Over 7,000 miles separate Sitka, Alaska from Okaidja and Neindow's origins in Ghana. But the global connections which drew these two musicians to reside in Portland have recently brought their art to our own town. The lights shined down upon them in Sitka's beautiful Performing Art Center on Friday night. From the perspective of an audience member, it was curious to see how seamlessly another country's music fit into the Western conventional framework of a red curtained stage. Then the music started, and as foreign words echoed through the theater and foreign beats swept us all into one rhythm, for the space of two hours it was easy to imagine yourself alongside the barefoot musicians in some warmly remembered village. 

Okaidja takes a particular pride in demonstrating how Shokoto can fuse with local flavors. Friday's performance incorporated two guest acts. Okaidja first invited local guitarist Hank Moore to the stage to join him. As the second surprise, Ghanaian rhythms challenged and intertwined with the jazz of SFAC Director Roger Schmidt's own trombone.

The big show on Friday night was not the only time that Shokoto performed for Sitkans. Wednesday and Thursday included Assembly performances at local elementary schools Baranof and Keet Gooshi Heen. In preparation for their guests' arrival, many of the teachers educated their students on the history, geography and music of Ghana. These prior lessons and the charisma of Okaidja are both to thank for the high level of engagement of the young audience. Jeanine Brooks, a counselor for the Sitka School District, said that a Kindergarten teacher told her, "Wow that was the first assembly with our students when all of the students asked meaningful questions during the question and answer time." Questions ranged from what do you eat in Ghana to what time is the performance on Friday? When told the show was at 7pm the audience showed considerable anxiety, and the questioner exclaimed, "Oh no! That's my bedtime." However, there were quite a few younger members in the audience on Friday, so it seems that some parents granted special permission to stay up late.

Jeanine also noted that one fifth grader told her, "That was a really, really inspiring performance. Okaidja made us all listen carefully and then he showed us his drummer who wasn't from Ghana and told us that we could do anything we wanted with our lives." The fairer skinned Chaz presented a bit of an anomaly on the stage alongside Ghanaian Neindow and Okaidja. But rather than allowing one of his group members to be the elephant in the room (or on the stage), Okaidja makes a deliberate point to call attention to it. What is this white American doing wearing the clothing and playing the music of Ghana? The answer would seem to be that he is making a life, and doing a really superb job of it. In their music and in their existence as a social entity, Shokoto is teaching us that we can cross the boundaries of culture and convention. When the students of Sitka look back on this experience, they may not remember the Ghanaian words which Okaidja taught them, but they may remember how he opened a new world to them and new opportunities of which they can dream. And they may not become Ghanaian drummers themselves, but they may remember the time they took a break from their lesson books to dance and clap to a new beat.  

Shokoto had the 2-5 graders of Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary stand up to dance at Thursday's Assembly. They met a similar reception from the K-1 graders of Baranof Elementary.