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They could have danced all night
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Philadelphia Inquirer, They could have danced all night >>
The joint was jumping long before the star of the show graced the stage. When the headliner is King Sunny Ade, the royal architect of juju music, the "Minister of Enjoyment," as he's known in the motherland, even anticipation is celebratory. The waiting - the festive fellowship and posturing - is all part of the buildup or olili, Igbo for happening.
King Sunny is to Nigerians what James Brown has been to Americans. He's a showman, known worldwide aas Nigeria's musical ambassador. At 58, he's still an innovator. His records have sold millions, with Afropop music that is pulsating, fresh and delectably danceable.
Once King Sunny starts he goes all night. Saturday night's concert was supposed to end at 3 a.m. "but we might go until 8," Ade warned.
Nigerians knew it. That's why many of them, transplants who live in Philly, trickled into the LEgendary Blue Horizon closer to midnight than the official start time of 9 p.m., decked out in their finery. The women wore colorful Yoruban dresses made of hand-stitched African cloth and geles, Yoruba for head wraps, to match.
-Annette John-Hall 03/29/05
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