Cutting a unique visual image in a fringed ankle length red dress juxtaposing mismatched patterns and red satin jacket, Angelique Kidjo made a rare local club appearance at B.B. King’s in Times Square, Thursday May 12th. The occasion was the release of Oyaya!, he new CD. Oyaya!, which means Joy in Yoruba-the third recording in a trilogy exploring the African roots of music of the Diaspora, makes the rhythmic connection between the Caribbean and Africa. Kidjo touched down on salsa, ska, konpa and calypso rhythms emphasizing organic rather than synthesized beats and succeeded, as she did with her attire, in making it work.

Latin, West Indian, and Creole influences all surfaced during the two-hour show. Kidjo showed some fierce dance steps in a tribute to Celia Cruz, “Djovanmin Yi” (Please Let’s Go Enjoy Life). Another “Mutoto Kwanza” used the fast choppy ska rhythms of Jamaica. Mutoto Kwanza she explained was inspired by a visit to a children’s hospice in Tanzania where the kids gave her the title of the song, it means Children First in Swahili, and made her promise that it be used in a song that you can dance to. The heat was balanced by smooth konpa and bolero based songs such as Nyin Wan Nou We and Dje Dje L’Aye that had the capacity audience swaying.

Kidjo, who sings mostly in African languages, began at a young age encouraged by her mother a theatre director in her native Benin. From the start she was drawn to a variety 0of musical influences particularly Cuban music and Indian music heard in films. She left Benin for France for political reasons and has been living in Brooklyn for the past four years. The trilogy continues her fascination with world music. “Oremi” drew connections from Africa to American Blues and Jazz and moved to Bahia, Brazil on “Black Ivory Soul” where she found deep language and cultural similarities to her homeland. One fan, Carol Taylor, called her a musical United Nations. The musical message is one of peace and the power of love. Kidjo told the audience she uses her gift to unite people, to leave behind hate and fear and to correct misconceptions here about Africa.

Kidjo is touring with musicians from Brazil, Martinique and West Africa, on Bass” Stephance Castry, Guitar: Rubens De L Corte, Drums: Latabi Diouani, Percussion: Davi Viera, and Keyboard: Thierry Vaton. Known for her innovative use of technology, the music was rooted in on drum and percussion instruments. Kidjo told Im-hotep Gary Byrd in an interview on the Global Black Experience “Traditional music would not exist today if it did not evolve with the times.” What did she learn from her explorations? “Things haven’t changed that much…Like the slave days they had the voice and they had the drum.”

The highlight of the evening for some was the opportunity to get up onstage and dance to the beat of the drums as Kidjo continued to sing surrounded by her fans. You can’t buy joy, Kidjo said, but it can be shared and it was in abundance at B.B. King’s.