San Francisco World Beat, Afropop By the Bay
It's a little-known fact that the San Francisco Bay Area was home to the first major live Agrican pop music scene in America. As far back as the early '70s, such luminaries as trumbet maestro Hugh Masekela and the Ghanaian band Hedzoleh Soundz lived and perfromed here. By the '80s, Nigeria was in the mix, with O.J. Ekemode, Joni Haastrup (then an alumnus of Ginger Baker's Air Force) and Kotoja packing area clubs like Ashkenaz in Berkeley. So began the wave of "San Francisco World Beat" with Zulu Spear, Mapenzi and other local bands channeling Zimbabwean and South African sounds--and all this before the appearance of Paul Simon's Graceland album. We revisit this history with Kotoja founder Baba ken Okulolo as our guide. Great tunes and stories from a memorable bygone era. That's Sunday at noon on 90.5 WCBE Columbus.