Album review

Sally Nyolo

'Béti'

Paris 

21/01/2000 - 

Cameroonian star Sally Nyolo adopts a light approach, trusting in the virtues of acoustic instruments to give her voice space and freedom. Drawing strength and inspiration from her roots, Sally sings in her native tongue, Eton, and delights fans with her vibrant reworking of bikutsi, the traditional rhythm of Cameroon. We met the radiant and positively upbeat Ms. Nyolo on the day of the release of her new album "Béti", an album which was partly recorded in Cameroon with local musicians.

Sally, before we even listen to your music, your stage costumes transport us to another world …
I like wearing clothes which fuse elements of different cultures. I'm not just "Africa" today, you see, I'm a world melting-pot! It takes me an hour to get ready for each performance. I like to take the time to do my make-up and choose which materials I'm going to wear on stage. The way I see it, music's not just about sound, it's also about stories, paintings, perfumes and colours. You don't just listen to music - you breathe it, you taste it and you enjoy it visually! When I'm on stage I love constructing a décor for my songs which helps transport the audience into another world.

You've been living in Paris since the age of 13 and you began your career singing with the likes of Touré Kunda, Sixun and Princess Erika. You also did a brief stint with the group Zap Mama. But then, one day, you felt the call of your roots …
The thing is I'd always felt very drawn to my roots. In fact, I've always felt this real homesickness for my country and my native language, Eton. When I was growing up I made my mother speak to me in Eton all the time - that way, over the years, I haven't lost touch with the music of my mother tongue. All the time I was singing backing vocals for other artists, I'd be singing and writing material for myself too. I'd write my songs in French, English and Eton. Then one day I was going through my material and I realised that most of the stuff I'd written was in Eton. This material formed the basis for my first demo tapes which later got worked into my debut album "Tribu". Around the same period I was already getting interested in bikutsi - that's a type of music from central and southern Cameroon which nobody was playing in Paris back in those days.

You went back to Cameroon in 1998 to make "Graine de tonnerre" - François Bergeron's documentary film about you for France 3. And I believe this was a very emotional experience for you. Was this one of the reasons you went back to Cameroon, to capture a few essential elements of your homeland on your new album?
I really wanted to get Cameroonian guitarists and bass-players involved on the new album. So what happened was I went over to Cameroon with a set of songs which I'd already worked on in Paris - the tracks were all written, arranged and ready to record. There was no time or space allowed for creation or composition while I was out there, which is why Anne-Marie Nzié, for example, doesn't feature on the album. I insisted on meeting Anne-Marie while we were making the film in Cameroon. She's a singer who really marked my childhood. I remember listening to her all the time on the radio - my parents didn't have a record-player at the time. Anne-Marie Nzié was a very respected figure in Cameroon in those days.
I knew right from the start of the album that I wanted to record a song with the Pygmies from the forests of south-central Cameroon. I'd met them back in 1998 and I'd been thinking about working with them ever since. I arrived in the forest on New Year's Day and when I got there I sang them a song which I thought was fitting for the occasion! That's how the song "Bonne Année" (Happy New Year), which features on "Béti", came about.

Another special guest star on the new album is Andjeng Etaba Pantaléon, a musician who plays the mvet - an instrument partway between a guitar and a harp made of four gourds and ten strings.
The mvet is really the instrument associated with bikutsi, the instrument musicians use to sing great epics. The mvet is also found in Gabon among the Fangs and in Central Africa too, although in Gabon and Central Africa the instrument takes on different forms.
The musician who plays the mvet is not like the griot in West Africa. He doesn't sit there and sing a string of praises. He says what he thinks, pretty crudely, and laughs and jokes without playing particularly melodic notes either. These days, rich people who want to add a bit of a traditional touch to their parties invite mvet-players to entertain their guests. It's a shame - these musicians who represent our cultural heritage, who perform so brilliantly, are often paid as we say "with a bottle of palm wine". Sadly, their art is far from being appreciated at its real worth.
Was 1999 a good year for you?
Personally speaking, yes. I performed my first tour of Cameroon and that was an absolutely extraordinary experience. I actually got to reach out and touch my Cameroonian fans. It had been a personal dream of mine for a long time you know, as a singer who comes from Africa to go back there and play bikutsi, my native music.

Do you feel like you've got a lucky star?
Oh, at least one - maybe several, in fact! But then I don't want to go on about it too much and make people envious …

Sally Nyolo"Béti (Lusafrica / Naïve) 2000

Patrick  Labesse

Translation : Julie  Street