Kofo the Wonderman, a name which I will fondly conjugate to ‘Kofo Wonder’ in this write up, is exploring some new musical terrain on this his new EP release. Kofo Wonder’s artistry is informed by his heritage in Juju, Apala/Fuji and Highlife, the more popular Yoruba urban music of Nigeria, and also in his many years mastering the Yoruba Talking Drums (Gangan), of which he is the foremost exponent. Living in New York City and playing with musicians from a plethora of musical traditions and genres has brought out the musical explorer in Kofo Wonder. His two previous releases were notable for their exciting fusion of Jazz, Gospel and R’nB mixed in with his heritage music. However, nobody could have predicted this new exploration into the the edgier side of Americana. We are talking here of the Southern/Roots Rock style of Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Eagles and The Allman Bros. And it does not end there. At the risk of raising the ire of music fans, critics and purists alike, he has given us his version of the Jimi Hendrix’s staple “Hey Joe”, while simultaneously channelling Johnny ‘Cougar’ Mellencamp. Starting at top, the first song, “Baba”, is a mellow guitar juju-highlife. It is also a praise and worship song with its customary call and response. However the interjection midway of a symphonic rock guitar melody soon alerted us to this new listening adventure. The rock guitar line fitted right in place and added a new infectiousness to the song. “Fire in the World”, one of the overt southern rock arranged songs, employed the arpeggiated electric guitar in tandem with a blues harmonica. The rock n roll edge highly complemented the song’s political message: A plaintive call for the world to repent, otherwise be engulfed in flames of global annihilation. The deployment of sax and the ubiquitous percussions also lent it a touch of Afro-beat. The songs familiarity comes from sharing its anthemic line with that of a fellow Nigeria musician, Majek Fashek, but they are totally different songs and of different genres. “Hey Joe”, the Jimi Hendix’s staple, is a straight up and a praise worthy rendition, done in a southern rock mode. Kofo’s voice here though gruffer and a lower tenor share some stylistic elements with Mark Knoepfler’s or John Mellencamp’s. The harmonica player on this piece is channelling Stevie Wonder in its soulfulness. Jimi would surely have been thrilled to hear an African brother doing great percussive justice to his song. “Oro” is a sweet Yoruba Juju Highlife, that employs a veritable male gospel harmony choir exchanging verses with the lead singer. However it is the lilting melodious and danceable guitar lines over conversing percussions that make this song so enchanting. This then is the album’s siren song. “Bang it Loud”, lives up to its name as a Yoruba percussion fiesta tune. This instrumental jam is introduced with a rock guitar sheet of sound and is lovingly serenaded by a lyrical tenor sax giving it that Afro-jazz dance flavor as at a Manu Dibango’s session. “Ile-Aye” is a percussion hoedown. It is sung and chanted in Yoruba, with a strong traditional call and response like an Apala song over Juju arrangement. This is however done as a futuristic club friendly beats per minute tune, replicating a Mickey Hart’s type programmed grooves, guitar-on-pedal ambient effects and synth and guitar melodies. It’s a worthy companion piece to the popular Planet Drum releases of Zakir Hussain and Mickey Hart. Overall, there is an unexpected cohesiveness to this multilayered output and praise should be showered on the artist, his musician and his producer for this achievement.