They had them dancing in the aisles.
Members of the African Guitar Summit took Traverse City by storm Saturday evening when about halfway through the concert a portion of the sold-out crowd could sit still no longer. At their seats, up the aisles, even on the stage when some local women from Africa jumped up there to dance, all grooving to the energy shared by the eight Toronto-based musicians on stage.
"The musicians, that's what they want, especially the African musicians, they want them up and active,” said Gene Jenneman, director of the Dennos Museum who acknowledged leading the charge to move to the music. "You have to give them permission to move and we probably had 60-70 people dancing. It was quite a party.”
The concert was held in conjunction with the museum's Spirits, Relics and Rituals: The John Korachis Collection of African Art exhibit, which runs at the Dennos Museum from March 25-September 2. Already a fan of the African Guitar Summit and a friend of member Adam Solomon, Jenneman was determined to have them in town to help kick off the new exhibit. He helped arrange the group's first American tour, a three-stop event that wound up in Traverse City Saturday after appearances at Lake Superior State University and in Marquette.
"I wanted to bring them to Traverse City ever since I heard them, I heard a piece over the Internet and was hooked,” he recalled. "When you hear them, you will understand, they're really quite wonderful. And I literally have driven to Toronto just to hear them.”
The African Guitar Project formed in 2004 when the Canadian Broadcasting Company brought together nine of the top African-born musicians in the country, put them in a recording studio and said, "Play.” The resulting first CD won a Juno, the equivalent of an American Grammy, in 2005 for world music and the group's second CD is up for another Juno this year. Only eight of the nine-member band performed in Traverse City.
Project members hail from all parts of Africa, including the countries of Guinea, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana and Madagascar. Already hailed as individual artists in Toronto and Canada, their synergy as a group boosted their creativity and sound exponentially. Group members play guitars, djembe drums and other percussion instruments.
"Each one of us was an established musician of African music and we were brought together to record a CD and the rest is history,” noted Theo Boakye of Ghana.
The blending of sound and style, pulse and beat is seamless as their music forms a unique sound.
"Everyone can put their own music into it,” said Donne Roberts of Madagascar. "You can hear Guinea music but you can also hear a little piece of Madagascar.”
Learning from each other has been a huge boon to all members of the project, who have continued to grow as musicians individually as well as collectively.
"It's been a great experience, a learning experience,” said Jacques "Mighty Popo” Murigande of Rwanda. "If it wasn't for the learning I wouldn't be playing music.”
The group also found an instant connection to each other based on shared or similar backgrounds and musical experiences. When they played together they did not have to explain how they wanted something to sound, they just connected and created it.
"For my own career, to write a song, I'd bring in guys and have to explain a lot to them,” said Murigande. "Playing with the African Guitar Summit put me back where I really felt at home. It put me back into the mood, too.”
For more information on the African Guitar Summit, see their Web site at www.africanguitarsummit.com.