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Friday 17th,
February, 2006 HOME | Previous
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Stories By
Ozolua Uhakheme, Asst.
Editor If the
variety of genres, the size and reactions of the audience as well as the
duration of musical concert are indices to measure the performance of
Sotiris Papadopoulos-led Salvadorsango band at the Goethe Institut stage
penultimate Saturday, then the group did not only find its rhythm but
thrilled the crowd to a scintillating musical presentation.
Although
most of the band’s presentations were instrumentals, but the ease with
which the band switches from one genre of music to another speaks volume
of the skill and competence of the band members, who are mainly Nigerians.
Apart from
Sotiris Papadopoulos, a Greek physicist and Ph.D holder in Atomic Physics
from Oxford University, the rest of the band are Nigerians, who have at
different times performed alongside renowned musicians like Lagbaja,
Onyeka Onwenu, Peter King, Neil Oliver and Ayo Bankole. In spite of
staying together in less than two years, the band was able to present rich
variety of musical works that traverse jazz, Afro-beat, Latin-American
rhythm, Rock, Juju and Gospel. And it was difficult sometimes for
listeners to draw a line between the different styles they put up during
the concert. No doubt, the band members demonstrated a mastery of their
instruments that constantly attracted applause from the audience. In fact,
Sotiris guitar works conveniently took the audience on a long spell,
especially when doing a solo. But not
much of Afro-beat or Juju music was offered. One expects the experiences of the
likes of Segun Adeshola, Victor Ademofe, Tosin Oyedele, and Segun
Adeniran, having performed with Neil Oliver, Onyeka Onwenu, Ras Kayas, Ayo
Bankole and Peter King, to influence the flavour of their music in terms
of Gospel or Juju music.
In any
case, the overall stagecraft of the band is another plus just as the
acoustic level of the production made the night a wonderful experience.
However, the show that also featured a guest artiste, Tee Mac, offered
more of Latin-American and Rock music to the delight of a large number of
diplomats and arts enthusiasts. The band’s appearance at the Goethe
Institut was followed by a playing tour of Lome on February 7 and 8 and in
Cotonou on February11, 12 and 14. |
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