From its start, the title track Avoudé is high energy and upbeat. You want to dance, but also to take time to listen. The sound is a steady drum, a whirring electric guitar and a percussive undercurrent. At first, you might think: this is rock, but listen more.
The rhythms are nuanced. They are not afrobeat or reggae, but powerful, hypnotic, and those of Dogo Du Togo and the Alagaa Beat Band. It is their second album (released in November 2024). Their first album was acoustic, now like Bob Dylan they’ve gone electric. The impulse carries strong force. And the horns bring punch.
Think Osibisa, a 1970s high energy rock band whose music was often propelled by Ghanian rhythms, and you begin to build a sensory picture.
Full disclosure, I first started writing about Dogo du Togo’s (Massama Dogo’s) music twelve years ago. And I have interacted with him from time to time ever since. Back then, he was establishing himself as a guitarist and singer. He was based in Washington, D.C. with the Afropop big band Elikeh. But he longed to create music with more of a Togolese sound. He now splits his time between D.C. and his home in Togo, West Africa. We recently met over zoom to catch up and to discuss how his music has developed.
DJL: This latest album is more powerful than anything I have heard before from you. How come?
MD: I believe the strength comes from both my life experience and my experience as a musician. With Elikeh we did some things that were great and some that were not so great, and from that I learnt a lot. In Elikeh, I let the musicians be freer. Here, I am not letting them be totally free. I am directing them, because I have a very specific sound in mind. I have a vision. Some African music now is not as melodic as it once was – remember early Salif Keita. What I tried to do with this album was create energy and sweet melodies.
DJL: So you had a vision for this album before you recorded it?
MD: Yes, because for two or three years, I kept looking around to see what was going on in the current African music scene. I wanted to play something that sounded very different from anything that exists out there, even before I went into the studio.
DJL: Are you excited by this album?
MD: Yes, extremely excited, I was telling a friend that I believe I have finally found my way in music, not only because of the melodies, but also the beat.
DJL: On the first track, the music comes with such force that you are compelled to listen. That momentum is kept up all the way through the album. It does not let up. Can you tell us about Avoudé – the first track?
MD: Avoudé means struggle; everything you want in life, you have to work hard for it. You want money, you have to work hard. You want to become a great guitarist; you have to practice a lot. Everything is about work and focus.
DJL: That same focus and work ethic exists in you as a musician…
MD: I did not come from a musical family, not at all. It was important to get a good diploma and a good job. And to work. I was the only one of my siblings that was completely different. One of my siblings got piano lessons, but my father was concerned by my passion. He realized that I better not get lessons… From a young age, I always liked to do things that fed my spirit and gave me joy, more than do the things that society expects of you. Music feeds my spirit. So, I try to be focused and work hard at it.
Cut to the track “Africa” towards the album’s end. You hear a regular middle tempo four beat music with a multi-rhythmed repetitive one-measure cycle. There is a very characteristic cross beat set up by the group. They sing in a matching simple tonal melody, bright and cheerful. The harmony is almost unmoving—a kind of dirge, in that the same pattern repeats for almost the whole piece. This track uses the mami melody. We hear a rhythmic repetition that is used in the Voodoo culture of the area. The band are not Voodoo practitioners, yet they strive to draw their audience in with these hypnotic rhythms. Here, the vocal line and the rhythm are the two most important elements.
DJL: Can you tell me about the rhythms on this album?
MD: People on the music scene in Togo are playing reggae and funk beats, standard rhythms, these beats are well-known. So, if we put out a great album, and the beat is very regular, it is not going to stand apart from what’s already out there.
I listened to different Togolese beats, and I noticed something, they always, at a certain point of the drumming, make use of a quick double tap on the drums, among other things. You hear this in Kinka, Agbadza and Bobobor (names of different traditional rhythms) … So, when I first went to the musicians with this idea of using the double snare as an important part of our music, they didn’t like it, because this rhythm was new to them. But after we played a few times, they realized there was something to this.
On the album, you hear that double snare on the tracks Avoudé and Africa from beginning to end. The rhythm is one of the main things on this album that is driving people to like it. They may not know why they like it, but you don’t hear this beat often.
It is what we call Alagaa Beat, Alagaa means ‘trance’ in Ewe. And that’s why I called the band Alagaa Beat Band. The Alagaa beat brings immediate energy. As soon as you bring it, it feels different, it takes you somewhere else. When you listen to this music, if you don’t get into a trance, then something’s wrong with you! I believe we have not played this beat enough on the album. (We both smile)
DJL: But it’s not only the beat, it is also the tone of your voice, the earnestness you bring to your singing that commands the listener’s attention.
MD: Something you should know is that on the previous albums I did, I would sing right after the first beat. On this album, I decided to sing right with the first beat, right on the one. And that was something new that I did.
DJL: So, it would be a mistake to say this is afrobeat, but when I listen to your voice, I do hear echoes of Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s singing. Does that resonate for you?
MD: One thing is certain; this music may not exist without Fela. Was I thinking about Fela’s afrobeat when I made this? No. But his influence is there so much that you don’t even have to think about it.
DJL: We know too that Fela’s lyrics were very brave and forthright about the injustices of his time. You are continuing a related lyrical thread. You are speaking the truth about how Africa is now. How, for example, the local governments do not create possibilities for many young people. You see youth getting on these boats desperate to leave the continent, often dying in transit, because they do not see any future.
MD: Yes, this has been happening for a long time in many countries in Africa. But what people like me can do is at least sing about it.
DJL: So that is very important to you, to sing about this?
MD: Yes, very, let’s talk about it.
DJL: I hear also the band Osibisa as a musical reference here. Do they inspire you?
MD: You know, I feel more connected to Osibisa than Fela even, because Osibisa were more Ghanaian, our neighboring country. They have more of the culture that we have in Togo.
DJL: And speaking of Togo, on this album we hear the lead guitarist Oya Yao. Can you tell us more about him?
MD: Yes, he is one of the best guitarists in Togo. He’s played with some of the top musicians there. He is great technically. I met him many years ago when I wanted to learn guitar. He and the percussion player in the Alagaa Beat Band, Ogrini Baladjé, were in a band together back then. I would go to hear them; stay there late, and then as a result he decided to teach me some guitar.
DJL: Is he a versatile guitarist?
MD: Yes, in Togo he’s very known for being aware of the traditional chants, the melodies that people sing in the village. He can transpose these onto guitar easily and make something out of them. And that’s why, for me, he’s the best guitarist. There’s a video we put out that talks about how he transposes the melodies.
DJL: And the album was recorded in forty-eight hours. How did that work? Did the musicians play in the same room together?
MD: Yes, we played first all together and then people who made initial mistakes would jump in to correct them. After that, we recorded the lead and the backing vocals.
DJL: Also, as you recorded under a very specific time constraint, you really had to perform.
MD: Yes, that’s it exactly
DJL: So, do you want to tour?
MD: Yes, the best thing that could happen to this music is to take it to fans worldwide. We are working on getting the band out of Togo in 2025. And if there are some promoters or presenters out there reading this, they can contact us.
DJL: What about the future of Togolese music?
MD: Well, I know it’s now, now you are starting to really hear the music of Togo. Because you know for the longest time, you did not hear about bands from Togo. You quickly heard of bands coming out of Mali, Senegal, and Ghana. But Togo? I hope that with the Alagaa Beat Band people will see that there is something very different coming out of Togo.
Links for the bands:
DOGO:
Elikeh:
(headline image: Dogo du Togo – Photo by Wilfried Good Eyes.)
Author: Dorothy Johnson-Laird
Dorothy Johnson-Laird comes from a long line of musicians, including a music teacher in the 1820s in England. As a child she trained in both classical and jazz piano. Dorothy has a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. At New School University, she was the Research Assistant for a course taught on gender issues and women in blues music. Dorothy’s passion is African music. She was formerly a regular contributor to worldmusic.about.com.