Album Notes

Jujuba Press Releases...

The Oregonian - article by Marty Hughley, June 26, 2006:
"Drawing A Crowd And Filling The Dance Floor"

"...by a few songs into Saturday's opening set by the band Jujuba, what had been a half-dozen dancers had transformed into a floor full of fans, deeply engaged in the groove.

Jujuba is a Portland group led by Nigerian immigrant Nojeem Lasisi, a master of the talking drum and a former member of King Sunny Ade's African Beats, one of West Africa's most illustrious bands. His own 10-piece band includes players from such Portland groups as the jazz band Flatland and the samba troupe the Lions of Batucada, transformed into a credible Afrobeat and juju ensemble.

Its set on Saturday featured long, churning grooves built atop burbling bass lines, with cross-thatched rhythm guitar and multiple layers of percussion. Dynamics came from Lasisi's emphatic accents on talking drum -- a pitch-adjustable drum, also called kalungu, that mimics the tonalities of speech -- and charging horns that split the difference between battlefield heraldry and James Brown-style funk. Sprinklings of jazz-inflected solos and Lasisi's occasional vocals in Yoruba completed the recipe, but the heat and flavor was all in the groove.

Out on the floor, those dancers danced best who danced with hips more so than with feet (or, as was the case with one especially enthusiastic young woman up front, with elbows)."


Jambase Review:
(Referring to a performance at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, OR 2/18/06)

“…Jujuba, a power-house Nigerian style afro-beat band featuring Nojeem Lasisi, known for his time in Nigerian superstar King Sunny’s group, the African Beats. Nojeem and Jujuba have created a unique blend of African and Western music that has universal appeal and incredible live energy.”


Willamette Week
March 15, 2006

"Nojeem Lasisi and his 10-piece band Jujuba will steep you in the juices of the funkiest stew around. Their jazz, funk, reggae, Afro-Cuban and Samba deep beats mean the rooster-neck bop just isn't enough: your whole body must pulsate..."


Portland Mercury - Karla Starr, August 31, 2005

"...Jujuba ignites a more primal sense of movement. The funky, feel-good 11-member group's lavish use of drums creates tunes based on traditional Nigerian folk music that are sure to get you moving."