It's no secret that the roots of rock are African, but Ghanaian and Togolese Afrobeat band Elikeh is bringing it all back home and, with the aid of Amnesty International, to the forefront of D.C.'s consciousness.
The band's show Thursday night at DC9 is the first in what Elikeh hopes to turn into a series to benefit African nations in crisis.
"We're looking for ways to get our name out there and they're looking for ways to raise awareness [about the genocide in Sudan]," guitarist and vocalist Michael Shereikis said of partnering with Amnesty International. "I think part of the reason we want to keep the awareness up is that [Darfur] doesn't seem like a very likely candidate for any kind of mass, direct intervention from the world."
Shereikis, who spent time in the Central African Republic while he was in the Peace Corps, said the region, including CAR and its neighbor Sudan, is "such a forgotten area of the map."
"We'll hopefully help [Amnesty International's] efforts in Darfur and keep that discussion from fading out, as so many things do in our news cycle," he said.
Elikeh is the brainchild of Togolese guitarist and lead vocalist Serge "Massama" Dogo. Shereikis answered his ad in a local paper for a keyboardist and the band began to grow from there, inviting friends from other Afrobeat bands in the scene to join what eventually grew in complexity and musicianship to win the 2007 Washington Area Music Award for Best World Music Group, as well as a nomination for Best New Artist at the 2007 Togo Music Awards in Lomé.
"We're trying to bring back that 1970s, funky sound out of West Africa," Shreikis said of the band's influences, which range from 1970s London-based Afro-Caribbean band Osibisa and Afrobeat legend O.J. Ekemode to Bob Marley and The Wailers.
Elikeh is currently comprised of seven members - including bassist and AU alumnus Scott Aronson - and bolsters Dogo's English, Ewe and Kabye (Ghanaian and Togolese dialects) lyrics with guitars, percussion, keyboard and saxophone, not to mention reggae and jazz fusion sensibilities. Add the musicianship of members Frank Kulawale-Martins, who has toured internationally with Ekemode, and Tosin Aribisala, who is regarded as the best African drummer on the East Coast, and the resulting sound is less the New Age, breathy-synth-babble perpetuated by Enya's brand of "world music" and more a jazz-funk jam you can move to.
"We just played today at a plaza in front of the Ronald Reagan building [as part of the Woodrow Wilson Concert Series]" Shereikis said. "This music is real different from what you normally hear in those contexts so people really dig it. Even people that weren't expecting to, come to us afterward and are like 'Oh my God, we didn't know this sound was being played around here.'"
Elikeh and the musicians involved in D.C.'s African music scene have been operating largely underground and undetected by the general concert-going population for years. But according to Shereikis, that's beginning to change.
"I would have to definitely say [the scene is] growing, and Elikeh is a huge part of the equation," he said. "The guys that are playing in Elikeh are playing in other projects, too. So we're not competing with one another, but we're all kind of coming up together, and helping each other and sharing musicians ... and really kind of growing that African music scene here."
Elikeh's music is proof that Africa also exudes positivity and creativity, not just the negativity and destruction highlighted by the genocide, poverty and AIDS crises, Shereikis said.
Nigerian singer/songwriter Tolumide - a recipient of the 2006 Nigerian Entertainment Award for Best Female R&B Artist - will join Elikeh at DC9 this Thursday. Doors open at 8:30 p.m., and there is a suggested donation of $10. Proceeds benefit Amnesty International's campaign to end violence in Darfur.
You can reach this staff writer at hcrowe@theeagleonline.com.
