 |
We're bound for Mali, West
Africa!
Page first created May
10/04
(with more added May 12/13/15/17/18/20/21/22/23)
Three days from now, on May 26th, I'll be boarding a plane
with friends and musicians Dave
Clark and Dale
Morningstar to join Lewis
Melville in Bamako, the capital city
of Mali where Lewis' brother JP and his family currently reside.
We'll be freshly poked (Yellow Fever vaccine is mandatory) and
bearing gifts of money, supplies and instruments from the
generous
folks around Guelph and
Toronto. The whole project began last summer when Mansa
Sissoko
, a kora playing griot
neighbour of JP's was making
plans to visit Quebec. He made a detour to spend a musical week in
Guelph with Lewis and the idea was born to reciprocate by taking a
group of musicians from the Woodchoppers Association over to Mali.
Lewis forged the way
over a couple of weeks ago with a whole digital recording system and
is recording Mansa and
his band
, and other local musicians in order to make a
compilation for The Developing Countries Farm Radio Network. Check
out the DCFRN, they're very cool.
Here is Lewis' description of the
project , Dave Clark's touching
description of his visit to his daughter's
classroom to describe the project
and an entry on overwhelming support, a letter
from Dale
Morningstar to his musical friends (Dale is owner of the Gas Station
studio), a
fantastic little slide show of scenes of Mali on the Lonely
Planet website (down on the right
hand side), and a map to show you where Mali is, but be sure
to come back for what's below!
We're going to be
travelling to Mansa's village for a grand spectacle! Lewis explains
below in the second letter. There is so much more, but for now here
are.....
7 Letters from Lew:
May 2/04
Hi Tannis...
I hope all is well in Canada. All is well here,
and I've been busy since I arrived recording Mansa and his group. We
finished all the bed tracks (pistes) yesterday and I have the day
off to sift through everything. The music is great, and all the
players are excellent. We've been recording in a studio on the other
side of town - it's basically a sort of soundproof room in a family
compound dans le quartier de la famille des freres Giroux, two twin
brothers who won the studio. Everything is patchwork and falling
apart, and so I use only my own equipment. So far everything is
working properly, though there were some unique electrical
challenges at the beginning.
Did I say that it's hot?
Yup, durned hot. I must be drinking five or ten litres of water a
day! Well I could go on forever about the music and the recording...
Bamako is something to behold... a giant village of one story
mud-walled compounds. The streets are full of holes and rocks and
cows and goats and people and non-stop vendors selling mangoro
(mangoes) and lottery tickets and everything else you can imagine.
There are a few paved roads. There are no traffic rules and few
working streetlights. You'll see all this when you get here - I can't
find the words to describe it.
The flight was ok, not as bad as I thought, and my equipment
all got through somehow. No problem with the transfers. The
flight to Addis Ababa was great. It was only about half full or less,
and we flew over Venice, and Crete, the North Egyptian desert,
Cairo, the Nile. The view was stunning - almost worth the cost of
the flight in itself. The food was good, and the service excellent,
though the aircraft a bit run down.
The flight to Bamako seemed to go
by quickly. Bamako was the end of the line, and the plane was almost
empty by then. It was morning by then, and I had a nice
view of the country around Bamako. It took about ten minutes from the
time I left the plane until I was in the parking lot. No
problem clearing immigration, though they were a bit curious about
the musical gear at customs (a radar machine right behind the
passport desk). I didn't have to show any papers, but Mansa was
there to talk my way through everything.
Well, I must go now. Everything is kind of
crazy here, and it's hard to be specific about how it all works - I
can only say that it all works somehow, and everyone is friendly and
keen. Lots of jamming, and I think the musicians here are looking
forward to meeting you all.
I'll
think about things you could bring, though I can safely say that
they can use anything. Bass strings comes to mind. A cheap playable
mandolin? The banjo has been a big hit.
Pass this message on to the
rest of the team. It's going to be amazing... you have no
idea...
I'll talk to you soon (maybe in a week or so when I have
more time and access to email.
Love
lew
p.s. did I say it
was hot?
Rains are on the way... big blustery storms
which will turn Bamako into a sea of mud.
peace
________________________________________
May 9/04
Hi Tannis...
Glad to
get your message - it's good to know that there's still a world out
there. I've been completely out of touch with everything outside of
the immediate tasks of recording and getting around in Bamako. No
news to speak of concerning the outside world. For the most part it
really doesn't seem to have much immediate relevence. The big news
is that Momar Ghaddafi is coming to town in a week or so for a
conference. He's a hero figure around here. I am getting along
pretty well in French, picking up most of what is said and making
myself understood. It's easiest talking with the Malians - but the
French expats are a bit more difficult to follow as they speak at a pretty good clip.
There's certainly a lot to tell. Firstly I've finished tracking
Mansa's album. It's even all backed up on disk. I think this is a
major accomplishment around here, judging from what I've seen,
though by now I'm kind of getting used to the makeshift way of doing
things. All those years of recording live shows and juggling
equipment are coming into play here. Dale will fit in really well as
a studio guy, as he too is used to this kind of thing. Nothing works
and everything breaks and is held
together by tape and fishing
line. They really don't have much in the way of anything. It's very
cool how all the musicians make do with whatever is available and
come out playing the most amazing music. Music really is everywhere
here. Radios blare out, it pours out of shops, even the mullah's
calling everyone to prayer at four in the morning and during the
day. It's not quite as loud and annoying as Thailand, as they don't
have the same loud equipment, or PA systems, or Chinese Opera.
I've been busy setting up musical activities
with the local musicians for when you guys get here - jam sessions,
recording, going to clubs. Anything is possible and the locals are
keen. Of course I can't say for sure exactly what will happen, but
happen it will. Tell everyone to rest up as much as possible as
you're going to need as much energy as you can muster up when you
get here. Le chaleur (the heat) is constant, but everything goes on
just the same. It's even hot for Malians. Hopefully we can record
some stuff for your new album when you get here. The Ngoni player
I've been
working with for the last ten days is fabulous, and a really sweet
guy. He's keen to do anything - I'm going to try and record an album
with him over the next few days. Practice as many songs as you can
in the key of F or D minor!!!! Even ideas for songs. Pass this on
Dale and Dave too, as it will come in handy for jamming with the
Ngoni and kora.
All the work JP has been doing
is mind-boggling. I can't begin to describe what he's accomplished.
We had a second meeting today with the village elders of Balaya
(where we are going), and the whole expedition is taking shape. All
the people are very excited about our coming- tout la monde es
tres content- and great plans are under way. The advance man who went
out to the village over the past week returned with all
positive reports, and it looks like it's becoming a plus grande spectacle
for the entire region. It's never happened in this area before. It
seems like people will even be coming over the border from Guinea
to attend. We will play some songs
for them Canadian style, and Mansa and his group will play as well.
They will also perform for us, and we'll probably do tons of stuff together.
There's even a huge pavilion that's just been finished for the
event. All our festival experience will be useful. There will be two
full days of this sort of thing. We may also be involved in a mini
version of the spectacle in Kita on our way to the village.
The
practical stuff is also falling into place, including hauling three
or four hundred kilos of water into the village for us to drink. We
discussed all these things and more for the entire morning while
sitting under a mango tree in the compound of a grande famille from
Balaya living in Bamako. Rounds of water, thick sugary green tea
with mint, and even palm wine brought in specially from Balaya by
our ambassador passed back and forth.
I'll be quite busy until you folks all
get here with recording and musical stuff, which I'm sure will lead
to even more stuff for when you guys get here, though there's
already quite a plateful. I spent most of today out of town just down
the Niger hanging with and listening to Jah J'Esseff play his
songs under the central pavilion of someone's compound. Quite
different than Mansa, but equally good. He has about three cassette
albums here and is very popular, though not so active at the moment.
He works with his wife, and two other women singers, and plays
the kamal N'goni accompanied by percussionists and guitarists. We ate a
lot mangoes, drank more hot green tea and mint syrop....Looks like
I'm going to record him and his group at JP's next Saturday...I
recorded about an hour of his songs on minidisc, and did a great
interview with a retired American woman who lives in Bamako, and is
a bit of a patron of the music here. She too is very excited about
what we are doing... nobody really has done this sort of thing -
especially making recordings of local bands. She's really
knowledable about the local scene, and knows which bands are
worth seeing and hearing. Hopefully this will help us to choose a
few clubs to go to on our few days that are not already
booked.
Well, I had better be going. Miss you and can't wait till
you guys get here. It's too much for one person, I need someone to
share it with.
a la prochain
love lew
p.s. pass as much of this along as you like.
the malaria medication makes your skin
crawl a bit, but it's tolerable, and better than getting Malaria. I
haven't seen too many mozzies, and the moustiqieres keep them at bay
at night. Lots of lizards doing pushups, and big fruit bats at night.
Bring light clothes that cover you up, as
well as light Canadian summer fare for when you are inside the
compound. JP has a pool so bring a swimming
suit.
Can you bring a bunch of different Chicken
shakes? You know, those plastic shaker things. Remember those
plastic eggs that came with smarties in them? They were quite a hit
here with Mansa's percussionist. I'd like to give him some of the
more professional egg shakers. They will make nice gifts to
percussionists if you want to bring a few extra.
Any instruments will be welcome at the INA.
(The National Institute for the Arts)
We will have a small PA system for our journey
to Balaya, I think, but tell Dale to bring some kind
of acoustic instrument for jamming.
gotta go
more
love
lew
______________________________________________________
May 17/04
Hi Tannis,
I'm off to the INA this morning in a short while for my first
round of recording at the national institute for the arts - lots of
students are prepared to record a song or two, and I hope I can make
things work, given the improvised nature of where and how I have to
record music. There is
absolutely no sound isolation, so the
music comes with motocycles, power saws, and street noise of all
sorts. I think the school bell will also go off between
classes....
Peace love and music to
ya
Later
lew
_______________________________________________________
May 18/02
Mali auto parts:
Sunday is a good day to look for spark plug
wires for a 25 year old Renault. Not new wires, but any second hand
wires that are the right length: they can be made to fit. This means
driving down to the neighborhood where everbody is in the car parts
business. Picture a ramshackle Canadian wrecking yard, then squeeze
everything into an area the size of a single familysuburban home.
Place that home on a street of similar home, all attached at the
waist, and build a neighborhood of streets nestled into the biggest
village in the world. There is not an inch of space which is
unoccupied. Every part from a car in piles and boxes and stacks
interspersed with projects underway on the floor-transmissions,
engines, carburators, suspensions. Cars are completely rebuilt from
odd pieces and and old frame. All the computer things and every
unecessary component is removed from a car so it will work in a
sub-saharan environment. We find huge bundles of old grungy spark
plug wires in every shop, but nothing that fits. Finally one
shopowner wanders down the street to a place where he thinks he can
find the right set. This will take some time, so I settle in for a
wait while my brother goes off into the depths of narrow muddy
streets filled with the skeletons of of cars, and walls of shops
with hand-painted signs displaying the wares buried therein: Murals
of shock absorbers, tires, batteries, and steering wheels abound -
each announcing the specialty of a particular vendor. While I
sit on the street I entertain myself by naking note of the things
that people carry on their heads while walking along the street.
Fruit of all sorts: mangoes, bananas, oranges... potatoes, tomatoes,
onions piled into large multi-coloured plastic buckets balanced atop
a wrapped cloth in the centre of the head. People carrying racks of
clothes the colour of the rainbow, boxes of mystery goods, ghetto
blasters... etc. Drugstores in a bag, watches, sunglasses,
lottery tickets, phone cards, sandwhich snacks, prepared food,
the whole world walks by over the course of twenty minutes or so,
anything you need here is not hard to find. Finally my brother
returns with the shopkeeper sporting a set of wires. They will fit
the car, but he wants too much money for them - over twenty five
dollars Canadian for an old set with no guarantee they will work any
better than the ones already in the car, if at all. We decide not to
buy. This has taken about two hours. One option is to place an order
with someone who will have them stolen to order. This is
not a real option for us, but it is easy to see why people resort to
this in order to get their vehicles back on the road.
must
go.
lew
_____________________________________________________
May 20/04
Hey
Tannis...
Another missive from the steamy depths of the
sub-saharan interior. Last night there was a big wind, ripping up
from the coast and tearing at the mango and palm leaves as if to
strip them bare. Usually a wind like this brings rain, but the big
"ourages" and "tempets" are still gestating, and so not a drop was
spilled. Sunrise brings a sweet coolness, and all the smells of city
dust, smoke, and humanity drifting through the air. There will be
mangoros to collect on the ground from last night's bluster. One
thing about the wind: the tinny voices of the muezzin calling the
good people of Bamako to prayer at 4:00 in the morning were scooped
up by le vent and redeposited somewhere in the middle of the Sahara,
No doubt there will be a higher attendence of camels and Tauregs
at the mosque tomorrow.
Only one moto accident yesterday on the way to
my last recording session at the INA (Institute National des Artes).
A good omen. The driver, Al-Assan, navigates through the streets
with great skill and caution. Al-Assan is a qualified mechanic by
trade who has taken work as a driver because jobs are at a premium
here. I know that if I were driving here there is a pretty good
chance I would have already had an accident. Al-Assan has a wry
sense of humour, and makes funny comments about other drivers,
especially motocyclists, who cut in front of him or do something
particularly foolish. Every once in a while he shouts out the window
at someone, either in greeting or castigating a pedestrian or a
particularly annoying tout or beggar. Greetings are important here.
Whenever you meet someone you know there is a busy round of Bonjour,
Ca va?, Est-Vous bien restez, and perhaps a bit of rapartee about
being the slaves of one another in former times, depending on
historic family ties. When he is not driving he is working on the
car, a 21 year old Renault completely rebuilt from the parts of many
different cars. The Renault is about the size of a Ford Escort
(or smaller). It has the suspension of a small pickup truck. This is
necessary on Bamako roads. Once one leaves the few main paved roads
the streets are not much more than dried up river beds full of
potholes and rocks, and garbage - mostly plastic bags. Every day a
herd of cattle wanders down the street, and on every corner there is
a cabine de telephone, a foosball table, someone selling a pile of
mangoes, or the Bamako equivalent of a corner store selling
cigarettes, candy, toothpaste, an odd assortment of plastic things
like combs or hair clips, and everything one might need in a pinch.
I can't wait for the
big rains. Apparently the street becomes a river (about 50 meters
across and one meter deep). What a mess!!! Back to the recording.
Al-Assan delivered me to the School safely, and I proceeded to set
up for the last round of recording. I've recording the students for
the last two days - total of five different groups and about twelve
songs. The instruments are usually guitar, balafon, and voice, but
the main group has a traditional lineup of Kora, Ngoni, Balafon, and
young, aspiring women singers called Djelimusa (sp.?). Typically one
women sings the lead and two others sing the response chorus and the
instrumentalists play along in the background, setting the groove,
and playing the melody in between vocal breaks. There is not much
harmony here. The vocals usually comprise main melody and counter
melody, and the accompaniment is a polyrythmic counterpoint of
arpeggios that add up to create a monster groove. All the main songs
have been recorded and the music ranges from good to great. The
singing is the strongest... one has to be a good singer here, given
the standard which has been set over the years. Some of the groups
include the Maitres of the school (the kora player, for example),
and are probably the equivalent of the A level jazz bands at Humber
College. Today I am recording saxophone overdubs by the the Maitre,
Monsieur Soulymans Dembele, who is in charge of all the students who
are recording. He is very keen and enthusiastic about this project,
as it is the first chance the students have had to be recorded and
hear themselves. Certainly one of my greatest rewards has
been watching the students listening back to the tracks, big smiles
(or frowns on occasion, when they hear themselves make some minute
error that I can never detect) blossoming on their faces. Todays
overdubs are over a bit earlier than expected, and I have time to pack up
and go out to the courtyard and hang with the students who are
sitting around playing guitars and other instruments. In one corner a
Maitre de Kora is teaching a couple of women the rudiments of
the instrument. This is rare, as the women don't usually
play instruments here. Within minutes a jam session and show-and-tell
develops. Most of the guitarist play repeating melodic riffs, kind
of like fingerpicking with only one finger. They show me some of
these riffs and eventually I figure it out and settle in for what
ends up being ten or twenty mintues of holding on to the foundation
while the different players take turns playing additional different
melodic riffs in counterpoint or improvising solos. Playing chords
and rhythmic chord progressions is not common here, and so they are
quite interested in my approach to the guitar. These players would
fit in extremely well with bluegrass style pickers and grinners. I
can't wait to see and hear this combination one day. The speed,
riffing, and attitude matches perfectly, but the blend of styles
would produce a totally new sound!!!!
I always carry a banjo (thanks Graeme - I'll be
handing it over to an amazing young jazz Ngoni player who I'm sure
will take take the instrument to a new universe) with me, and
this has been an object of great interest and much curiosity. One of
the main reasons they like it is because it's a bit louder than the
Kora, guitar, and Ngoni, and the melody stands out (the small Ngoni-
some fishing line tied to a stick and a gourd with a skin head -
grandfather to the banjo) is a quiet instrument which is often
difficult to hear which the band fires up full-steam. All the Ngoni
and guitar players want to
give it a try, and sometimes it's hard to get it back when it's time
to go. The banjo fits in well with the Kora and Ngoni, as they are
all related instruments, and the musicians here especially like the
banjo's potential for speedy melodic riffs and its quick
adaptability to Malenke and Wassalou music.
One of the
highlights of today's jam occured when one of the Djelimuso divas
and I traded verses of a tradional Melenke song and one of my tunes
to the same instrumental accompaniment. Also had a great jam with
Ali Farka Toure's son, who is attending the arts school here in
Bamako in his third year. He plays and sings like his dad, which
leans a bit more towards the western blues tradition. This
Niafunke sound is distinct from the Malenke griot style, or the
Wassalou kamal ngoni-based sound. I'm really looking forward to when
Tannis, Dave, and Dale show up for the workshops here in a couple of
weeks. Heads are going to be twisting and turning in all directions
by all parties. I think it will be a great exchange, full of
confusion and magic.
Just another days work and five liters of
perspiration. Later I will go home and start working on some quick
mixes so I can hand over a collection to the director and the
students early next week.
P.s. When I arrive home, I have a
visitor. It is Toumani Diabete's younger brother, a kora player in
the house orchestra at the Le Hogan. He wants to jam with the
Canadian musicians when they arrive, so we set up a convenient time
- the first afternoon Dave, Dale, and Tannis set foot in Mali. Sorry
guys, but it's like that here!
Well, that's it for now! I'm off
to record some talking drum tracks on twelve songs for Abdoullaiye
the King of
Ngoni.
peace
lewis
_____________________________________________________
May
21/04
Hey Tannis....
PLEASE put the donor names up on the Website.
I've taken pictures of different musicians who have received
strings. These are very much appreciated and I've explained to all
the musicians here that the strings are a gift from the "Boutiques
de Musique" in Canada to the musicians of Mali. New
strings are very hard to get here (all types) and cost two or three
times what they do in Canada. Combine that with the fact that the
musicians here make only a couple of hundred bucks a
year...Yesterday when I was jamming I lent my guitar to one of the
students. We really got into it, and he broke a string while he was
playing. You should have seen the crestfallen look on his face. I
think the custom here is when you break a string you replace it...
and this is a big expense for the musician. He was greatly relieved
when I told him it was no problem. Equipment is shared around. If a
musician has a good gig, he borrows the best guitar or amp he can
find, and they all give priority to a fellow player who lands a good
gig. For my recording sessions, different groups share the best
instrument - usually the same one for all the tracks. I lend my
guitar to anyone who needs it for recording, as it is better than
anything I have yet encountered!
Must go... the talking drum
player Baaba is at the door.
love lewis
______________________________________________________
May
22/04
Hi Tannis...
There was a grand sunset this evening
over Bamako. Sunrays streaming out from under a single mountain of
cloud that got stuck over the city. The rays were quickly swallowed
up by the thick layer of dust, wood smoke, and vapourized
hydrocarbons that blankets everything when tout le monde heads home
from work. The strange combination of old vehicles and questionable
fuel gives the desert sky an orange blue patina - and when the moon
cuts through the deep blue-black of the desert night one feels kind
of small. It's kind of like the prairies on a clear summer night
seen through a haze of two stroke engine oil.
There's a big pile
of mangoes waiting to be carved. We knocked them down from the
trees the other day with a bamboo pole with a wire hook on the end.
Occasionally there's one with claw marks on it. The big fruit bats
tear at them for dinner. One has to catch the mango before it hits
the ground (I got walloped on the back by a big one).
Must go
and check on the generator, the power has gone down three or four
times today.
See ya.
love lew
______________________________________________________
That's it for now but I will try to add more as it comes,
and will post photos of the trip when we're back. Thanks for your
interest!...Cheers!...Tannis
Back
to the top
|
