afropop

Well I finally went out to one of Conakry's world famous nightclubs. First we pile into a car,then we stop at a shell station, there is a bad motorcycle wreck there , I do not know how badly anyone was hurt because it was Wongai Wongai time.(Wongai is an expression used a lot around illiterate americans by people responsible for their safety and well being, it means let's go lets go. ) Our house is named wongai bagata , painted on the front wall. Wongai bagata I am pretty sure means let's go music in sou sou. After the shell station we drove through crowed steets and suddenly we seemed to arrive downtown and the streets got quite and the traffic light. We stooped at what was easily recognisable to an american as a music club.It had cocacola and beer signs on the walls. There was a stage. There were waitresses who were taking orders for beer, soft drinks, and smoked fish and rice. They had posters of celebreties on the walls.(Jimi Hendricks ,Nelson Mandella, Iced T, Ice Cube,Malcolm X were the ones I could identify ] After a while the band started, the band was made up of an electric guitar (stratocaster}an electric bass a western drum set,and a vocalist.They played what seemed to me to be a wide range of songs. Our host said that the band was malinke people from upper Guinea near Mali. Some of their songs sounded like French Jazz ,some of their songs sounded like drum rythyms player on electric guitars ( emphisis on ostinato? ] some of there songs sounded like american pop [ [obvious emphasis on haromony suddenly noticeable by its inclusion] The club was very relaxed and there were other americans there who did not seem the least bit apprehensive about there surroundings. It in general seemed like a prosperous and well dressed urban crowd. After a while a Djembe player showed up and played with the band. I have not seen any bands here that they seeThen it was wongai time.