Many Beats to Get Vermonters on Their Feet in April – Get Set to Dance with Angélique Kidjo,
the Premier Diva of Africa!

By Margaret Michniewicz

A number of dance-inducing bands that feature women prominently are headed our way: Dub is a Weapon (April 22), Easy Star All-Stars (April 26), and the great Angélique Kidjo (April 29)!

On United Nations Day of 2009, at an event dedicated specifically to U.N. Peacekeepers, members of the General Assembly were urged out of their seats by the charismatic performer Angélique Kidjo. Initially, perhaps each delegate was debating the propriety of such an action – but soon the body was on its feet as one, many clapping to the rhythmic beat filling the hall, some high-fiving or embracing Kidjo as she wended her way through the aisles, all the while ebulliently belting out the song “Afirika,” enjoining them to sing, too.

It was a moment that encapsulated the essence of Kidjo’s career. Since first hitting the world stage, three decades ago, Kidjo has inspired people to action all over the globe – from invitations to audiences to join her in dance on stage, to exhortations to fans and world leaders to support the numerous humanitarian causes to which she has directed personal energy, prestige, and resources. She has been dubbed “Africa’s premier diva” by Time magazine – yet any idea that this implies a capricious, merely glamorous star needs to be dismissed immediately. Granted, Kidjo cuts a striking figure with her chic, closely cropped coif, enhanced by a stage presence truly worthy of such a majestic sobriquet as “diva.” But the passion of her performances is equal to the vehemence with which she speaks out on the world’s pressing issues – whether environmental concerns or poverty. In particular, this singer gives voice to the plight of young girls in Africa, and she created the Batonga Foundation, the mission of which is to provide educational aid to African girls. Earlier this year, for International Women’s Day, the Guardian (U.K.) newspaper named Kidjo among its 100 Most Influential Women, citing such philanthropic endeavors as well as her consistent outspokenness on political matters and human rights injustices.

Kidjo, 50, who will perform in Burlington in late April, possesses a musical style all her own that reverently embraces the traditional songs of her native Benin but that encompasses funk, samba and R&B as well, all performed in a high-energy, fun-loving style that electrifies audiences the world over.

She was born and raised in Benin (formerly Dahomey), but has been living in exile since the early 1980s, first in Paris and now in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Grammy Award-winning singer was born just a few weeks before her country won its independence from France. In an August 2010 New York Times article she penned titled “Daughter of Independence,” she began: “Like a true revolutionary, I was born on Bastille Day (July 14), 1960, in Dahomey, which was then a part of the French Empire in West Africa. A few days later, on August 1st… my country was declared independent: I was French for just 18 days!... I feel that my life has been shaped in many ways by the political tribulations of West Africa.”

Kidjo ultimately fled her home country to break free of the artistic constraints she felt under the ideology of the Marxist regime that had come to power in 1972. Determined to maintain her independence, Kidjo decided to go into exile in the early 1980s. Fearing that the authorities would learn of her plans, she told only a few family members of her intentions. She sneaked out from a relative’s wedding and went to the airport. There, a sympathetic customs officer, a fan of her music, turned a blind eye and let her pass.

Once in France, for six years she had no contact with her family, who were under surveillance. It was nearly a decade and a half later, after the old regime had fallen and a degree of stability had returned, that she went back to play a concert in her homeland.

“My exile has also brought me much success. Who could have guessed that a little girl with nine brothers and sisters from one of the poorest countries in the world would win a Grammy or sing at Carnegie Hall?” Kidjo wrote in “Daughter of Independence,” in which she continues:

“My dream is to see every little girl in Benin have the chance I had right after independence: access to a great and sustained education. It has allowed me to accomplish all of my aspirations: sharing with the world the beauty of my culture and my people. Today’s Beninese girls should be given the same opportunity… making sure girls can pursue their secondary educations in a safe environment instead of getting married at an early age. If we can accomplish all of this, we will have brought to Africa a change as revolutionary as what happened in Paris on that day, July 14th, 1789!”

In addition to her Batonga Foundation project, Kidjo has lent her visibility in support of other humanitarian endeavors, such as UNICEF (for which she is a Goodwill Ambassador). Since 2009, she has been involved in the campaign to eliminate tetanus. (Readers who might wish to support this effort should know that a portion of the proceeds for downloads of the song “You Can Count On Me” from Kidjo’s new album Oyo will be steered toward providing tetanus vaccines to pregnant women and mothers.)

Kidjo is a luminary with whom other renowned global artists enthusiastically collaborate when she calls – among them Carlos Santana, Peter Gabriel, Alicia Keys, Branford Marsalis, Bono, John Legend, Gilberto Gil, and Roy Hargrove.

Kidjo will come to Burlington most likely jazzed to perform songs drawing from her entire discography, albums characterized by this artist’s penchant for crisscrossing boundaries and blending traditional dance rhythms with funk, pop and Latin melodies. This tour will have special emphasis, however, on her most recent release – the widely acclaimed Oyo, touted by many as her masterpiece.

Reviewers have spared no superlatives in describing Kidjo’s current tour, backed by a tight band of Western and African musicians (drummer Daniel Freedman, guitarist Dominic James, bassist Andre Manga, and Senegalese drummer Magatte Sow) in support of Oyo (released in 2010) – a joyous exploration of the diverse African, American and European music that has meant the most to her since she began singing as a child five decades ago in the small coastal city of Quidah – including Beninese traditional music and great African artists like Miriam Makeba, as well as such African-American icons as Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, Jimi Hendrix and James Brown. “Kidjo’s voice has never sounded more expressive or exquisitely nuanced,” according to The Times of London. Kidjo sings in French, English and multiple African languages.

While on tour in India last month, Ms. Kidjo responded by e-mail to our questions.

Vermont Woman: The issue in which this article will appear will also have a heavy environmental focus, which is one of the efforts you lend your support to. Would you care to comment about the planet and environmental concerns?

Angélique Kidjo: When I was pregnant with my daughter (who [has] just turned 18), I realized one day how much garbage we are throwing out every day and suddenly, I felt concerned about the state of the world in which we are bringing up our children. Since then I have been involved in many campaigns. Also, environment is a big concern on my continent of Africa. The progress of the West has produced a lot of pollution. How can we get the same development without destroying our world?

VW: In your music you are described as “roving beyond the constraints of boundaries, genres, and ethnicities”; how then do you go about honing and narrowing the scope for each album as you approach it?

AK: I always try to find an idea behind each album. For instance, I have done a trilogy of albums about the African roots of the music of the diaspora. My last album (Oyo) is a look at the music that influenced my childhood. I still feel there is a unity in my music, in my songs, though it is true there are many different influences.

VW: Your rendition of Curtis Mayfield’s “Move on Up” has been said to be ‘a call to African youth to direct the fate of the continent’ – what are your hopes as to what future generations will address and accomplish?

AK: I know that the African youth are very positive and full of energy. I just wish they [could] have the access to education they need, and they will be able to accomplish so much.

VW: Among the artists you’ve paid homage to on Oyo is Aretha Franklin; in light of the recent news of her health concerns, tell us about including “Baby I Love You” on the record as it relates to your objectives for the album as a whole.

AK: I love Aretha Franklin. Her energy was very inspiring for me when I grew up in Benin. She is so assertive in her singing. All the songs from Oyo played a role in my musical education. From Bollywood to the traditional songs from West Africa. The album is a tribute to my dad for allowing me to discover such a broad range of style. Every song on that album has a little story. There is even the first song I ever sang in public at age six.

VW: Describe Miriam Makeba’s influence on you.

AK: It was so hard to be a child singer in Benin because people don’t take you seriously. Being a singer didn’t bring respect. Seeing the success of Miriam gave me the courage to stand against every odd. If she was able to be a successful singer traveling the world, I felt I also could do it...

VW: Who will be in your lineup of backup musicians?
AK: My musicians [are] from all over the world. My guitar player and percussionist are from Africa, my bass player is from the West Indies, and my drummer is from New York!

VW: A question submitted by one of our readers is – How do you balance your career and family?
AK: This is a complicated question. I am lucky in the way my husband and my daughter share the same passion for music so even though we are not always together, music is a strong tie in our family.

VW: Among the many wonderful quotes you have from family members is your father’s admonition: “If you’re not curious, you die stupid.” Is there anything you wonder/want to know about Vermonters?
AK: I have been to Vermont before so I know more about it than you may think! My pride is to make the people from Burlington discover just a glimpse of the beauty and richness of African culture during my concert. Maybe it will inspire them to travel and go to Africa.

VW: Indeed, people here in Vermont recall a show you did years back in a small, intimate club venue and that you entered the crowd, dancing, and welcomed anyone to sing the chorus into your mic; and your recent performances in India culminated with much of the crowd up on stage with you; and you’ve brought the United Nations to their feet… And (paraphrasing for brevity) you’ve said that everywhere you go in the world you want people to remember they are human beings and to have fun… So as a result: what expectations can the Flynn audience (and perhaps the security crew!) have about your upcoming show there?

AK: The media tends to make you believe that we are culturally very different people, but my experience traveling all over the world so many times is that we are one humanity that share a lot in common. So I expect the reaction of the people in Vermont to be the same as the one in Mumbai! I don’t need a big security crew because I am lucky to know that the people going to my concerts are not violent and hateful.

VW: Are you currently optimistic or fearful for our world/planet today?

AK: Yes, I am optimistic because humanity has accomplished so much. It just can’t stop here. We have overcome slavery and Nazism, so we should be able to stand up to the challenges of today. The message that the African continent can bring to the rest of the world is this sense of resilience and joy in front of adversity... Every person who has set foot in Africa knows how beautiful and strong its people are.

Editor’s Note:

Be sure to view this clip of Angélique Kidjo from the 2010 Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74uU0qzOkI

Maria Eisen –
Sax Phenom of Dub is a Weapon

By Margaret Michniewicz

When the legendary Jamaican ska band The Skatalites last played Burlington, Vermont in 2007, they were joined on stage by 24-year old Maria Eisen from the opening band Dub is a Weapon. Wielding a tenor saxophone nearly as big as herself, Eisen accompanied them on the song “Rockfort Rock.” Surely a heady experience to swap riffs with such acclaimed musicians – it was, Eisen recalls, “Amazing… and there were so many people there, in front of that gorgeous lake… One of my favorite memories ever.”

Memorable from the audience perspective as well; local jazz authority George Thomas later singled out Eisen’s performance with praise in a review of her band’s set.

Eisen and Dub is a Weapon return to Burlington for a gig at Nectar’s on April 22 – part of the band’s new CD release tour. Vaporized debuted at #20 on the CMJ World Music Chart, with a rapid surge to #4 where it basks as of this writing. The album title will likely apply well to the crowd given the club’s tight quarters and the deep-plunging dance moves their rhythms induce. But for those who seek more from a band than just a beat to sashay to, DIAW delivers complex, textured sets by top-caliber musicians.

Dub emerged in Jamaica as a sub-genre of reggae music, propagated by pioneers such as the renowned Lee “Scratch” Perry (who, for example, produced early tracks of Bob Marley). Vocals are minimal or stripped-down altogether, giving emphasis to bass and drums – and enhanced by such special effects as echo and reverb, or the sweetly plaintive melodica. Think trippy ska and reggae.

Though hard to resist dancing to, DIAW’s music is blessedly far from those now-ubiquitous cheesy, too-sunshiny bastardized-reggae beachfront bands. They have a sound that often glowers in the minor chords – underscored by a robust bass – with a slightly ominous edge that fulfills the band’s moniker of dub-as-weapon. Which suits this post-punk enthusiast just fine.

The band’s challenge when they formed in 2001 was that dub was essentially a studio music form, but self-described dub “organizer” Dave Hahn was determined to work out how it could be performed on the road, live. (Hahn was the dub engineer for the Easy Star All-Stars’ “Dub Side of the Moon” tour).

Eisen, who plays and sings with other bands, nonetheless finds it unique to perform with DIAW: “The most major thing is that you have all these effects on your horn… and you’re not controlling any of it. It’s not like, ‘oh, here’s my delay pedal now’. I have no idea what’s going to be done to my sound beforehand. I’ve gotten the hang of it over the years, and really that’s what makes this band so awesome to play with. The effects become like an interaction, so I have to be receptive to what’s being done, and play along with the manipulation.

“It’s aesthetically very challenging music,” she continues. “The melodies are simple, and the chords don’t really move, but you have so much texture to work with and be aware of. There’s no other band I’ve been in that I think the same way in. It’s a completely unique situation.”

Along with Eisen and Hahn on guitar and theramin, DIAW is currently comprised of drummer Madhu Siddappa, and Ben Rogerson on bass. And gifting the band with enviable cred – while contributing complex rhythmic beats on everything from congas to cowbell – is the legendary Jamaican percussionist Larry McDonald. McDonald’s resume includes work with Taj Mahal, Bob Marley, Manu Dibango, Peter Tosh, and a 20-year stint in Gil Scott-Heron’s “Amnesia Express.” (In addition, Brian Jackson, a frequent collaborator with Scott-Heron, has performed with DIAW and contributes a phenomenal, funky organ solo on the song “Seven Doors” from Vaporized).

Says Eisen of McDonald, who is nearing age 74: “Playing with Larry is always an amazing experience… The energy he puts into the music and performance is really inspiring.

“He definitely is a sort of mentor to me, he’s always believed in me,” she adds.

It was through McDonald, in fact, that Eisen played with The Skatalites, with whom he goes back many years. At the 2007 Jazz Fest show in Burlington, McDonald suggested that they let the saxophonist from his band join them for a song. With an impish grin, he recalls their apparent surprise upon seeing the diminutive Eisen approach – assuming it would be a guy; he proudly describes how she rose to the occasion.

The headlining performer that evening was none other than dub’s godfather, Lee “Scratch” Perry, with whom DIAW was touring. “Playing with Lee Scratch Perry was such an awesome experience, and I learned a lot,” Eisen says. “At that point I hadn’t really toured much, and it was one hell of an introduction, for sure. I was nervous about it, and about being a girl playing with him, because people were telling me women are not well received in that scene. But Scratch was super chill and nice to me, and I had a lot of fun playing music with him.”

I ask Eisen to elaborate on the dearth of women musicians in reggae.

“So few women are instrumentalists as it is, and in reggae it’s especially not that common,” she observes. “More and more women are playing all the time though. It’s hard because the music has this reputation for being pretty sexist, but things are getting better all the time… And, I say, the more women who want to play, the better.”

In their live shows and on their record, the sonic presence of Eisen often dominates, despite her being the youngest member of DIAW both in terms of age and tenure in the band. There is no lead singer to hold court; and while their songs follow the jazz-inspired model of each musician getting the floor, Eisen’s sax takes a prevailing role on nearly all. “Sax is very special to me because of that feeling of using your own breath to power such intense sound,” she explains.

Eisen is the daughter of Steve Eisen, himself a professional saxophonist. “My dad definitely had a lot to do with me playing sax. Mind you, he never made me play, or really pushed me one way or the other, I just wanted to,” she says. “I think seeing someone make all this awesome sound out of this weird machine throughout my childhood made me want to play.”

Eisen studied Jazz Saxophone at Indiana University and SUNY Purchase. Following college she started playing sax with Fu-Arkistra, an afrobeat band. “I was really into playing afrobeat, reggae, and any kind of music that made people dance. I was kind of rebelling from all the jazz I learned in school,” she laughs. Her initial entrée into DIAW was as a substitute for trombonist Buford O’Sullivan, and taking his place upon his departure to Easy Star All-Stars.

As for musical influences, Eisen has many. “I go through all kinds of phases of what I listen too, and get inspired by… In high school I was really into Joni Mitchell (I still am), and also Tom Waits. I like old school soul/rock sax players a lot, like Jr. Walker, and King Curtis, and modern sax players that really have their own badass thing going on like Skerik, and Dana Colley.

“Being half Brazilian,” she continues, “Milton Nascimento and Caetano Veloso are very important to me, as well as a lot of modern Cuban music (like timba) and salsa/boogaloo. After college, I was really heavy into Afrobeat, because aside from the grooves and all that, it was this new and kind of subversive, rebellious thing to me. Right now, I’m deep into this whole rock and roll phase. I’m super into bands like Shudder to Think, Fugazi, Tomahawk (anything with Mike Patton in it, he’s amazing), Can, Sonic Youth… Just like, beautiful noise! Right now I’m super drawn to things that are intense, and loud and visceral.”

To play saxophone well requires particular talents and has its own inherent challenges. “People don’t realize how much control is in the jaw, and soft and hard palate,” Eisen explains. “You’re breathing a ton of air, but you’re also controlling the air in a very specific way… The few times I have had students, I always emphasized the breath, and the way it interacts with the parts of your mouth to control the sound.

“Playing bari is a whole other thing, especially when you play in super high-energy bands,” she adds. “It’s like the triathlon of sax playing!”

While Dub is a Weapon conquered the challenge of making dub a mobile project to take on the road, they very well might not have succeeded in recording a studio album with the same organic energy that characterize their live shows. But the nine tracks on Vaporized – none of which are short, and only one with vocals – exude verve and maintain a tight grip on listeners.

“For me, I really wanted to make sure I put the same energy and mojo into the recording as I would live; which is really difficult,” Eisen explains. “I’ve gotten better at it over time; I just wanted to make sure that on the record I didn’t sound stiff, or awkward. I was in an isolation booth, and couldn’t really see the other guys, so I had to find that interaction in the sound and in my head.” Her solos on “Turmoil”, “Insurrection” and “Persistence” in particular reflect her success in summoning that same mojo.

For those who feel reggae isn’t their cup of tea, Eisen invites them to check out reggae dub and DIAW in particular.

“Dub Is A Weapon has its own thing going on, largely being instrumental. I think a lot of people who don’t want to hear roots reggae would still dig us, because the sound is so modern, jazz-influenced, and has this cool trippy textural thing going on. Anyone who wants to go to a show and dance, I think would totally love Dub is a Weapon!”

As would anyone who wants to hear a saxophonist with her own badass thing going on.

For more info, visit www.dubisaweapon.com.

Vermont Woman editor Margaret Michniewicz can be reached at editor@vermontwoman.com.