Johnson Adjan and his Opiri Group of Orhokpo – Me Ra Ighorokpe – MELP 006 (LP)
For the Urhobo People in the Delta State in Southern Nigeria, where the mighty Niger River traverses their heartland, many of the traditions and activities revolve around water. For example, the Ohworhu water spirit festival in Urnenurhie, celebrated with dancing, music, and masquerades. Their traditional rituals and ceremonies center on the worship of Oghene (God) and the ancestors, and the interaction with the divinities with their own symbolic powers, to maintain a cosmic balance.
This rare album by Johnson Adjan and his Opiri Group of Orhokpo features Adjan’s powerful voice, harmonically-rich backing vocals and mellow drums and percussion. This understated and reflective music, with a unique, well-defined musical signature, goes to the very heart of Urhobo identity, much like the music of Haruna Ishola and Yusufu Olatunji for the Yoruba, which we featured in several posts.
Les traditions et activités des Urhobo qui vivent dans l'État du Delta au sud du Nigéria, traversé en son cœur par le puissant fleuve Niger, gravitent souvent autour de l'eau. Tel le festival de l'esprit de l'eau Ohworhu à Urnenurhie, célébré notamment par des danses, de la musique et des mascarades. Les rituels et cérémonies traditionnels des Urhobo se focalisent sur le culte d'Oghene (Dieu) et des ancêtres, et l'interaction avec les divinités et leurs pouvoirs symboliques afin de maintenir l’équilibre cosmique.
Cet album rare de Johnson Adjan and his Opiri Group of Orhokpo présente la voix puissante de Johnson Adjan, des choeurs riches en harmonies et une polyrythmie fluide et douce à l’oreille. Cette musique méditative et toute en retenue a une signature musicale unique et bien définie, qui va au cœur même de l'identité Urhobo, tout comme la musique d'Haruna Ishola ou de Yusufu Olatunji pour les Yoruba, que nous avons présenté dans des posts précédents.
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"I grew up in a tradition where there are simply more dimensions to reality: legends and myths and ancestors and spirits and death. […] We like to think that the world is rational and precise and exactly how we see it, but something erupts in our reality which makes us sense that there's more to the fabric of life. I'm fascinated by the mysterious element that runs through our lives. Everyone is looking out of the world through their emotion and history. Nobody has an absolute reality."*
Ben Okri (b. 1959), one of Africa’s most celebrated writers, born to an Urhobo father and Igbo mother.
Photographs below are from Arts du Nigéria dans les collections privées françaises by Alain Lebas, 5 Continents:
Mask, Idoma People, Benue State:
Ogbodo Enyi mask, Igbo-Izzi People, Ebonyi State:
Dance crest mask, Ejagham (aka Ekoi) People, Cross River State:
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