Weekly Trust (Kaduna)
Odoh Diego Okenyodo
5 July 2003
Somehow, Bowie and his group manage to look like an army. Maybe a military band. In another way, they also appear to be gyrating behind oil barrels, some in their wholesome cylindrical shapes, others cut to about two-third the barrel's height, while the ones in the front row consist of about one-third top of the barrel. That's the steel band, one of the most interesting contraptions for making pleasant sound one can rarely see around. There are no electronic instruments here, but the steel drums play everything, ranging from bass - heavy bass! - to the highest of notes, so you don't miss the keyboard.
Before the Xcel Steel Band performed last weekend in Kaduna, they had been in town for days, rehearsing. They were around for a wedding which reception ceremony would draw the Kaduna State governor's wife, the chief of army staff and other crème de la crème. The rehearsals took place at the Costain Club, Kabala, the resort built by the late highlife maestro Bala Miller. Approaching Costain when Xcel was at work was stunning and unsettling for anyone who understands showbiz and knew the state of disrepair of the Costain Club. Loud music, like from some state-of-the-art concert equipment came out of the club. Bearing in mind the cost of renting concert equipment, contrasted with the limited capacity of the club, one could not imagine anybody hoping to make money by taking such equipment there.
But not until you walk the dark ways that lead into main bowl of Costain and see about twenty young men enjoying themselves with strange musical instruments. They looked like ritualists performing some rites because, in the absence of microphones and loud speakers, as the vocalists rehearsed their parts drowned in the mass of instrumentation, they created an incantatory effect. At intervals, a 'chief priest' would be impressed with the way a particular part was played and he would rummage in his pockets for a N500 note and place it on the forehead of him in whom the chief priest was pleased. That was Bowie, the owner of the band, who displays so much life, playfulness, and deftness at the business side of music as well as motivation of men.
Then they delved into Blessed Is the Hand That Giveth, by Lucky Dube. "Dunbu - dundun, dunbu - dundun, dunbu dundun," sang the bass, coming from four barrels. Is this a jazz band? Or some UB40 kind of group? To answer, Xcel Steel Band does a steel version of some Evi Edna track, then some highlife with vocals and trumpet, following swiftly with the popular Jamaican Farewell. After these, they plunge into Hausa songs like the popular "Yayi," featuring vocals by a Kaduna-based singer, Zwahu. They flowed!
At the wedding reception on Saturday, 14th June, Xcel was at their best. A society wedding, between Gideon, the son of a retired Reverend Colonel Zemo Audu, and Aisha, daughter of late Lt. Col. Musa Bitiyong, the roll call of dignitaries was breath-taking. There were the chief of army staff, the wife of the Kaduna State Governor, former ministers, and the likes. These stars shone so much they were supposed to drown Xcel Steel Band's outing; but not so. Bowie, a former Military Band member (after leaving the Nigerian Military School in 1987) led his army to victory. They played with unprecedented gusto, Bowie spanking the steel cello, in the middle rank of his platoon. Faced with four steel drums when he played, Bowie appeared to be rowing the boat against the tides in a dangerous gorge.
The battle charge of the music was complete with whole sections of Kalangu to the right, wind instruments including the trumpet and trombones on the left flank, while vocalists charged ahead. The music that came out from the amplifiers was smooth, sounding like studio-processed recordings. The audience was impressed - stunned, to be precise, because all they did was ask for contact addresses for the group. Soon, Xcel was engaged in various places in the North, from Kaduna to Kano.
How did Bowie feel? "Well, everywhere we have gone, people have been amazed, because over ninety percent of Nigerians haven't seen this before," said Bowie S. Bowei, who started the 22-man band in June 2002. Before then, Bowie had been into business, like balloon décor and had worked with the ABU Teaching Hospital, Kaduna as renologist from 1995 to 1998. When he left those vocations, Bowie said he felt like going into music, which he had gotten involved in, in 1987, just after he left the Nigerian Military School, Zaria and got posted to military band. This was where he fell in love with the steel drums and first thought of having such a band. "However," Bowie added, "my first time of seeing a steel band was during Festac'77. And so when I thought of having a band, I just knew that I didn't want to have just what everybody else was doing, so I made up my mind to go for steel band, no matter what it would cost me."
Determination then came into play. Bowie, who described himself as "very married, with two kids", said he got a specialist from Trinidad and Tobago who constructed the instruments in February 2002, and started training the boys in playing them. This took eight months. Now, there's a complete set of instruments, studio consoles, complete power source, in case of absence of power, a tour bus, and a whole lot of things to show that the man is ready for big-time music. Each drum has got a microphone, and, with vocalists, making a total of over 35 mikes. The group, on stage, is attired in some purple and lilac outfit, and the music is full of discipline. This is what makes the band so expensive to engage, at a worthwhile N200, 000. In December, a 'steel' album is likely to be released from Nigeria's first steel band. That is tentatively titled "Gospel Tunes by Xcel Steel Band", and would contain medleys of popular tunes. An album of their compositions may soon follow.
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