Baoku Moses, a Yoruba native from Nigeria, West Africa came to the United States in 2002 with a band to play a festival in Florida. Following the show, with a two year work visa in hand, he decided to take advantage of the "opportunity of a lifetime" to work and experience the United States, so he relocated with the band to New York City.
"To us it was paradise on earth," he recalls. But his visions of what the US offered were quickly countered with images of someone less fortunate picking through a garbage can on the streets of New York City.
Two months later, with few opportunities in New York the band dissolved but Moses managed to connect with good friend James Asokere in Cincinnati. "A master drummer" according to Moses, Asokere had come to the US several years before and settled in Cincinnati while continuing to tour to Chicago and Canada for shows. He suggested his friend come try out Cincinnati.
Moses made the move and found a job with
Bi-Okoto Dance & Drum Company. Prior to coming to the States, Moses had trained as an actor and dancer, working with various national theatre groups in Nigeria.
"I was too tall to be a dancer, so I started playing drums," he says.
Previously, Moses had been a part of Ivory Ambassadors, a top touring Nigerian group that performed traditional West African dances and drumming. He learned 25 different dances from different regions of Nigeria during his five years - training that would serve him well later.
His true inspiration came when Afrobeat pioneer,
Fela Kuti passed away in 1997. Kuti, a musician, composer and ardent human rights activist, was known for his supercharged, politicized grooves that shaped the attitudes and views of generations of Africans.
"When Fela was alive his music was banned - no radio or TV - and I wasn't rich enough to be able to go to his concerts, I was too poor to do that. But after his death they released the ban on his music," Moses recalls. It was Kuti's activism that inspired a young Moses to ultimately start writing songs.
"Back in Africa, music is the voice of the people and when Fela started Afrobeat in the late 60's he was that voice," he says.
Largely unknown in the United States except by ardent music fans, Afrobeat does have a following in larger, more diverse metropolitan areas like New York, Chicago and Atlanta. Moses says Afrobeat is more accessible than its popularity here would imply, likening it to "big band jazz played with African instruments."
With a handful of songs and several years of playing live music under his belt, Moses recorded his first CD with local musician Rob Fetters (Bears/psychodots) in 2004. In envisioning his first musical project, Moses had searched online and found
Fetters. Fetters, a well-known guitarist, songwriter and musical producer helped make Moses' disc, entitled "Okodoro Oro, The Realistic Reality," exactly that.
"Making Baoku's album was hard-working bliss from start to finish. Every musician played as if the future of the universe depended on it; total heart, soul, and commitment to his musical and spiritual vision," Fetters says.
Fetters even arranged for some of the city's top session musicians to contribute, including fellow Bear/psychodot drummer
Chris Arduser, jazz great Randy Villars, and trumpeter Gary Winters.
With an album of original music under his belt, Moses set out to start a new band here in Cincinnati. He placed an initial ad in
CityBeat seeking participants for a drumming group. Surprisingly, his ad drew 12 like-minded (and not so like-minded) drummers, horn players, and guitarists. Once they began jamming together, the players took note of
Moses' CD and suggested a full-on Afrobeat group might be the best medium for the musician. Moses was hesitant to become the band leader for such a large ensemble given his previous "big band" experiences.
"Back in Nigeria to put a band together you have to be ready to pay them every time they show up for practice, every time they go to the studio or show whether you get paid or not. I wasn't sure I'd be able to afford it," he says.
But the musicians that make up Baoku's
Image Afrobeat Band, mostly white, with influences as diverse as rock, blues, and soul, embraced the music of their bandleader and formed a core unit that has maintained to this day - Moses says eight founding members are still together. Playing frequently at the
Blue Wisp Jazz Club, and at the
Northside Tavern, the ensemble can balloon to a 12 piece unit with several players coming and going depending on availability.
"We've come to describe my band as a church or mosque, the structure remains but people come and go," he laughs.
His newest musical venture is Baoku's Song for Peace, (B4Peace), a small drumming ensemble that will focus solely on African folk music. Two practices in, he envisions it as a multicultural, drumming ensemble that reflects his consistent message of unity. With both a Nigerian African and American African in the ensemble, he remains amazed at how color and background and even musical tastes can separate most Americans, even without something as significant as language as a barrier.
"Nigeria has 512 languages - yes we are the same color but we are totally different. Yet we share the same water and services and lands. But when they're speaking I have no idea what they're saying," he says.
Part of that wonder inspired Moses to found the
Cincinnati Unity Jam, celebrating its fourth installment this September 4th. Moses held the first Unity Jam last December, convincing artists with disparate musical backgrounds to come together for one show.
"I was working with a non-profit,
Unity Corps - they promote unity among all regardless of our differences. From that I learned that if you bring all this music together, their crowd will follow. That's the idea, unity through music," he said. Moses says a one-year anniversary festival will be held in December and feature music, art, food, and fashion.
Moses has recently taken up residence in the
Pendleton Arts Center in Over-the-Rhine, housing his cultural efforts under the umbrella of "
Baoku's African Village." Moses' space includes African fashion, fabric, jewelry, instruments and art imported from Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal.
"A lot of people are ignorant about things that come from Africa," he says. "When you check the National Geographic channel what it shows are bad things like hunger and war. Since I've been here part of what I wanted to do was have a gallery to showcase everything that comes from Africa that is good as well," he said.
And while Baoku's Village carries traditional crafted goods, he points to a pair of traditional Nigerian shoes made of rubber tire and tube pieces as a model for 'modern sustainability'.
"When they talk about recycle, recycle, recycle - Africans have been recycling for thousands of year. These shoes are what poor people wear at home, but here it's work of art. And these shoes last forever," he laughs.
Moses' ultimate goal is to have his own arts center combining everything he does under one roof, including a dance and drum studio, workshop space, and performance and recording rooms. With this kind of thinking, Moses, who currently lives in Northside, says he'll probably be sticking around Cincinnati for some time. He's eligible to apply to become a US citizen this year and will probably apply for dual citizenship.
"I'm adopting Cincinnati as my U.S. home," he says.
Photography by Scott Beseler.