying,” in which the musicians are showered with currency bills.

Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca fared somewhat better musically. A local band, with a blend of jazz-tempered Cuban montunas and tinges of soca, was the musical high point of the evening. Also featured on the program were the vocals of the female group Adaawe, the Brazilian rhythms of Lula & Afro Brazil, and the enchanting vocals and kora playing of Prince Cissokho.