The Wazumbians 2024 American tour
The Wazumbians, from Accra Ghana, performing at Drom on Avenue A in Manhattan.
The Wazumbians funky highlife grooves and dynamic stage show have put them at the forefront of African bands currently touring the states. Touring is critical to their strategy to reach audiences. Unfortunately the 2024 US tour was marred by visa issues that forced the band to cancel most of their festival dates and has limited performances to the Northeast.
The Wazumbians perform at the 2023 International African Arts Festival in Brooklyn
The Wazumbians, from Accra Ghana, performing at Drom on Avenue A in Manhattan.
Our first opportunity to catch this 5 member lineup came at Drom in Manhattan’s East Village August 15th. The Accra based collective led by Francis performs locally with over 20 musicians on stage. The set began with AyaKataa propelled by a truncated Afrobeat rhythm. The audience filtered in to the cool space beneath Avenue A and was immediately engaged by Francis in call and response responding to lyrics sung in Akan, His interaction with international audiences is a chance to teach people about his culture, and seeing people dance to the rhythms native to Africa are what inspires him as an artist.
The Wazumbians, from Accra Ghana, performing at Drom on Avenue A in Manhattan.
From Accra, Ghana, The Wazumbians have built up a fan basse here, over the past three years. The visa problems, however, prevented the band from confirming dates for this summer’s festivals. Most require touring musicians to confirm an approved work visa with a photo. This year the ACANA festival provided a letter of invitation, however due to the lengthy process, other deadlines passed leaving the band marooned, and depriving audiences from experiencing their dynamic live performances.
Wazumbians 2024 US tour schedule including cancelled dates
So the Wazumbians, a six member configuration, have been performing in the Northeast since their arrival and exploring recording a couple of songs here, for their upcoming release. Recent shows included the ACANA festival in Philadelphia and the Brooklyn International Music Festival. Upcoming are shows include August 15th at Drom in the East Village, August 23rd at Shapeshifter in Brooklyn, August 31st at Wakanda Fest in Mt Vernon , and September 20th-30th in Cartagena Colombia. Afromondo productions (Afromondo@aol.com) is booking additional dates
The Wazumbians performing "I Love Yor Babe" at the Brooklyn International Music Festival at the Jalopy Theater.
"Afrofusion" is how leader Francis Chapman Abban-Hagan describes his sound, sharp grooves based in Highlife, Afrobeat and indigenous rhythms. The current set Francis says, includes two songs to be released on the upcoming album, a funky highlife tune "Happy Yourself" and "Wala Fa Whye" a straight highlife song about stubborn children and a father who must discipline them.
Francis Chapman Abban-Hagan, bandleader of the Wazumbians, performing during his 2023 tour stop at SOBs in Manhattan
A core group of five musicians are backing Francis Chapman Abban-Hagan, more broadly known as “Wazumbi”. The Wazumbians debuted as a band in 2016, however, it wasn’t until the pandemic, that they began broadcasting Jankalanga events on Facebook. Francis told us “Jankalanga is a festival I created to present Africa rhythms, melodies, knowledge and stories, sometimes alone sometimes with other artists.” Using analytics, they discovered, their fanbase was more international, than local.
Jankalanga performance from Accra's +233 Jazz Bar and Grill
As for the visa problems, Francis says “ It doesn’t discourage me, but all the stress doesn’t help” After petitoning the USCIS, and providing documentation and letter of invitation from sponsors, the artist must then apply for an interview with the US DOS at the embassy in their home country. As repeat work visa holders, “Couldn’t we just renew after USCIS approval rather than apply for a new interview? he wonders. “It doesn’t make sense.”
The Wazumbians, from Accra Ghana, performing at Drom on Avenue A in Manhattan.