7
street roots
Aug. 17, 2012
S.Z.: You have lived, traveled and performed
around the globe. In your opinion, is poverty
universal?
S.Z.: “Messenger” is your third album.
How does this work represent your evolution as
a person, an artist and a performer?
O.A.: It is. Poverty can be looked at in
many different ways. People who are very
rich, but lack a strong cultural background
are poor. Poverty doesn’t only come in
terms of monetary worth. Every country
has a strong culture, but if you disconnect
from that culture, thn you are going to hurt
your legacy. There is nothing to really pass
on. That is poverty. The greater poverty is
people who don’t have money and don’t
have food. In many parts of Ghana, there
are many people who don’t have anything
but they find time to enjoy life. I think they
are rich in many ways.
O.A.: “The Traditionalist,” my first album,
was raw, untouched feelings of Ghanaian
traditional music. Nothing else. No tricks,
nothing. Besides, I don’t like tricks on an
album. I like the voice to sound like me.
But “The Traditionalist” preserves my past.
The second album was the beginning of
thinking about the African Diaspora. You
can hear me trying to blend different vocal
ideas and cultures. It is a little bit
adventurous. This album, “Messenger,” is
where I am now. I have evolved. You can
think about the past and where you are
from, but all you have is now.
S.Z.: How does Ghanaian culture and
society address issues of homelessness and /or
mental illness?
S.Z.: What message do you hope to bring to
your audiences?
O.A.: You will see people who are
mentally ill in big cities like Accra. I think
the country could do better taking care of
the mentally ill so that they are not in the
street. In term of homelessness, the rate is
not huge. And in the small towns, families
take care of each other. The town I grew up
in, there was nobody who was homeless.
There was absolutely no one. You’re going
to live with someone. There will be
somewhere where you are crashing and you
will be welcome.
S.Z.: Storytelling is a huge part of the
traditions of your people. Do you have a
favorite story that you like to tell?
P H O T O B Y K R IS T IN A W R I G H T
Rhythm of paradise
Portland musician Okaidja Afroso releases
his third album, ‘M essenger'
BY SUE ZALOKAR
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
hana is a long way from Portland, J?ut
to local musician, Okaidja Afroso, the
gap is almost imperceptible.
Afroso grew up in Kokrobite, a small
fishing village west of Ghana’s capital, Accra.
Though he came from a family well known
for their singing, Afroso was a dancer first.
He worked and traveled with the Ghana
Dance Ensemble at the University of
Ghana’s Institute of African Studies, touring
the U.S. and Germany and teaching about
Ghanaian culture.
It was after a rehearsal one day that Obo
Addy, a Portland-based musician who is also
from Ghana, invited Afroso to be a part of
his musical group, Okropong, in Portland.
Afroso was in his early 20s when he packed
his bags to make the move to the United
States.
Today, Afroso is a vibrant and passionate
performer and educator who combines the
traditional music of his roots with where he
is in the present. He teaches workshops and
in schools across Oregon about Ghanaian
music, stories, history, geography and
language, sharing his culture, in the
Ghanaian way, through music and oral
tradition.
The idea behind his band Shokoto, he
says, is to “find unique sounds.” The band
plays music with roots in Ghana, and blends
ideas from parts of South and Central
America - true to a consummate student of
the African diaspora. The sounds
incorporate the Ga music from the
Southern part of Ghana and the Dagomba
music from the Northern part of Ghana.
In his native language Ga, Shokoto means
a place of no hardship - a paradise, “a place
where we would all like to be,” Afroso says,
G
describing it as existing only in the heart.
Shokoto will perform at the Alberta Rose
Theatre on Saturday, Aug. 25 for the release
of his third album, “Messenger.”
Sue Zalokar: Tell us about the African
diaspora and its impact on music.
Okaidja Afroso: The African diaspora
brought so much music to the Americas.
One might ask how they (slaves) were able
to preserve that music for the longest time.
It is through their drum language. Even
though they were not able to play it, they
could sing it. We practice the oral tradition.
So many things that we know, many things
that I know about my culture, I didn’t read
in books. It was actually told to me, it was
taught to me. It is my duty to teach it to
someone else by speaking it to them, by
singing it to them, by playing it to them.
S.Z.: You have spent much time in rural
and urban communities performing and
running workshops. Are there any similarities
between rural Ghana and rural United States?
O.A.: There are some similarities. For
one, everybody knows everybody. There is
something that is really strong about rural
communities in Ghana. There is lots of
togetherness in terms of how they do things
and I think one of the main reasons is music
and dancing. When somebody passes, or a
baby is born, there will be tons of
drummers. And they will be playing and
everybody in the community will for sure be
there and dancing or listening. Everybody
comes together. Sometimes I feel there a bit
of disconnect in some of the rural towns
here. It is just cultural differences. It is not
good or bad. It’s just how we live differently.
O.A.: The folk tales, when it comes to
that, in Ghana we have all the stories about
Anansi (the prankster spider). When you go
to a school room, you will find many books
about Anansi. The story originated from
Ghana and neighboring countries like Togo
and Nigeria. We all have similar stories
about Anansi the spider. Every school in
America has stories about Anansi.
Many times when I was growing up in the
evening, we would sit around and people
would be telling stories. We do that until we
fall asleep. I grew up in a town with no
electricity. We used kerosene lamps. No TV.
We never had TV. I never had a toy that I
would say, this is my toy. But I never felt
like I should have gotten a toy from my
mother. It didn’t matter. But at school, when
we had lunch break, I could see the ocean.
And I swam there everyday and I was able
to catch the biggest waves.
S.Z.: You combine elements of the modern
and traditional worlds in your dance, stories
and music. How do the modern and
traditional worlds interact?
O.A.: It is growing and growing. About
three years ago I started to go to Fairbanks
a lot and I met two gentlemen who play
American roots music. Very good musicians.
One is Raymond McLain and the other one
a Canadian harmonica virtuoso Mike
Stevens (he appears on Afroso’s album,
“Messenger”). We became really good
friends. One day they asked me to play with
them. I didn’t know them, they were so
humble. We went to play and I realized that
these guys were crazy. Raymond plays the
banjo. His family was the McLain Family
Band. He is in the American books among
the best banjo players. I was playing with
them, and I was playing my Ghanaian music
as I would play it and it locked like that (he
locks his fists together). For three years,
every year we meet and we play.
S.Z.: So maybe there is an Americana/
Ghanaian album in your future?
O.A.: Well actually, yes. Mike and I are
going to work on an album which addresses
our backgrounds then meet in the middle to
see the differences, but mostly the
similarities. This is an album that we just
started talking about that we are going to
make. There are all of these ideas that really
blend effortlessly.
O.A.: I think what I bring, and what
American audiences are very hungry for, are
fusions. I have been working on a song
called African Cowboy. I played it a few
weeks ago when I was in Alaska. Mike and
Raymond were there too, and I said I want
to play this song. We didn’t practice, we just
played it right there. The audience heard it,
and when they came to buy CDs they were
asking, “Do you have that song, African
Cowboy? I had to tell them, no. I think the
American audience are really hungry for
something like that, to hear the blending of
musical genres. And maybe they think that
there must have been a time when we were
all one people. To really reconnect it back.
That is really what I hope that when people
come to my show or when they hear my
music, they hear that. When I go to play in
other communities, I always find someone
to collaborate with. I am not only showing
what I am doing, but I am showing that I
want to know about you, too. Through music
we can see our similarities.
S.Z.: When was the last time you were in
Ghana?
O.A.: Three years ago. I am going back
in December.
S.Z.: Do the people in your town notice any
kind of change in the climate or the weather?
O.A.: There is no big talk. But I can tell
you this: Global warming is happening. I
remember where I used to play on the coast
when I was growing up. The ocean is
coming. It has traveled inland quite a bit. It
has taken some land. But people are not
really thinking of it that way. If you are not a
scientist and you are a fisherman, you will
notice those little subtle changes, but you
are not going to know why. They don’t think
about it as global warming, but I can see it
happening.
I remember when I was growing up, there
were so many coconut trees, and I
remembered places that we would take
naps. I remember the fisherman had to pull
their canoes so far up from the water. And
it’s not that far up anymore. The ocean is
traveling. You don’t see it if you are living
there. But if you go back, you will notice
many changes.
S.Z.: What words would you share with the
youth of today in regard to the future of our
world, be they American or Ghanaian?
O.A.: I say cultural preservation. I feel
like there are a lot of Ghanaian musicians
who think they need to advance so much.
The only people who are preserving the
culture of Ghana are the people who are
playing the traditional drum. They will be
the greatest ambassadors, not the people
who went to the business schools, not the
people who became lawyers, not the people
who become even president. If we give them
the platform, it is the people who learn
about their culture who will be the
ambassadors.