Jujuba - Same

The Band

Jujuba delivers a funky, danceable style of Nigerian Afrobeat and Juju music.  The strength of the eleven-piece revolves around its energetic cohesion between percussion, rhythm and horn sections.  Renowned for their ability to engage a wide variety of audiences, the band draws a dance floor full of smiling faces at every event.  

Jujuba features Nojeem Lasisi from Igbo Ora, Oyo State, in Nigeria.  He ranks among the world’s elite talking drum players.  Nojeem was given his first drum at age four by his father, also a master drummer, who handed down to Nojeem its powerful language.  As a member of Nigerian superstar King Sunny Ade's group, the African Beats, Nojeem toured the world and appears on numerous recordings with King Sunny, including "Seven Degrees North" and "Odu”.

Nojeem has settled in the Northwest and assembled Jujuba from local musicians who all share a true love for Nigerian music.  Their diverse experiences in a wide range of styles propel the project into new directions based on Afrobeat, Juju and traditional Nigerian folk music.  Nojeem Lasisi and Jujuba have created a unique blend of African and Western music they hope is enjoyable to all.

Since the fall of 2002, the band has elicited a strong flow of positive feedback from audiences, concert promoters, festival organizers and the press.  As Marty Hughley of The Oregonian puts it, “the heat and flavor was all in the groove.”  The joy Jujuba shares with its audiences encourages new material, a tighter connection and a growing energy from each show to the next.

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Reviews

The Oregonian - article by Marty Hughley, June 26, 2006:
"Drawing A Crowd And Filling The Dance Floor"

"...by a few songs into Saturday's opening set by the band Jujuba, what had been a half-dozen dancers had transformed into a floor full of fans, deeply engaged in the groove.

Jujuba is a Portland group led by Nigerian immigrant Nojeem Lasisi, a master of the talking drum and a former member of King Sunny Ade's African Beats, one of West Africa's most illustrious bands. His own 10-piece band includes players from such Portland groups as the jazz band Flatland and the samba troupe the Lions of Batucada, transformed into a credible Afrobeat and juju ensemble.

Its set on Saturday featured long, churning grooves built atop burbling bass lines, with cross-thatched rhythm guitar and multiple layers of percussion. Dynamics came from Lasisi's emphatic accents on talking drum -- a pitch-adjustable drum, also called kalungu, that mimics the tonalities of speech -- and charging horns that split the difference between battlefield heraldry and James Brown-style funk. Sprinklings of jazz-inflected solos and Lasisi's occasional vocals in Yoruba completed the recipe, but the heat and flavor was all in the groove.

Out on the floor, those dancers danced best who danced with hips more so than with feet (or, as was the case with one especially enthusiastic young woman up front, with elbows)."


Jambase Review:
(Referring to a performance at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, OR 2/18/06)

ââ¦Jujuba, a power-house Nigerian style afro-beat band featuring Nojeem Lasisi, known for his time in Nigerian superstar King Sunnyâs group, the African Beats. Nojeem and Jujuba have created a unique blend of African and Western music that has universal appeal and incredible live energy.â


Willamette Week
March 15, 2006

"Nojeem Lasisi and his 10-piece band Jujuba will steep you in the juices of the funkiest stew around. Their jazz, funk, reggae, Afro-Cuban and Samba deep beats mean the rooster-neck bop just isn't enough: your whole body must pulsate..."


Portland Mercury - Karla Starr, August 31, 2005

"...Jujuba ignites a more primal sense of movement. The funky, feel-good 11-member group's lavish use of drums creates tunes based on traditional Nigerian folk music that are sure to get you moving."

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Tracklist

01 Funky Juju 06:46
02 Jujuba 06:39
03 Kpanlogo 08:52
04 Flash 06:59
05 Afrobeat 07:33
06 Go Slow 05:54
07 Sidewinder 06:02
08 Emphasize 05:50
09 Mo Ri Ke Ke Kahn 06:00
10 Gbeyo Gbeyo 03:09