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Waffu snafii puts unique club in limbo
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Somerville Journal, Waffu snafii puts unique club in limbo >>
JAZZ/WORLD MUSIC
BOB YOUNG
African music has mixed results in finding a home in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville
Wanted: venue owner ready to host hip, mature, diverse local audience on regular basis.
Qualifications: space must be able to hold at least 200.
Benefits: build on established event currently seeking new home.
If interested: contact Obain Attouoman at(617)592-6450 or clubwama@aol.com.
Lake a nomad in the desert, the long running African dance party event called Club Waffu has been moving from temporary spot to temporary spot ever since it ended its six-year run at Estelle's in Boston last year.
'It's been a lot of moving around," said Attouoman. "After Estelle's we were in Lynn, then Maiden, then two places in Cambridge."
While there are a handful of other events catering to local audiences from specific African countries. Club Warm has been one of the few that's served as a regular magnet for both pan-African and non-African crowds.
That it's on the hunt for a new home again says as much about the state of African music locally as it does about the event run by Everett resident Attouoman.
"Boston is still a tough city despite the large immigrant presence," says Julia Goldrosen, host of the radio show
"Africa Kabisa!" broadcast on WMBR-FM every Sunday from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
"There are far more Africans here in Boston now than a decade ago, but it seems more difficult to get access to venues. It's a shame that owners seem not willing to take a chance on African nights because they attract a really eclectic crowd."
Up in Lynn on Friday nights, D'Marco's Cafe just began hosting Club Serengeti, where the DJs spin a range of African styles and consequently attract crowd of transplanted Tanzanians, Kenyans and others. On Wednesdays, the Dodge Street Bar and Grill in Salem holds a West African event hosted by percussionist Mamadou.
Yet most of the other events in and around the Hub these days target specific crowds. Kenyan night takes place every other Thursday, including Jan. 20, at the Middle East in Cambridge. And the VFW in Waltham hosts Ugandan night on Saturdays.
Presenters like World Music, who bring in occasional bigger name acts like Mali's Habib Koite (Jan. 29, Somerville Theatre) and Senegal's Orchestra Baobab (Mar. 18, Somerville Theatre), tend to draw as many if not more non-Africans to their shows as Africans.
The Hub's African music scene in 2005 is simply far different than it was back when King Sunny Ade was a regular in town, Nightstage hosted a steady stream of stars from that continent, and local African nights seemed to be springing up everywhere.
What's happening?
Besides owners needing to be convinced that African events will draw well enough to be profitable, Goldrosen points to an uninspiring 2004 on the African recording front as well as ongoing post-9/11 visa restriction issues that make it harder for bands to perform here.
And beyond Goldrosen's WMBR program, there are very few media outlets in town geared towards the city's African community.
Tanzanian native Eddie Rashid of Club Serengeti cites a growing interest by Africans here in Western styles like hip hop, and the fact that many local club owners are now stressing Latin nights heavily. The owners of D'Marco's dropped one of the club's four Latin nights to make room for Serengeti.
'The Hispanic market is so big that a lot of the owners want to get into that," says Attouoman, who moved here from the Ivory Coast 12 years ago. "The African scene is being shut down because of the big demand for Latin music."
Musical trends tend to go in cycles so Attouoman, Rashid and others are still optimistic that demand will eventually pick back up for their mix of soukous. Congolese rumba and myriad other sounds from both East and West Africa.
Attouoman is currently talking with management at the Holiday Inn in Somerville about reviving Club Wafiu there.
"Africa is not an economic power," says Attouoman. "But one of the things that we can share with the world is its culture. Music is part of that and we can connect with the rest of the world through it"
01/13/05
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