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20 years of african music
The Definitive Syllart Selection
Paris
19/12/2002 -
These five albums, thematically divided into "Senegal", "Congo", "Mali", "Roots" and "West African Dance", feature 68 songs, a host of recording stars and just about everything you ever wanted to know about music from French-speaking Africa. This collection of legendary African anthems and rare musical gems selected from the vast back catalogue of the Syllart label, is all down to two decades' work by one man, Ibrahima Sylla. RFI/Musique meets up with the man with the golden ear:
RFI: The actual launch of Syllart Production dates back to 1981. How come your celebration of 20 Years History is happening now, a year after the label's 20th anniversary?
Ibrahima Sylla: Well, normally we were hoping to have everything ready for last year, but the back catalogue's so vast that the work of selecting which tracks should figure on which CD turned out to be a long and arduous business. And then there were a few changes in the management at our distributor, Next Music – so what with one thing and another our release date got put back a bit!
RFI: What was the very first act you signed to Syllart Production?
I.S.: The Orchestra Baobab. We recorded at the Golden Baobab. That was the studio that belonged to Senghor's son - it's called Xippi these days. Baobab were really at the height of their career back then. That was the golden era when Thione Seck was still playing with the band. Then, after that, I went on to produce Ismaël Lô and Ouza.
RFI: Was it complicated organising the work into five different CDs?
I.S.: Yes, and I'd say I'm not totally satisfied with the result because I feel we've missed one country out – and that's Guinea. We could have devoted an entire album to Guinea really. But for marketing reasons it was decided that five albums was our limit, so I chose to give priority to Senegal, Mali and Congo (ex-Zaire) because when I started the label those were the three main countries we focused on. Guinea came on board a bit later really, towards 1991-1992. The main idea behind the albums was to feature tracks people wouldn't know already. A lot of songs on the five albums have never been released on CD before, like Ndaxami by Ismaël Lô, for instance. That's a wonderful song I produced back in 1981.
RFI: Did you have total exclusivity on the tracks featured in the Syllart anthologyor did you have to negotiate rights for any of the songs?
I.S.: 90% of the tracks belong to me and the remaining 10% are licences. We signed licence deals for the tracks by Syliphone with the Guinean government. And there are a couple of other tracks where we signed licence deals with the Ministry of Culture and Information in Mali and with a private producer in Ivory Coast.
RFI: Are you pleased to see the Orchestra Baobab staging a comeback today?
I.S.: Yes, of course I am, especially as I was one of the first to believe in them back in the early 80s. If you take a look at the tracks featured on the band's new album Specialist In All Styles, you'll see I produced practically all of them apart from On verra ça and Laye Mboup's song Ndongoy Darra, because by the time I started working with Baobab Laye Mboup was dead. The sound hasn't been changed at all! World Circuit [Orchestra Baobab's current label] have really tried to keep the sound the band had back in their heyday. Although, personally, I think I would have done something very different.
RFI: You were born in Ivory Coast and you've been living in France since 1983, but you also have Senegalese nationality. How do you feel about the fact that Aminata Fall – who was a huge star in Senegal but remained practically unknown in the West – has just died. Did you ever work with her?
I.S.: No, but I knew Aminata very well. When she performed at the international "Arts Nègres" festival organised in Dakar in 1966 by Senghor, she went down in music history as the first woman to jam with black American musicians like Duke Ellington. Aminata was a wonderful woman – and one, sadly, who was not sufficiently promoted abroad. I think that's a great pity. Her death is a big loss for Senegal and its music culture.
RFI: What do you think of the fact that you're often presented as an "ambassador" for African music?
S.: Well, I think that's going a little too far maybe. I'm not the only one for a start. There are a lot of other people who've worked hard to get African music known abroad, but then perhaps they haven't had the chance to come and set themselves up in Europe like I have. Honestly, I see myself as a small drop in the ocean of people involved in trying to take African music beyond its frontiers.
I think if I am seen as a bit of an African music "ambassador" it's largely thanks to the work of my collaborators in Africa. They're the ones who get in touch to tell me that such and such an artist or such and such a musical style is going down a storm in their country. They're the ones who get me over to listen to new talents and see if I can do anything with them abroad.
RFI: What would you pinpoint as the major changes on the African music scene over the past 20 years?
I.S.: Let me tell you, there have been a lot of changes, especially in the way people buy records. These days it's become common practice for record-buyers to buy their national 'product.' Senegalese music fans listen to Senegalese music, Malian music fans listen to Malian music and people in Congo listen to Congolese music and so on. That's a big change because back in the 80s in Senegal – as was the case in a lot of other African countries - people used to buy a lot of foreign music. And I think that's a bit of a regression in a way. I remember when I was growing up in Senegal people would dance to all kinds of different music like soul and rock and stuff. I think this practice of consuming only the national 'product' has a lot of repercussions on musical creativity too. Musicians aren't open to other sounds these days and I think that's a real loss!
RFI: What's the reason for these changes in your opinion?
I.S.: I think it's basically down to people opting for the easy way out. Take Zairean music, for instance. Singers used to sing the most amazing melodies, but these days they limit themselves to shouting over guitar riffs! That's why bands like Orchestra Baobab and Bembeya Jazz are making such a big comeback. And there's a revival of interest in veteran groups like Kékélé – I produced a new album by them two years ago and now we're working on the next! It's a way of showing young up-and-coming acts that there's a bit more to music than screaming their heads off over guitar and drums!
I think record pirates also have a lot to answer for. They're also partly to blame for the drop in quality. It's got to the stage where African producers - who are, after all, the bottom line when it comes to distributing African music - aren't prepared to invest large sums of money any more. They say to themselves, 'Why should I invest in a product that's going to get pirated within two or three weeks of its release?' It's as if they're investing money on the pirates' behalf at the end of the day! It's now got to the point where producers only go for the quick easy options. They're interested in making a bit of money and that's that! Take Magic System's Premier Gaou, for instance, the guy barely invested 3000 euro in that – and the group have already sold 300,000 cassettes in Ivory Coast!
RFI: But you still seem to be willing to get involved in costly productions…
I.S.: Well, the next Thione Seck album – which is coming up for release soon – has cost well over 200.000 euro ! But it's an album which involved a great deal of travelling. We've been working on it for over a year now. Basically, the album's a fusion of black Africa and the Middle East – it revolves around mixing Thione's vocals with an instrument known as the xalam in Senegal and the ngoni in Mali, but the Toucouleurs know it as the hoddu and the Arabs call it the 'ud. They're all the same instrument, in fact, an instrument which originally came from Arab countries and ended up in sub-Saharan Africa. The Thione Seck album is an act of personal defiance for me – it's my reaction against the increasing blandness and monotony of the music coming out of Africa today!
Interview: Patrick Labesse
* Laye Mboup died in 1974
20 Years History – The Very Best Of Syllart Productions(Next Music) – Boxed set of 5 CDs
Patrick Labesse
Translation : Julie Street
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