Najee, Joss Stone jazz up Lagos

The night began proper about 9pm, with an introduction of the national anthem, which was transformed to a smoothly sung tune. This was followed by host band Sweet Sounds singing a plea for peace. "All we need is peace," said the song, with the vocalist hitting high notes. Her own performance, though great, was matched by a six-year-old child singing a cover of Whitney Houston's Greatest Love of All', working the song's tricky turns effortlessly.


Last year at the first Runway Jazz event, former governor of Cross River State stole the show, performing popular tunes on his saxophone. This year, his daughter Xerona took over singing 'Freefalling', an original song with muted rock influences. Her voice suggested Alanis Morrisette and the lustre of midtempo rock from the 2000s. The delightful Yinka Davies sang 'Eko Ile' and worked some magic with Victor Uwaifo's 'Guitar Boy'.

There was a brief pause to allow for speeches, one given by the wife of the Vice-President Dolapo Osinbajo, who announced that her outfit cost 1800 naira (six dollars), emphasising the need for patronage of Nigerian designers. 


One of the night's headliners, Joss Stone, came on barefoot and clad in a red gown. "I'm Joss Stone," she said by way of introduction. Her voice rang clear in the arena, her vocals climbing up the walls of the Eko Hotel concert hall. 'The Look of Love', a late '60s number composed by Burt Bacharach and written by Hal David, followed. "A lovely, lovely song," Stone said. A mellow marvel, the song was rendered with only a guitar as accompaniment. It seemed an impromptu session and called for some intimacy, to which the blonde singer, hair past shoulder length, then enforced.  


"I feel so far away from you guys," she said, and moved closer to the audience. From there she performed her version of Willie 'Sugar Billy' Garner's 'Super Duper Love'. She left about an hour before midnight, her set enjoyably low-key. Models dressed by Jewel by Lisa walked on the stage, serenaded by the music of the aptly named Sweet Sound. 

At 11.50pm it was Najee's turn. A burst of live percussion and strings poured from the stage amid coloured lights. He took the stage in a white jacket, black pants and shades, playing the sax. His sound was pure, the different sections of his ensemble working well. Onstage an elaborate dancer with a guitar shook his head like a rockstar. Only a few minutes in, and Najee's performance was already an event. 


"Nigeria," the American shouted, "how you doing? I don't hear you Nigeria. How you doing?" Some noise came off as response. Smooth jazz has been criticised in some quarters and it was clear why Kenny G has been compared to Najee unfairly. Yet for anyone listening closely, there is an edge to Najee's music not easily found in Kenny G's. He did some moves on his instrument, indicating that he wanted to impress the audience as much as he wanted to play his music. The man wasn't taking his Grammy-nominee status for granted. 


"It is my second time coming to Nigeria, first time in Lagos." he said. And then a song about peace and love followed from the Just an Illusion album. A cool tune, it was the exception. Many of his songs on the night  rang with the force of major announcements. He played the eternal Anita Baker tune 'Sweet Love' and some more originals. He let the head-bopping guitarist Chuck Johnson get some of the spotlight that he couldn't steal by bopping his head. In a 2010 interview Najee spoke about his guitarist's showmanship. "Even if we do something different, if he's covering a song I may have done with somebody else, his own element is so natural and so easy," Najee said. "And he's just got such a great stage presence. No matter what he does, people love him." 

Although past midnight, most of the audience stayed on, a testament to the line-up at Runway Jazz. One of Najee's last songs was one that appeared to have been sampled by rapper Ja Rule and Bobby Brown years ago. A part of the audience sang along. 

"Are you ready to go to Paris with me," he asked the audience, and then he played 'Champs Élysées'. The song featured the heaviest percussion of Najee's set. Minutes later, local instrumentalist Yomi Oyelade joined the Grammy-nominated artist for a jazzy version of the national anthem. Jazz and Afrobeat share a filial relationship. And so it was then that Najee left and Dede Mabiaku, an acolyte of Fela, came on, capping a fine night of great music with an energetic Afrobeat performance.