Kanda Bongo Man to be in New York
Chifu
Kanda Bongo Man-2008
Place and Date: Manchester, UK
2008
Interviewer:Banning Eyre
Kanda Bongo Man, SOB's, New York (Eyre, 2006)
Congolese music legend, singer and bandleader Kanda Bongo Man makes a
rare stop in New York City on Friday, September 19 (2008), at Symphony
Space. We gave him a call at his home in Manchester England, and
caught up with him about his new life, his new band, and his long
awaited upcoming album. Here's Banning Eyre's conversation with Kanda.
Interview and photos by Banning Eyre.
B.E.: Shall we speak French, or do you want to try your English?
K.B.M.: I can try my bad English anyway.
B.E.: It's great to talk with you again. I'm guessing you will
remember Afropop because we recorded you in Central Park in New York
some years back.
K.B.M.: Yes, yes. That was a wonderful time.
B.E.: Well, it's been a few years since we last met. What have you
been up to lately?
K.B.M.: Well, you know, I used to live in France. Now I've moved to
England, Manchester, England. I brought my kids. Now they are in
schooling here.
B.E.: How many kids do you have?
K.B.M.: Oh, there are three. Three girls.
B.E.: Well, this explains why you now speak such fine English.
K.B.M.: Well, I'm trying. Just trying.
B.E.: So, Manchester, home of the famous soccer team. What is your
musical life like these days? Do you have a band there?
K.B.M.: Yeah, I've got a band here. I have some young musicians from
back home. They came here almost four years back. I'm performing
with them. Even this coming Saturday, we have a show.
Kanda Bongo Man, SOB's, New York (Eyre, 2006)
B.E.: What are the instruments in your current band?
K.B.M.: Well, since we met in Central Park, I have added keyboards to
have another sound, just to add something new. So, three
guitars—solo, bass, and rhythm. Now, I add keyboards. Then acoustic
drums. When you listen, you will see. I have changed the group,
because the last group I brought to America, most of them stayed in
France, and some of them went back home. The dancers, the girls, they
are married now. They have kids.
B.E.: I remember your dancers, famous for commanding participation by
audience members. I occasionally get an email from Jolee, one of your
dancers back then.
K.B.M.: Yes, Jolee is around. She is doing well.
B.E.: Are there any new recordings? The most recent one I have is
Balobi (Sheer), the album you recorded in South Africa in 2001.
K.B.M.: I had another one in 2004. Then, I have just finished my new
recording now. The CD is almost ready. Now, we are just making the
plan to see when I am going to release that. It will be maybe one
month or two months from now.
B.E.: Well, if you have an advance copy, please bring it to New York.
Maybe we can give it advance play on Afropop.
K.B.M.: I'm going to keep a copy for you.
B.E.: So, Kanda, this is an interesting time for Congo music. We
just lost Papa Wendo Kolosoy, obviously a great figure in the music.
Tell me what Wendo meant to you.
K.B.M.: Papa Wendo is the first, first Congolese musician. That man
learned the guitar by himself. Noone taught him how to play the
guitar. He has never been to any school to learn music. He learned
by himself. And the first Congolese song to be recorded was his song
called "Marie Louisa." When he sang that song, I was not yet born.
Kanda Bongo Man, SOB's, New York (Eyre, 2006)
B.E.: Me neither. I think it was 1949.
K.B.M.: Yes. I was so surprised to see Papa Wendo continue to
perform, until today, until he died. Five years back, he came to
England here to tour, and I was with him on tour. We performed
together, and I was so proud to be next to him. That man is like a
Congolese monument of music. Today he is gone, and I am very, very
sad that man is gone.
B.E.: You would certainly have to say that was a life well lived.
K.B.M.: Yes. Yes.
B.E.: We are also reading a lot about the health of Tabu Ley, who
seems to have suffered a stroke and is in a hospital in Brussels.
What do you know about that?
K.B.M.: Actually, he's doing okay. We had some news from back home
that said Tabu Ley had a stroke. Myself, I never talked with him.
Later on, we found out that he is okay. He's in hospital, but maybe
he will be out very soon.
B.E.: Kanda, things are changing in Congo music. I still think of
you as a young upstart, but you are becoming one of the elders these days.
K.B.M.: [LAUGHS] Thank you very much. Well, my chance was that I
left home a bit early, '77 or '78. My dream was to make Congolese
music to be known, and lucky enough, I came to perform in England,
between '83 and '84 at WOMAD festival, with Peter Gabriel. And from
there, I met Joe Boyd, this American guy, who got a record company
called Rykodisc interested. Then Joe Boyd called when a music agency
in Boston wanted to take care of my tour in America.
Kanda Bongo Man, SOB's, New York (Eyre, 2006)
B.E.: That was your first tour.
K.B.M.: When they put me they took a very big risk. I was going to
perform in Central Park in New York. I couldn't believe that a lot of
people would come to listen to African music. It was not well known
at that time. America is a very big continent, and to bring a very
small artist who is not known at all in America and put him in Central
Park in New York, it's a risk!
B.E.: Well, maybe so, but it sure worked out well. Every time I
listen to that CD—and I do still listen to it—it takes me back to that
great day.
K.B.M.: Oh my God. I still see that stage in my memory.
B.E.: You had such an amazing band, with Nene Tchakou on guitar. It
was tops. That was a time when Congo music was just being discovered
in America. We didn't know how far it would go. These days, I think
it is actually a more difficult time in a way. We don't see as many
Congolese acts here anymore. What do you think? How do you think
Congo music is doing on the international scene now?
K.B.M.: Well, these past five years, I myself have not performed
outside of Europe the way I used to do. Now the majority of my
colleagues back home, they travel, sometimes to America, sometimes to
the continent the way I used to do. Now, I think that because now I
am releasing a new CD, I think I'm going to try again. Two years ago,
I was in Australia with Jimmy Cliff and Miriam Makeba in Adelaide, at
the 2006 WOMAD festival. We were performing for 70,000 people in the
park. So with this new CD, I think it's going to be another chance to
make Congolese music known again. I'm going to fight for that, the
way I used to do those few years back.
B.E.: Good for you. Now talking about the music itself, you
mentioned that you are now using keyboards. I know it used to be a
mark of your sound that you did not do that. When everybody was going
crazy for keyboards, you stuck with guitars. But other than that,
what is new in your sound these days?
K.B.M.: I think the music has to change. I have to change my music
too, but not completely. I would like to bring always something new
in my music, just to make it different between the time I started and
where I'm going and where I am actually. That's why I try to bring
something new. Like when I recorded that CD in South Africa, I tried
to bring some girls from Soweto to sing with me. I had to do like
what Paul Simon did on the Graceland CD—to bring another color of
melody into your own music. If you play always the same thing, people
get fed up. People get tired. When you are bringing something new,
it makes people listen more and more. So on this new CD, you will
discover a lot of things. I don't want to make any comments at the
moment, but you will be surprised when you listen to it.
Kanda Bongo Man, SOB's, New York (Eyre, 2006)
B.E.: Good. Good. Well, we really look forward to hearing that. I
have a special love for Congo music after playing with Congolese
musicians in Boston, including Fellyko Tshikala, who played bass for
Victoria Eliason. I think that this music has a strong, modern
tradition. Today's musicians know how the sound changed from Grand
Kalle and Docteur Nico to Franco, then to Zaiko Langa Langa, and then
how you and others changed the sound in Paris, right up to Ndombolo
and everything since. There is tradition there. People remember, and
then they try to add something new, but they don't throw away what
came before. Would you agree with that?
K.B.M.: Oh, yes. Yes. You see, I can give you one example.
Remember when Jimmy Cliff went to Congo, and he recorded one song with
Franco. You can see that Franco and his group was playing very
typical, local sound. And Jimmy Cliff just came and put the English
melody, and it came something where, every day when I play that song,
I say, "I think myself, one day, I should take this kind of risk. To
sing just one song in English and play typical, local beat, and see
how it's going to be." That's why on this new CD, I'm going to
surprise you.
B.E.: I can't wait to hear. I also love that moment when Jimmy Cliff
sang with OK Jazz. I wish I had been there!
K.B.M.: [LAUGHS] Then, one day, I'm going to invite you to play
guitar with me.
B.E.: Well, that would be a great honor.
K.B.M.: Because I like to have something different in my music, where
people will say, "Oh! There is something new there." Because we need
always to bring something new. If you always have the same thing,
people get tired.
B.E.: It is true. So you are coming to New York next month (Symphony
Space, September 19, 2008). Will you be doing other US shows this
time out?
K.B.M.: Well, I'm coming to New York next month just to promote the
CD, but not to tour. I'm going to use some local musicians there.
Kanda Bongo Man, SOB's, New York (Eyre, 2006)
B.E.: Ah ha. No doubt with our resident New York Soukous Stars,
Lokassa Ya Mbongo, Ngouma Lokito, Chico Mawatu and the guys. Right?
K.B.M.: Yes. That will be just for that show. But we are preparing
now a bigger tour for next summer. For that tour, I am going to bring
my own group from England. I will release that CD first, then we can
prepare the tour for next summer with my own group. It's always nice
to play with people who you play with all the time. They know your
music best.
B.E.: Sure. The last time I saw you was at S.O.B's in 2006, with the
Soukous Stars lineup, and it sounded pretty great. Those guys are
fantastic musicians. And you know, we consider ourselves very lucky
to have them in New York because they make it possible for lots of
Congolese singers to come and perform here. Still, I know what you
mean. There's nothing like your own band.
K.B.M.: That's right. I am happy to talk with you in English because
last time when I came to America, I needed an interpreter to talk with
people. But now I can talk directly with no problem.
B.E.: Kanda, you are good now. Ready for prime time. It's excellent.
K.B.M.: [LAUGHS] Thank you very much for calling. Bye for now.
Visit www.worldmusicinstitute.org for more on Kanda Bongo Man's
September 19 concert at Symphony Space in New York.
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