Letta Mbulu

South African singer Letta Mbulu possesses one of the finest voices the world of song has ever heard.Like all great singers, her voice emanates a beautiful sound that radiates and resonates from within, overflowing with a joy of life and more often than not inspiring the spirit of hope and happiness.

Ms. Letta Mbulu was born on August 23, 1942, in the area of South Africa that would become known as Soweto, a sprawling group of townships 20 kilometers outside Johannesburg built to house the city’s black workers.Still in her teens, Letta began touring outside of Africa with the musical "King Kong," which ran for a year in England following a highly successful two-year run in South Africa. When the tour ended, she returned to South Africa but soon the policies of Apartheid were to force her to leave her native land for the U.S.A. She arrived in the United States in 1965 and quickly befriended such fellow South African exiles in New York City as Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela and Jonas Gwangwa - all alumni of the "King Kong" musical. Performances at New York's famed Village Gate club began to attract attention to her talents, particularly from jazz legend Cannonball Adderley, who invited her to tour with him (which she did throughout the remainder of the decade).

Letta Mbulu also displayed an early gift for writing joyful, memorable songs. These were showcased by no less an authority than Miriam Makeba on the great singer's albums The Magnificent Miriam Makeba (the great "Akana Nkomo"), All About Miriam ("U Shaka," and the hit-worthy "Jol'inkomo") and the tremendous album Makeba ("U-Mngoma," "Magwala Ndini").

Letta first made herself heard on records as part of Letta and the Safaris, a group featuring husband Caiphus Semenya and the South African husband and wife team of Jonas and Mamsie Gwangwa. A single, “Walkin’ Around” b/w “For God and Country” was issued in 1966 by Columbia Records (home at the time to Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkle), but lack of publicity failed to garner much attention to the clever little R&B swinger.

Letta and Caiphus soon relocated to the West Coast, joining Hugh Masekela, who became a fixture of the California concert and recording scene. Letta Mbulu shortly thereafter recorded Masekela’s “What’s Wrong With Groovin’” as a solo artist for a small label which captured much attention in the 90s as an acid jazz classic when the British Jazzman label picked it up for release. While in L.A., producer David Axelrod fell under Letta's spell and had her signed to Capitol Records - home at the time to both the Beatles and the Beach Boys and where Axelrod himself was scoring big hits for Lou Rawls and Cannonball Adderley. Axelrod produced Letta's debut album, Letta Mbulu Sings (Capitol/1967), an immediately attractive collection of Township-style pop mixed with American R&B. It was a hugely enjoyable style that Ms. Mbulu and her collaborator/husband Caiphus Semenya could nearly patent as their own.

Even though a single was released (the magnificent "Ardeze" b/w "Pula Yetla"), radio stations wouldn't play the record out of fear that no one would understand the words (the Bossa Nova and the British were as multi-cultural as American radio was willing to get back then). As a result, hardly anyone ever heard the record and, worse, sales were slight.

Axelrod convinced Capitol to give Letta another chance. The following year he produced the singer's majestic Free Soul, as near perfect a collection of afro-pop as has ever been waxed, this time dropping Letta's surname, but in odd contrast, featuring the beautiful young Letta on the cover swathed in colorful afro-centric clothing. Letta’s two Capitol albums were compiled onto one CD by the British Stateside label in 2005.

Meanwhile, Letta toured often (fronting a piano trio led by fellow South African exile Cecil Barnard) and recorded frequently as part of musical aggregates put together by Hugh Masekela - most spectacularly as part of the anonymous collective known as Africa ‘68, where she took the lead on “Uyaz’ Gabisa,” “Noyana,” “Aredze” (which she’d performed earlier on Letta Mbulu Sings) and “Kedumetse.”

When Masekela and business partner/producer Stewart Levine first formed their Chisa Records label, Letta Mbulu was one of the first artists they signed. They issued a 45-only record of “Little Star” b/w a much more invigorating version of the Masekela/Mbulu song “I Haven’t Slept” than Hugh issued on his own. In 1970, Chisa issued the first of two Mbulu albums bearing only her first name (the second is from 1978 on A&M).Letta is a magnificent sample of African-American soul, bearing the UK dancefloor classic "Mahlalela" (written by husband Caiphus Semenya), Mbulu's great "Use Mncane" (an amazing song that beautifully showcases Mbulu's gorgeous vocal capacities), "I Need Your Love" (which could've easily been a hit), Masekela's fine "Macongo" and a Mbulu perennial in husband Semenya's anthemic "Jigijela." Some of these are featured on the 2005 CD Hugh Masekela Presents The Chisa Years 1965-1975 (Rare And Unreleased).

Unfortunately, the Chisa label lost its independence in 1971 and was unable to issue another album Letta Mbulu had recorded that year – although two of the songs, including the great Motown-ish sounding “I’ll Never Be The Same” turned up on ultra-rare European copies of the Letta Mbulu Gold (Motown, 1977) album. Mbulu continued to tour, often with Harry Belafonte (she can be heard on her own for several pieces on the great singer's album Belafonte...Live!).

In 1973, the singer accepted a part in the Sidney Poitier's film A Warm December (as a singer!) and issued the album Naturally for Cannonball Aderley's label, Fantasy Records – which has just been issued for the first time on CD by the great British label, BGP. Indeed, Adderley and Mbulu were finally paired for the first time on record for several of the album's songs. It's here that the L.A. stamp on Mbulu's still-true take on African township pop starts to reveal itself. Songs like "Kube" (covered recently by South African singer Lebo M), "Noma Themba," "Hareje" and "Zimkile" reflect how comfortable - maybe a little slick - Mbulu could be at the crossroads of African and American music.Mbulu raised the bar even higher when Herb Alpert (through Hugh Masekela) signed the singer to the trumpeter's high-profile A&M Records label. The first of two albums, There’s Music In The Air is a another Afro-soul masterpiece that should have made Letta Mbulu a household name. Each song is a wonderful, intoxicating concoction that yields such endless aural delights as Joan Armatrading's "Let's Go Dancing" (featuring Lee Ritenour and Richard Tee), Caiphus Semenya's "Mara A Pula," "Rainy Day Music" and "There's Music In The Air."

Composer and inveterate hit-maker (on his way to making Michael Jackson the king of pop) Quincy Jones then recruited Letta Mbulu to become the voice of Roots. Contributing to the historic 1977 soundtrack, Mbulu is best remembered for interpreting husband Caiphus Semenya's moving "Oluwa" aka “Many Rains Ago,” which was actually written several years before for another project.

The 1978 album Letta (A&M) yielded several wondrous performances, including "Buza," "Baile Baneso," "Hareje" and "Mamani," but sadly no big hits. Another album recorded for A&M ended up coming out in 1980 on several different label(s) throughout the world as Sound of a Rainbow and yielding a sizeable disco hit in "Kiliminjaro." However, there was no album in the United States and, in fact, no album under Letta Mbulu's name has been issued in the United States since 1978's Letta.

But Letta Mbulu continued a busy and diverse career here in the states. In 1980 Letta Mbulu participated in an Africa Week concert in Montreal that yielded the magical An Evening of African Music With Letta Mbulu, issued in Canada in 1983.

In 1981, she narrated the documentary film You Have Struck A Rock about African women's campaigns of non-violent disobedience. In 1983, she worked on husband Caiphus Semenya's first recording under his own name, Listen to the Wind, which yielded a huge dance hit in the lovely "Angelina."

In 1984, Letta Mbulu sang on Quincy Jones's soundtrack to The Color Purple. In 1987, she was heard (if ever too briefly) as the other woman on Michael Jackson's "Liberian Girl" from the album Bad. Later, Mbulu appeared in such musical plays as husband Caiphus Semenya's Buwa (which was a presentation of the group, South African Artists United (SAAU), of which Mbulu was a co-founder) and Mbongeni Ngema's Shiela’s Day.

Mbulu released two more fine albums in the nineties with “In The Music The Village Never Ends,”(1994) and “Sound of a Rainbow” (1999). In 2001, Letta Mbulu was honored by the South African Music Awards for lifetime achievement. In 2006 Caiphus and Letta released “Music in the Air.”She has continued to sing on husband Caiphus Semenya's many projects - that continue to earn the couple a legendary and royal status in South Africa.

The Bassekou Kouyate Interview

Bassekou Kouyate's recent album I Speak Fula is a joy to behold, and he's about to undertake a major tour through North America (with only one Canadian date scheduled thus far). Be sure to keep an eye for other upcoming tour dates!

Here are excerpts of an interview about the state of Malian music, its infrastructure, and how he fits into it - not to mention his views on the international perception of his music.

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Were you mindful that this disc would be the most important in your career thus far? Did you feel pressure? Was the recording process the same as always or was it more complicated?

Yes I was aware. Our first album (Segu Blue, Out Here Records 2007) laid the groundwork for raising awareness of the sound of the ngoni in Africa and elsewhere, which was little heard before then. After that, and a tour that started in Portugal in 2006, people caught on to the ngoni and now with this second album, it’s up to us to showcase how the ngoni can link traditional music to modern sounds, and be danceable ! I Speak Fula was therefore a big challenge. I definitely felt it. But we are all professionals who have been playing this music since childhood: the challenge was also a pleasure.

The recording process was normal with producers and guests who knew the music like we did: people like Toumani Diabate, Zou Tereta, Kasse Mady Diabate and Vieux Farka Toure. It was the same studio where (the previous album was made) – Studio Bogolan in Bamako - with the same producers and engineers. I don’t think it was any more expensive than last time. All the same, there was a tense period around the end of the recording process and the mixing sessions in England, and the release date in September 2009. We held our breath, but mercifully, critics were even more enthusiastic than they were for Segu Blue. We thank the public who took the time to get used to our music.

Do you think more people are aware of Malian music these days?

I think so, there’s such a huge richness of Malian music. Before Ngoni Ba, the ngoni music of the Bamana people was little known. There are still musical discoveries to be made about this country!

In Bamako, there’s a good deal of hip hop and rap – do you listen? Is it much of an influence on the city (and the country’s) music? What about your own music?

Yes, like everywhere, it’s the music of youth, and more than 50% of the population is younger than 24. Sure, I listen to it sometimes, just as the youth listen to Ngoni Ba. It’s clear that this music is everywhere in the city and inspires youth, and even very good musicians, to play. But to say that it influences the country’s music, I don’t think so, because we know and love our own styles too much.

During the 80s, Malian musicians traveled to Ivory Coast or Paris to record or tour – is it still like that?

Some still go to Ivory Coast, Paris or London, but we have many good studios in Bamako – Bogolan, Sedona, etc. What’s changed now is that with the internet, we can change the results of recordings once there are parts that are too tricky to finish. We can work in synergy with specialized studios in Europe and North America.

Do Europeans and Africans react differently to your music?

Yes! Africans throughout the west and centre (of Africa) know different styles of music. Once one plays "Jonkoloni" or "Jaro", for example, the Malians understand it all, and are connoisseurs of our way of treating these songs. On the other hand, Europeans or North Americans generally don’t know our music, and it takes a little time to react to the same songs. We had the chance to play Zanzibar and that was interesting because East African folks had a hard time figuring out Ngoni Ba because it was African, but not their tradition. But everybody loves music.

You seem to want to make an impression on rock audiences. Is that why you added the wah pedal to your setup?

I noticed during Ngoni Ba’s first tour that kids enjoy dancing, what better to dance to than rock and roll? I added the wah wah pedals to get into that ambience! But not on every song, and we are always holding on to traditional music, even if it’s got modern lyrics.

You are part of a griot family, how do you balance playing traditional songs and styles with innovation? It seems to me that most of the reaction has been positive, have you ever faced criticism?

My father was an innovator; he introduced a four-stringed ngoni and more, but remained a leading figure of Bamana traditional music. I’ve also experimented with innovations, such as picking the ngoni up instead of resting it on the ground, but I’ve stayed anchored in Malian music. It’s therefore a family affair and poses no problems for me.

In fact, I’ve never heard any criticism or a less than positive reaction about these innovations! The old griots, the guardians of our ngoni instrumental tradition, congratulated me for drawing attention to this music which was slowly dying. It would be interesting to talk about this with critics – I’d very much like to meet some!

In North America, we tend to hear a lot about musicians who are griots. Are there famous Malian musicians who aren’t griots? Is it more difficult for them to find success?

Yes there are certainly some major Malian musicians who aren’t griots: Fula singer Saly Sidibe, and big stars like Salif Keita and Oumou Sangare. At first they faced difficulties because for the Malian public, anybody who sings in public is marked as a griot, and it wasn’t cool when the family name showed that they weren’t. The solution was to adopt the term artist which legitimized a singer’s career

But it’s still not acceptable for non-griots to sing the sacred music of these families in public gatherings or in (non-griot) family ceremonies. That is the exclusive province of griots!

How did Toumani Diabate help shape your attitudes towards your music, and how has he helped Malian music in general?

Toumani is an instrumentalist par excellence. He has changed public attitudes by placing emphasis on instrumental prowess. I’m have benefitted from his success. He also created a habit of visiting modest spaces which are part nightclub and part cultural space, where the Malian public and visitors to Bamako can listen to very good music and provides an environment for very good musicians to play in front of an informed audience. In a basic, kind of rustic looking space, with Toumani as the MC, the public danced and fraternized with artists. This space was the Hogon: it was open air and ran every weekend, it was one of the best memories of the 90s and a gift that Toumani offered to a generation of musicians, in that he popularized them and they were appreciated on a social and artistic level.

Are you excited about your upcoming US tour? Not many African musicians have toured this extensively in the US.

I know it's a great opportunity. It will be a pleasure to meet audiences well known for their generosity and their taste for African music.

Theo Yaw Boakye

Theo Yaw Boakye is a Ghanaian musician based in Toronto, Canada. He was the lead vocalist of Nakupenda (a group of African musicians), that performed several times at the very first AfroFest in 1989. The group also appeared at the Caribana, toured the UK, the U.S and Africa. They recorded seven albums and have since disbanded. In 1994, he released an album Swinging Safari, and has experienced great popularity in his native Ghana and as well as in Canada. This charismatic percussionist and vocalist was a member of the collaborative African Guitar Summit that won the 2005 Juno Award in Canada.

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