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Jazzhole
BOOKS AND BEATS AT THE JAZZHOLE
Live music and literature come together at the Jazzhole – a bolthole of beats and books in Lagos. Chidozie Uzoezie reveals why a recent visit revitalised his love of reading.
The view from the outside doesn’t give much away, except for the random paintings on the wall. But as the sun sets far behind its golden rays, the door opens to what I call an evening of music from the masters. And as you walk in, the perfectly synchronised afrobeats filter into your ears. Your mind is at peace with what your ears perceive. And as you take your position surrounded by books, the soothing trans-cultural harmony puts your mind at ease as it caresses your body and soul, leaving you with an almost unquenchable craving for more. Now, that’s what you get on a typical gig-day at the Jazzhole Lagos. The gig days don’t come as often as they used to though, but that essentially takes nothing away from the Jazzhole.
For The Love of Reading For someone who writes so much, reading so much is a given. At least, that’s what people think. Personally, the last time I read with so much avarice was some years ago when I was writing my postgraduate dissertation at the University of East London, United Kingdom. I didn’t only want to make good grades, I also wanted to learn. And not even the wicked winter weather could stop me from frequenting the libraries. So walking into the Jazzhole Bookshop brought back those memories almost in one quick flash. Stepping into Jazzhole Lagos, for the first time, I wasn’t sure exactly what my expectations were. My feelings were mixed, at best. But all of that quickly gave way as soon as I made my first gaze. What my eyes met wasn’t like anything my mind had imagined, not even close. All my NOT YOUR REGULAR BOOKSHOP The Jazzhole in Ikoyi, Lagos
expectations, every bit of them, was exceeded by an exponential magnitude. My voracious literary instincts, which had hitherto been in hibernation, came alive. I wanted to read Just and Unjust Wars which first caught my attention, and then When God and Cancer Meet stared me in the face. And so did Grey’s Anatomy and The World in Six Songs. I was practically consumed by the fire of reading, and I wanted to read every book I set my eyes on, but that wasn’t even possible. My mind couldn’t stay on one book because my wandering eyes couldn’t stay off the rest. If you were in my shoes, you would do exactly the same.
Beyond The Ordinary Established in 1991, the Jazzhole Lagos is not your regular kind of bookshop where you go for
HUGE CHOICE The Jazzhole is crammed with books of every genre
back-to-school shopping. It’s not your regular bookshop for New General Mathematics for Senior Secondary or Quantitative Reasoning for Six Graders. No, Jazzhole is a lot more than that. It’s a bookshop for those who love reading, for authors and for record artists; it’s a bookshop for publishers and producers, and it’s a bookshop for collectors. It’s also a bookshop for the man on the street. In fact, it’s a bookshop for anyone seeking for inspiration.
There’s perhaps no book or record you can think of that is not (or has not been) stocked at the Jazzhole Lagos. It is the richest and the most comprehensive bookshop I’ve ever been to. The product range is incredibly comprehensive and all inclusive. From contemporary bestsellers like the multiple awardwinning Americanah by Nigeria’s Chimamanda Adichie to thoughtprovoking books like A Labyrinth of Kingdoms by Steve Kemper, your head will literally turn while you struggle to make a pick. There’s a huge pool of highly intellectual books in practically every field of human disciplines. From science to medicine, arts and even religion, the scope is wide, wider than your wandering eyes and your voracious mind will ever cope with.
The generations as well as the genres of music records on display will make you bow in respect, that is, after it has taken your breath away. There’s classical, there’s jazz, there’s highlife, there’s afro-pop and there’s everything in-between. If you want to travel back in time with oldies and evergreen tunes, there’s an endless collection to pick from. Whether you want to relax with Sweet Satisfaction from Midnight Express featuring
20 South Africa’s Yvonne Chaka Chaka or get high with a track from Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey and his Inter-Reformers Group, the Jazzhole Lagos has you covered. You’ll find Steve Harvey’s Sign Of Things to Come as well as the chart-topping It’s Over Now by America’s Luther Vandross.
If you’re looking for maringa palm wine music from Sierra Leone, or the popular soukous dance music from Congo, look no further than Jazzhole Lagos. And if you love it jazzy or even very jazzy, the Jazzhole Lagos will particularly interest you in more ways than one. From mainstream jazz to the avant-garde, you can never get it wrong. However, if you’re looking for the trendy and hippy stuff for the millennials, you won’t find them at Jazzhole Lagos. No, you won’t find Joro by Wizkid, neither will you find Brown Skin Girl by Beyoncé. These are not considered ‘good’ enough for the mature mind which Jazzhole caters for. The accent is on the past.
Connecting Cultures Through Arts Perhaps, the most remarkable realities about the Jazzhole Lagos are the panAfricanism and the transcultural connections between Africa, Europe and America. Beyond literary works, the Jazzhole Lagos takes you on a mental journey that transcends geographical boundaries while connecting cultures and people through music and arts.
Beyond books and records, the Jazzhole Lagos is known for many other things. It’s known for promoting cultural integration through music and arts. Perhaps, worthy of mention is the “Obsession” West Africa Jazz Tour with Céline Rudolph (from Germany) and Lionel
CAFE Break up the book browsing with a coffee
Loueke (from Benin). The music tour took the international duo through six African cities before berthing in Lagos with a live concert at the Jazzhole on 26 July, 2018. The concert was organised by the Goethe-Institut in co-operation with Jazzhole.
Jazzhole Lagos is also known for encouraging reading and the love of literature. It hosts book reviews, art exhibitions, film screenings and live concerts. It has hosted some of the finest international performing artists and groups including German-born Jazz pianist and composer, Hans Ludemann of Trio Ivoire, Lekan Babalola, the Master Afro-Jazz Percussionist and a two-time Grammy Awards winner, as well as Etuk Ubong Quartet, just to mention a few. Notable award winning authors have attended book readings at Jazzhole including Chimamanda Adichie.
Something For The Pallet Tea or coffee? Never mind, you can have both at Jazzhole Lagos. To be able to have a full dose of the Jazzhole experience, you’ll have to walk around a lot. Every single item will so grab your attention, that you’ll walk from item to item and accumulate miles without even realizing it. But if you work (or walk) up your appetite, the ‘little’ coffee café readily comes to your rescue. Here, you can grab a cup of smoothblended coffee, or green tea, with a piece of fine pastry.
Looks Can Be Deceptive You can’t judge a book by its cover, that’s what they say. Perhaps, that maxim should also apply to bookshops. The Jazzhole is a perfect example. Do not let the unassuming outside view deceive you. Stepping into the Jazzhole Lagos for the first time, you’ll fall in love at first sight. You’ll fall in love with the apparent harmonic trans-generational marriage between ancient and modern. You’ll love the perfect fusion between music, literature and arts. You’ll love the palpable serenity which sharply contrasts with the chronic madness on the adjacent streets behind you. You’ll love the almost moody ambience and you’ll love the afrocentric decor.
Parting Words The Jazzhole is an experience. Whatever your reason for visiting is, it’s nearly impossible to walk into Jazzhole Lagos and walk out the same. You can’t resist the mental transformation that will hit you. In fact, you will have to be a super sophisticated and hopeless arts snob to not fall in love with Jazzhole Lagos. If good music, good books and good art are your sorts of thing, then the Jazzhole Lagos is your sort of place. And if you can’t find it in Jazzhole, you probably won’t find it anywhere else in Lagos.
Other suggested reading
1. For The Love of Arts and Reading: The Jazzhole Experience
2. Connecting Cultures Through Music and Arts: The Jazzhole Experience
