Acclaimed guitarist Didi Afana used to have a packed schedule. He has opened for Nelson Mandela’s Band in Namibia, shared the stage with such superstars as Stevie Wonder and, more recently, performed frequently at local clubs and in recording studios. These days, though, the only place you can hear him play is when he performs concerts with other musicians on the front lawn of his Evanston home.
Like most performers, Afana has seen his performance schedule wiped out by the pandemic.
“I used to play at The Wild Hare, one of the best reggae clubs,” Afana said. He also did a lot of studio work and played at a church, which closed due to the pandemic.
“It’s hard,” he declared.
Afana has performed two front lawn concerts in Evanston so far with another one in the planning stages.
“It really brings joy to the neighborhood and people have greatly appreciated it,” said Afana’s wife, Cindy Winter-Short Afana. “Kids were dancing. People were sitting on top of their cars. They’re all waiting for the next show.”
Winter-Short Afana noted that her husband learned patriotic songs for the concerts. “He memorizes everything,” she said. “He was taught in Nigeria from his mentor that you have to put on a show. You’re not just standing there playing a guitar.”
“You have to make people involved,” Afana explained.
Afana, who grew up in the Republic of Cameroon in Central Africa, was about 12 when his father bought him a guitar. Initially, he primarily played guitar at home but it became a more serious pursuit for him when Afana attended college, where he majored in industrial drafting. He began playing in the school band and was soon performing professionally.
Afana decided to pursue a career as a musician, “when I started making money,” he said. “I became famous in school and the door started to be opening. I played evenings and people kept encouraging me.”
Afana was performing at EMI Recording Company, a studio in Legos, Nigeria, where such luminaries as Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder recorded, when famous Nigerian singer Sonny Okosun saw him in 1991.
“He asked me to travel to the United States,” Afana related. The guitarist initially hesitated, he said, because “I was making good money in the studio but he started telling me good things that I wanted to hear.”
So Afana joined the singer’s band and came to the United States. The band had completed two tours of the country and Afana was waiting for the third tour when the leader became ill. Afana decided to move to Chicago where fellow Cameroonians found him a place to stay.
Afana performs a wide range of music. “Back home, I started playing jazz,” he said. “Then, with time I became involved with pop and dancing music. I play reggae. I love gospel. Anything that you can write, I’ll play.” That includes rock and funk.
These days, in addition to those periodic lawn concerts, Afana spends a lot of time practicing, “just to keep me in shape,” he said. He plays as much as eight hours a day.
Afana is also pursuing a new sideline — home repair. He has fixed some rotten wood at the front of the house and has been painting inside.
“Doing things that a world-traveling musician has never done,” joked his wife.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
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