Benue Artist Debuts Spanking New Bantu Gospel Albums "TAR USHA" & "YESU HEMBA".

As Nigeria consolidates her position as Africa’s entertainment capital, an artist is using gospel music to draw the connections between southern Africa and one of Nigeria’s largest ethnic groups, the Tiv.  Through the instrumentality of two CDs released late October 2014, Ter Allam, popularly known as Vancouver, traces the Tiv historical journey to the present day in music, reminiscent of the renowned South African theatrical performance Umoja.

In Umoja: The Spirit of Togetherness, a South African theatre company traces South Africa’s history by the changes in the country’s musical culture from pre colonial,  through Apartheid to the post Independence eras. This technique has held audiences enthralled for nearly two decades and it’s no surprise that Ter Allam,  a thoroughbred theatre director has deployed this in music.

Referring to his brand of gospel music as Bantu, Ter Allam said in an interview on NigeriaInfo radio that Bantu music is about drums and percussion instruments. “I’m making the audience to discover these roots,” he told NigeriaInfo  OAPs Ben200 and Georgina, “and I’m taking it to where it belongs, and that is the church.”

And the music rings true, especially if you get hooked on the title track of the first album, Tar Usha,  which means Heaven in Tiv. It’s a very danceable tune with haunting congas that draw one into a praise mood. Its words say, “Heaven! I’m going to Heaven/I’m going to meet Jesus, my Saviour”. It’s the kind of message that’s no longer emphasised in today’s mundane Christian life. But Tar Usha will surely be Ter Allam’s hit song, even though a number of tracks are vying for that crown.

If you listen to the soulful “Thank You Lord”, for instance, its neo-reggae feel is immediately familiar territory but Ter Allam’s relaxed but high pitched vocals sit within drums and flutes like a bird in a straw nest, whistling gratitude to God early at dawn. It will be an easy favourite song just like the wedding song “Be My Bride”, which is Ter Allam’s response to a scarcity of real Christian songs that can be played at wedding receptions. These songs contrast with the meditative, worship mood of Yesu Hemba, the album that carries the soul of the NKST Church tradition in which Ter Allam was bred.

The essential theme of these albums, Tar Usha and Yesu Hemba,  is leadership though history and love. The latter can be gleaned from the artist’s never fading love for his late mother who not only taught him how to sing but wanted to duet with her son on the Yesu Hemba album for which she wrote the title track before her death seven years ago. She was a church choir leader and wife of a renowned pastor who predeceased her.

Ter Allam at NigeriaInfoFm

Released on the stable of iRecord, a new label that promises new kinds of music and poetry performances, Ter Allam’s two Bantu gospel albums are together a worthwhile introduction to iRecord and to music that have social purpose. Most significantly refreshing is the fact that this sound comes with very minimal use of autotune, giving a confident, natural effect. This resonates with iRecord’s motto which is “sound.simple.”