Afro National

Über Afro National

Afro National formed in Freetown in 1972, when bandleader Sulay Abu Bakarr, his wife Patricia and Ayo Roy Macauley left the Sabanoh Jazz Band. The group blended highlife and jazz with local rhythms, and their first album moved between Krio, Temne, Mende, Susu and Pidgin English from song to song. Sonjo, a 1975 single sung in Mende, became one of the best-loved Sierra Leonean records of the decade. The band toured Africa and Europe in the 1970s and worked with producer Akie Deen. By the end of the decade Sulay and Patricia had moved to Maryland in the United States, while other members settled in London.