BONGOS IKWUE AND
DOUBLE X
Wulu Wulu
Bik 001
* * * *
Nigeria’s Bongos Ikwue isn’t a household name in North
America, but if his U.S. debut gets half the airplay it deserves, he will be.
His baritone is as soothing as it is smooth, and as a stylist he’s a veritable
chameleon. He opens with “Kongo Soldier,” a jaunty Afrobeat celebration of
Nigerian peacekeepers returning home from the Congo. It’s one of several sung
in the Idoma language of his Nigerian kin. But Ikwue and band Double X don’t
dwell in any one place for long; “Kongo Soldier” also evokes reggae and funk.
Forget Pan-African; Ikwue is pan-everything. “Agango” is a taste of high-life,
the title track is an English-Idoma duet sung with his daughter as if it was
South African Township jive, and selections such as “How Long” and “Tell My
Girl” are like sexy Barry White soul with substance. He even dons a social
worker-meets-folklorist on “Ouno,” the tragic tale of a girl who dies from a snakebite
while gathering wood. There are fourteen tracks in all, every one a winner—even
one that was Nigerian soap opera theme song (“Cock Crow at Dawn”). At times
Ikwue sngs like the very voice of Nigeria; at others he could be a New Yorker
working the R & B charts. This is an album that’s joyful, even when the
content is sad, and one that’s as musically solid as it is diverse. You name
it–blues, light jazz, gospel, country, Caribbean, Afropop–and Ikwue integrates
it into his music. That he does so successfully is impressive; that he does so
seamlessly is a miracle. Above all there’s Bongos Ikwue’s buttery voice–one
whose tones will linger no matter what language he chooses.—Rob Weir
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