Funmi Ti De

Funmi Olawumi has spent the last dozen years singing with various Nigerian ensembles including wedding party favourites the Queens of Lagos and, more recently, the Yoruba Women’s Choir. Her first solo album finds her spreading her wings on a pleasing Afro– pop set, rhythmically powered by the nine-strong Faaji Drummers of Nigeria, whose Yoruba talking drums chatter vivaciously throughout. The opener, ‘Ijo Ayo’, is unpromising, marred by a prominent and cheesy 80s-sounding organ part. But things get better.

‘Mo Dupe’ swings with an easy elegance that owes something both to South African township styles and to the sax-fuelled rumbas of Orchestra Baobab. ‘Imole Ti’ has a pleasing, jazzy ambience, led by electric piano and a terrific alto sax solo from Mike Aremu, underpinned by seething work from the talking drummers. ‘Amebo’ is the kind of bubbling dance tune you might find on a Kanda Bongo Man album and not even some more 80s-style keyboards can ruin the loveliness. ‘Ori Ade’ and ‘Funmi Ti De’ owe more to specifically Nigerian styles such as juju and Afro-beat, but one of the main attractions of the album is its span of pan-African styles. At times Olawumi’s surprisingly deep and somewhat masculine-sounding voice (vaguely evocative of the latter-day Cher) is buried too far back in the mix. But this is a satisfying solo debut by any account and a fine start to Biyi Adepegba’s Joyful Noise label.