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1.
Hilolombi 05:02
2.
Nyobe Yebel 08:10
3.
Afana Osende 06:49
4.
5.
Kingue Abel 05:24
6.
Moumie Felix 09:32

about

SHINING A NEW LIGHT ON POSSIBILITIES
INTERVIEW WITH FRANCK BIYONG
by Matthew Swallow - Nairobi (Kenya) -

What was the objective/vision of/for this project?

The general perception that audiences have about African music
has been twisted and misunderstood for decades now. The late 1950’s was a very exciting and uplifting period for African arts in general as most former European colonial empires were disintegrating: African artists, especially musicians, were carried
away by that rising tide of optimism that was spreading all across
the continent and it is precisely around that time that the very first
post-colonial 100% African artistic expression suddenly came into prominence in Belgium Congo with the birth of Congolese Rumba. This music was celebrating the newly gained autonomy and
freedom of the so-called indigenous people. Inspired and
galvanized by the early achievements of Congolese musicians,
most African Governments subsidized and sponsored large
music ensembles and orchestras and built infrastructures that
would allow music and other art forms to be the flagship for their countries’ political regime and place as newly independent
nations in this then polarized world between the Western and
Eastern blocs.

The 1970’s were even greater for the music industry at large as
the economic development of African countries was developing rapidly: this era can rightly so be considered as the “classic age”
of modern African music. The importance of Traditional music
and social values in the evolution of African music is rarely
mentioned though as specialists and musicologists discuss
the numerous spiritual and religious which is where the main
issue lies: All the great musicians and artists of this era were
largely born and raised in rural areas where the prominence of traditional music was undisputed and never questioned. Most musicians brought the songs, instruments, rhythms and social organization to the larger cities and capitals of the continent,
therefore dramatically changing the course of African music
and its meaning.

As African music began to gain more and more popularity in
the west, record company owners, producers and enthusiasts
tried and failed to create a fusion between Western and African
styles in a dubious concept called “world music”. The importance
of traditional music as the bedrock of cultural expression on the African soil slowly vanished to gradually become a strange form
of entertainment where foreign audiences do not necessarily understand or comprehend the intricate meanings and various representation that African Music, Dance and Theater present
but rather focus on the performance aspect of things: The music industry deliberately channeled the marketing and promotion of
any African act in that direction and the most prominent African musicians followed the same road while gaining more and more popularity and exposure in the west. Then the industry came
crashing down and the relative interest or support that African
Music had disappeared completely.

The vision for this project was essentially centered around two pressing questions: Is there a thread that can be followed from
the 1950’s till today as far as Artistic creation and evolution is concerned in Africa and if such a thing does not exist, where did
we get lost at that crossroads? The second one was: can a
culture and a people emerge and present who they are to the
world if there is no respect of tradition as “the past speaking to
the present”? While keeping all these historical facts in mind,
we tried to shine a new light over the possibilities that traditional African music still offers for those willing to learn and
take chances.

Why was it recorded in 3 different countries/studios?

We started recording in 2 different studios based in Douala and Yaoundé. Our Central African musical forms are very complex
and bold and very much inclined to the high-forest climate, density, extremely diverse populations and languages. As I was playing
the tapes to a few elders of mine, we had lengthy discussion on
how we could approach this recording and expand the possibilities while clearing the path for a potential pan-African traditional music approach rather than just showcasing the Central African beats
and sounds we knew already. The decision was then made to go
to Paris where so many great West African musicians are based.

After working with the great Mamadou Camara from Mali, we
realized that there was even more to it if we were not afraid to experiment and moreover if we did not have any targeted
commercial approach on this project but would rather
concentrate on creating something unique and breaking
grounds. I have lived and worked in Paris for a few years, so I
got in touch with creative musicians and friends who did bring
unique musical contributions to this project. The last step of that
crazy project and schedule was traveling to East Africa where
Lipombe Jazz is based: We knew something special would
happen if we could “confront” these sounds from East and
West Africa as “soloists” while Central African beats would be
the “rhythm section” of the ensemble. The result went way over
my expectations and I have been very enthused by the the record.
The whole experience was a real blessing.

What is special about your choice of instrumentation and why
mix cultures like this?

Well, African people have been divided for the past centuries by
now. Without going back to the history lesson again, one has to remember that the idea of a country, administrative boundaries
and so forth are still viewed as a foreign concept by most African people: Most African people defined themselves by the “tribe”
(I really do not like to use that word though) they belong to.
We would rather say their “people” than tribe or ethnic group,
which is a misconception largely brought by anthropologists as
they were “studying” indigenous people. So the geographic
location, the mother tongue, cultural and social structures are
the DNA of African people living in most rural areas.

As we study the lineages of these people, we realize and
understand that these people have migrated on various parts
of the African soil for centuries. Therefore, you can find Bantu
people in West Africa (Casamance in Senegal or Liberia),
Central Africa and East Africa (the Kisii in Kenya are Bantus).
It is then quite likely that you may also find similarities in
languages, traditional values and even more in art forms or
music. With that idea in mind, we intended to create a different musical dialogue where the roles would sometimes be
reversed, where certain percussion instruments who are
generally performed by the soloists (le “tambourinneur” in
French) would play rhythm parts and vice versa. Percussion instruments are the most powerful and modern instruments
at the same time.

Most traditional horns instruments offer sonic possibilities that
were matched only by keyboards and synthesizers while string
lyre instruments cover a very wide range of expression that echo Ancient traditions, like the griot relating historical facts and
lineages with his harp (found in many legends and founding
myths in traditional and rural African societies).

As we progressed in the recording process, I realized that we
could create new harmonies and scales while focusing on the expressive range that these instruments can offer. The idea was
then to select instruments that do almost sound similar but also
complementary (Obokano and Arc Masongo or Ngoni and Mvet).

What can a listener expect from the album?

To be surprised mostly, we hope! More seriously, the attention
that regular people can actually have for anything new that is
being released is very limited in time: It is a matter of a few
seconds now as people, young people especially, are scrolling through their I-phones or I-pads and are being bombarded by
tons of different information daily. So, it is very hard to predict or foresee the kind of reaction or interest any project may gather if
it is not straight ahead pop music or dance floor sound. For those
who still think that like Prince used to say “Albums, books and Black Lives still matter”, well, I guess that we could say this record may
be a sonic experience worth immersing yourself into for those who think that there’s something more to African Music that Nigerian Afrobeats or that South African House thing that was "ok" when the Kwaito movement rose back then but which really fails to renew
itself now and sound too predictable, in spite of the crossover
appeal and success of larger than life figures like Burna Boy,
Diamond Platnumz the hype surrounding Black Coffee and
really, just a handful of others.

What are your future plans for the next album and how are
they linked?

Well. Like Frank Zappa used to say, I have never recorded any
album while thinking about the commercial reception. If I had
done so, I would probably have quit the music business at least
10 years ago!! We are always trying to make enough money while touring to finance the next project and also make sure the next
project will be different altogether and that we may mature and
grow artistically. The previous records were all different, rather
than all successful commercially: “Afro Bikutsi Live!” was one of
the best shows we ever played and fortunately managed to capture
on tape; “Evening Prayer” was a full on 1970’s Electronic keyboards, meets spiritual Jazz and Rock guitar extravaganza experiment that was quite interesting to put together creatively. “The Lamp, Light
and Eye of God” a Santana tribute recorded live at the Thursday
Nite Live parties in Nairobi with the electric church line up of
Lipombe Jazz…“Afro Galactic Spaceway” was our “Africa salutes
Sun Ra & His Afro Infinity Arkestra” record that surprisingly got
positive reviews all over the place in spite of the very experimental nature of the music and length of the songs. A lot of African music from the late 1960’s onwards has been reissued and released on multiple compilations; Now is probably the time when people are finally ready to listen to something else. Our next project will be
(once again) a 180° turn from our latest releases; We will finally release the segue to our 2015 “Moonwatching” album entitled “Moonwatching 2”, as welI as a brand new EP and numerous
singles extracted from the same sessions…This will be a full
on Afro-Rock or Black-Rock aesthetic, basically attempting to
follow the footsteps of what Jimi, Billy and Buddy had done with
the Band of Gypsys or what George and the guys had done with
the early Funkadelic releases…But all of that located in the African Jungle…I think that there will be conceptual continuity on this
record as well. That’s how we keep things exciting and
challenging.

The industry is really lame and if one wants to change or alter it,
then one has to get down to work, be careless about record sales,
be a great live act and push the envelope ‘cause the present day madness and decadent society is a reality that we will have to live
in. My belief is that music has to be relevant, like news or a diary of what is happening right here under our noses. I do not hear
anything that mirrors that. So I guess we have to do something
about it and recapture our culture. That’s what we’re trying to do.
Once there will be a growing sense of self-consciousness and
once African artists will stop producing or releasing music to
satisfy foreign and western demand, we will hopefully reach
another interesting stage in Modern African music. This “IBOLO
INI” record would not exist if Great Artists like Francis Bebey,
Pierre Akendengue or William Onyeabor had not influenced me
so, we will continue our musical search and keep on recording
and producing a large variety of African music styles and concept.
It has been long overdue and it is definitely needed now more than ever, that is our belief.

credits

released December 6, 2019

Produced and Conceived by FB
Recorded by: Benjamin Lafont, Honore Fouda,
Joseph Belinga, Dylan Sejpal, Suraj Mandavia, FB
Recorded @ Bata Studios (Douala, Cameroon),
JMA Studios (Yaoundé, Cameroon), Studio Bleu
(Paris, France), Ada Creative Studios (Nairobi, Kenya)
Mixed & Mastered by Wanyoike Kimani & FB @ Square
Down Studios (Nairobi, Kenya)

HILOLOMBI
Flute: Nicolas Baudino
Soprano Sax: Florent Dupuit
Obokano: Grandmaster Masese
Double Bass: Zacharie Abraham
Congas, Djembe, Ngoma Drums: Obuya Owino
Voices, Chorus, Balafon Ensemble: Les Balafons de Mvog Ada
Samples, Loops, Tape Effects, Percussion, Synthesizers,
Keyboards: FB

NYOBE YEBEL
Tenor Sax: Florent Dupuit
High and Low Ngoni: Mamadou Camara
Sengenya Drums, Nzumari: Daniel Mburu Muhini
Nkul (Tambour d’Appel), Bongos, Congas: Rildha Esso
Kayamba, Djembe, Congas, Ngoma Drums: Obuya Owino
ARP Solina, Trinity and Prophecy Synthesizers: Florian Pellissier
Percussion Ensemble: Les Tambourineurs de la Cite Sic
Field recordings, Keyboards, Vibraphone, Percussion: FB

OSENDE AFANA
Trumpet: Emi Kitasako
Obokano: Gradmaster Masese
Double Bass: Zacharie Abraham
Balafon, Shekere: Hyacinthe Belinga
Arc en Bouche Masango: Joseph Dibong
Voices and Chorus: Les Balafons de Mvog Ada
Ngoni & Tama (Talking Drum): Mamadou Camara
Nkul (Tambour d’Appel), Bongos, Congas: Rildha Esso
Djembe Solo, Ngoma Drums and Percussion: Obuya Owino
Wood Percussion, Field Recordings, Shakers, Voices: FB

OUANDIE ERNEST
Mvet: Joseph Yemeck
Tenor Sax: Nicolas Baudino
Double Bass: Zacharie Abraham
Hammond Organ: Florian Pellissier
Voices and Chorus: Les Balafons de Mvog Ada
Percussion Ensemble: Les Tambourineurs de la Cite Sic
Field Recordings, Acoustic Guitar, Gongs, Percussion, Piano,
Synthesizers, Keyboards, Log Drums, Mbira and Tape Effects: FB

KINGUE ABEL
Abakondera Horn: Laka Waithaka
Egara Horn, Wooden Flute: Roger Youmbi
Voices and Chorus: Les Balafons de Mvog Ada
Sengenya Drums, Nzumari: Daniel Mburu Muhini
Ngoni & Tama (Talking Drum): Mamadou Camara
Nkul (Tambour d’Appel), Shekere, Congas: Rildha Esso
Kayamba, Djembe, Congas, Ngoma Drums: Obuya Owino
Wood Percussion, Marimba, City sound recordings, Balafon: FB

MOUMIE FELIX
Trumpet: Emi Kitasako
Tenor Sax: Florent Dupuit
Double Bass: Zacharie Abraham
Fender Rhodes: Olivier Emsellem
Mvet, String Lyre: Joseph Yemeck
Banda Horns: Harmonie de Manguissa
Djembe Solo, Ngoma Drums: Obuya Owino
Voices and Chorus: Les Balafons de Mvog Ada
Arc en Bouche Masango, Arc Lari: Joseph Dibong
Ngoni & Tama (Talking Drum): Mamadou Camara
Nkul (Tambour d’Appel), Shekere, Congas: Rildha Esso
Percussion Ensemble: Les Tambourineurs de la Cite Sic
Trinity, Prophecy and Minimoog Synthesizers: Florian Pellissier
Field Recordings, Gongs, Percussion, Shakers, Mbira, Balafon,
Synthesizers, Keyboards and Tape Effects: FB


© 2019 Afrolectric Music Ltd. / Akhetaton Records

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Franck Biyong Yaounde, Cameroon

Franck Biyong is a Cameroonian Guitarist, composer and singer, creator of the Afrolectric sound.

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