Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars started as victims of war. For the past
decade they have toured the globe using their music to promote peace.
The All Stars, who performed a joyous rain-soaked set at the 2007 Black
Swamp Arts Festival, return this year as one of the Saturday night main
stage headliners.
The band was born in turmoil. Civil war broke out in the Sierra Leone in
1991, at the instigation of Liberian strongman Charles Taylor.
Hundreds of thousands of people fled from Sierra Leone, many victims and witnesses to
brutal atrocities.
For Reuben Koroma and his wife, Grace, and some friends including
Francis John “Franco” Langba and Idrissa “Mallam” Bangura from the
refugee camps in Guinea, music provided an outlet in a time of pain.
Their music also provided some needed diversion for other refugees. A
Canadian relief organization provided them with some beat up amps and
guitars and sent them around to lift spirits.
Since 2006 when they released their first album and a film, aired on
PBS, documented their experience, Reuben Koroma and friends have been
lifting the spirits of listeners around the world.
The band has recently released its third album “Radio Salone” on the Anti- label.
The recording represents a departure from its predecessors. The first
“Living Like a Refugee” featured the pared down reggae sounds reflecting
the band’s earliest performances. The second “Rise & Shine” was
jazzier, horn-laden reggae.
Now with “Radio Salone” the band goes back to evoke more traditional
Sierra Leone sounds. While some of the original reggae groove is
evident, the band also provides healthy sampling of Goombay rhythms.
“Everybody who was born in Sierra Leone knows about goombay music,”
Koroma said in a recent telephone interview. “It’s everywhere, the
villages, the towns, the cities.”
It’s the soundtrack for daily life and special occasions, he said.
“We want the world to know that goombay music is very, very rhythmic music that
people will love.”
The shift to more traditional sounds was a response to what the band
learned from audiences. “We see that most of our audience loves African
music,” Koroma said. “They love to dance to African music, so we just
want to give them what they want.”
The All Stars aim to please, but they also have a message to
communicate. “We’re always trying to preach about peace and whatever has
to do with maintaining peace is our greatest pleasure,” he said.
Earlier this year the conviction of Charles Taylor was convicted in
international court, and prosecuted by Bowling Green State University
graduate Brenda Hollis.
“I feel very good about it because I feel justice has been done,” said Koroma. “That
will set an example” for others.
When the band played in New York City to a group of dignitaries
including former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, it made
Koroma feel like the All Stars’ message is getting out.
“To have big people like that appreciate your work is a great blessing,” he said.
Koroma and his cohorts could not have imagined this turn of fortunes
back in the refugee camps in Guinea. “When we started this thing it was
to have some fun and to make people around us happy,” he said, “Never
would we have thought this would have gone so far. … It all came by
surprise.”
The band that will come to Bowling Green is smaller than the ensemble
that visited in 2007. The All Stars, with two original members, tour as a
quintet with two guitars, bass, and keyboards. Everyone sings, Koroma
said. And before going out they have extensive practice sessions.
“I don’t think anything is missing,” he said.
The smaller band will also be a better fit for the smaller family
acoustic stage where the All Stars will play on Saturday before their
return to the main stage.
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