Aschim, Salako light up Abuja international Afro-Jazz Festival 2024 with Nigerian-Norwegian party
* Also in Lagos for Afropolis festival
By Editor
THE echoes of the Abuja International Afro-Jazz Festival came to a beautiful end on Saturday, October 26, 2024 at the expansive Jabi Boat Club. The 2024 event was in all senses memorable because of the headliner, the Norwegian Audun Aschim and the festival promoter, Tosin Salako who both met in Germany last year at another festival where both were performing and a friendship was struck which has culminated in Aschim coming to perform in Nigeria. This is Audun’s second visit to Nigeria in the space of one year.
There was a prelude to the Abuja jazz festival at the residence of the Norwegian Ambassador to Nigeria, Svein Baera who hosted a pre-festival performance at his residence on the evening of Thursday, October 24 with music enthusiasts, members of the diplomatic corps and friends of the Norwegian Embassy who came together for a memorable evening of good music by Aschim and Salako and the Afro-Jazz ensemble who did not disappoint. It was ethereal music at its best and the jazz tunes emanating from a combination of guitars, drums and local musical accoutrements all added to the beauty of the night. Salako’s brief call and response performance added to the magic and this made the audience to yearn for more. But trust the showman; he invited them to come to the main festival venue for more soul-lifting music.
On the part of the festival headliner and Norwegian, Aschim, he explained that he and the band were experimenting with new music which had its premiere that night. It turned out a blend of Norwegian and Nigerian music traditions. And if one wanted to know how this played out, it was very real and, in the parlance of the day, very cool. One audience member said the music reminded her of the music of Yanni, the Greek composer and keyboardist, who has had a distinguished career. In his remarks during the performance, Audun explained that part of the intention of their new collaboration was to fuse Nigerian music of the 1970s with modern Afro-Jazz music which is gaining more popularity and acceptance amongst young demographics.
The performance was advertised as “creating a visual and sonic room of both mysticism and a primal sense of life,” and this is particularly noteworthy considering that Audun is gradually emerging as one of the brightest stars from the very innovative Norwegian jazz scene. On the other hand, Salako is also gradually stamping his feet on the Nigerian jazz scene. It was obvious on that night that there was a lot of narrative musical genres at play which made to coincide with atmospheric storytelling which is gradually also becoming a hall mark of Aschim’s musical artistry.
The team will depart Abuja for Lagos to participate in the Afropolis festival in Lagos.
Audun Aschim (left) and Tosin Salako
