The very first AfroTurf was a successful night of drum skin bending, tequila slamming and tail feather shaking courtesy of DJ Jen Wah Zee who has a foot in the London scene and her heart set on entertaining Sheffield's city centre party crowds. The Bungalow's and Bears crowd were entertained by two live acts, Sheffield based Mim Suleiman and London based band, The Worm plus DJ Jen Wah Zee who kept the crowds dancing to her blend of Afrobeat.
"new audiences meet new sounds and the hidden become heard, in a celebration of some of the most vibrant musical cultures across the world"
Working behind the bar at Bungalows and Bears gave DJ Jen Wah Zee the opportunity to get to know the Saturday night revellers and knew they'd be receptive to a new regular monthly night where, as she promises, "new audiences meet new sounds and the hidden become heard, in a celebration of some of the most vibrant musical cultures across the world and their influence on contemporary music as we know it today".
Un-phased and taking everything in her stride, DJ Jen Wah Zee confidently built up the sounds, starting with a rootsy organic set, mixing retro sounds from Ghana, Nigeria and Ethiopia, playing some of my favourites from The Sweet Talks and Mulatu Astatke before chopping to Oumou Sangare and paving the way for Mim Suleiman to take to the stage.
With the decks momentarily on pause, Mim enters stage right, with her bassist accompanist Moggy. The room is filled with chatter and hub bub, people are still deep in conversation. In a bold move, Mim opens her set, with an unaccompanied vocal of a Rafiki Jazz favourite, Kelefah Jah, shamanic in style, as if evoking greater forces, it stopped people in their tracks. The background chatter subsided a little, as the crowd of predominantly under 25's gravitated towards the stage. With the room quickly on her side Mim gives one of her familiar laughs and announces "I'm Mim Suliman some of you may know me, I've been working with Maurice Fulton of Bubble Tease productions, Tungi La Mim Suleiman, you can get it on i tunes" and she did. Stretching behind herself to her laptop at a touch of a button, the new style Mingi was unleashed, appropriately to a clubland audience.
With its mid eighties, Nitro Deluxe House Sound of Chicago stylings it took me by surprise. The audience loved it, and Mim was promptly back with Fulton's reworking of Hebu. With a short set Mim shouted " You want another dance number? Alright then.." and thus she completed the showcase of her collaboration with Bubble Tease productions, accompanied live on stage by her bassist, Moggy the duo are set to play dates in Zanzibar in February 2010 including the prestigious Sauti Za Busara Festival.
DJ Jen Wah Zee was back on the cdj's cranking up the volume and the pace, skillfully weaving tunes from Kokolo, The Hypnotic Brass Band, Femi Kuti amongst others. Absolutely brilliant to hear all this going down on a Saturday night in the centre of town where clubland meets studentland in a city known for its guitar and indie bands. DJ Jen Wah Zee set about achieving her mission statement with confidence, variety and a well stocked cd case.
And so to The Worm, Max Baille on violin, calabash and vocals, Andre on djembe and bougarabous with Niccie Simpson providing Diva vocals. After downing the tequilas and donning some amazonian stage costumes the three created an instant festival vibe with a happy go lucky party bounce in their stride. The band seemed very at home and mesmerised the crowd with their blend of Africa meets Amazonia meets Gypsy party vibe - they call it Worm Food. Love on the Brew, their popular track created waves throughout the room and there were creative touches as the band pulled on their influences. Worth a particular mention was the way in which Max played the violin, holding it like a ngoni and plucking the strings with more than a nod to Bassekou Kouyate.
Full marks for putting on a night in a difficult venue, it used to be the main Fire Station for the city centre, with double storey high ceilings and a loud chatty crowd, all credit to the singers who found it difficult to hear themselves on stage. All credit to DJ Jen Wah Zee for taking the bull by the horns and holding it down for the dancefloor and bringing a new party night to Sheffield.
Next AfroTurf will be on 20th February at Bungalow and bears with DJ Jen Wah Zee on warm up duties leaving the Secousse Sound System ( The Very Best, Radioclit, Notting Hill Arts Centre) to provide the bangers.
