Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

So You Think You Can jam?

Q: When is a jam not just a jam? A: Whenever King Sunny Adé takes the stage. Here in the People’s Republic of Jam Bands, that’s perhaps a prickly proclamation. But the African superstar’s sonic explorations — which often exceed 40 minutes — are nothing short of epic. Adé trades in a breathtaking idiom known as juju, which fuses jaggedly melodic guitars with “talking drums” and a sort of “pre-electronica” foundation built on the breezy tones of Hawaiian lap steel. And by nearly all accounts, no one does it better than the man known simply in his native Nigeria as “The Chairman.” This Tuesday, the King holds court at the Higher Ground Ballroom with his band, The African Beats. Local Fela Kuti loyalists Movement of the People open the show.