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Tabu Ley, papa rumba
The return of a legend
Paris
24/03/2003 -
RFI: When did you release your last record? Tabu Ley: In 1995, an album called Muzina (au nom de…) which I recorded with an American label (Rounder) and which was distributed in France by Sonodisc. So this is a return to recording for me. But I haven't been idle all this time, I've been touring widely. I was based in Los Angeles and San Francisco but I didn't have any time to record an album, there were so many concerts: The United States, Canada, South America – Brazil, Argentina -… In the last few years I returned to Kinshasa where I got involved in politics. I'm a member of parliament, in charge of a socio-cultural commission for president Kabila's party and before that I was his cultural adviser for a while. I currently live in Brussels but am planning to come and live in Paris.
RFI: Have you lived in Paris before?
T. L.: Yes, for a long time. But then again I was living in many places at the same time. Paris, Los Angeles, South Africa, Nairobi. In Paris, I was the first African artist to play the Olympia. For sixteen days running, I put on 34 shows there! Galas in my name first, then as a support act for Julien Clerc for 14 days. In fact I'd love to meet up with Julien Clerc again, if anyone can help me out there that would be great. Bruno Coquatrix came in person to Kinshasa to find me, with his lovely wife Paulette. We signed the contract over there.
RFI: Why do you think they chose you?
T. L.: I was known all over Africa and was the first to create a real show on stage. I had formed these girls, the Rocherettes. One of them later became one of Claude François' Clodettes. When I was playing at the Olympia, Claude François was in the audience, along with a lot of other stars like Alain Delon, Mireille Mathieu and Sylvie Vartan.
RFI: In your new album, people may be surprised by the strong presence of rhythm boxes and synthetic sounds.
T. L.: It was a choice I made, I wanted to make music in the same register as the younger musicians who do it so well. But I have to admit I'm not fanatical about it. The next album will be more airy, more acoustic.
RFI: RFI: Its been said that you've recorded over 2000 tracks. Is that true or a slight exaggeration? RFI: You've had a few problems with Mobutu who prohibited you from leaving the country at a certain point in your career, for what reasons? RFI: Some of your songs were censured? RFI: When did you begin singing in public? RFI: Kinshasa has had numerous nicknames: Kin la belle, Kin la joie… Are they still justified today? RFI: What is your view on the proliferation of churches and sects in Kinshasa? ALBUM : "Tempelo" / Next Music Patrick
Labesse
Translation : Michele
Brady
T. L.: Its true! I have over 43 years of music to my name. There was a time when we used to come to Europe three or four times a year to record in studios and we had to record at least 50 songs each time we came. We had to make the trip worth it. And, you've got to remember that the songs were very short back then and we didn't bother with any remixing once they were recorded. The whole process was very quick.
T. L.: I've always been in conflict with him. I was a republican and he was a conservative. We never saw eye to eye. I was inspired by the Lumumba movement. Therefore I was on the side of those who were – wrongly – viewed as communists. In fact, what I stood for was quite the opposite: I defended republican and democratic values. My way of seeing things, the songs I sang, upheld these ideals and they conflicted with Mobutu's views. So, from time to time I was arrested. I was a political prisoner twice.
T. L.: That's right. Le glas a sonné in 1993 for example. A track which proclaimed anti-Mobutu values and which had many emulators. A few years later Mobutu fell from power. The message of the track was: it is time to stop being afraid of dictators, to speak out loud what's on your mind, the dictatorship's time is up and it is time for those behind the Lumumba movement and for the old progressive politicians to take over. 
T. L.: Officially, in 1955, but in fact I'd been singing since I was 10 years old. Back then I was still called Pascal Sinamoyi, after the name of the village my parents came from. I was born on 13 November 1940 in Bagata. I got the nickname Rochereau in school. We were studying Napoleon's campaigns and one of his officers was called Denfert-Rochereau. I was the only one who remembered his name. The others were all punished and afterwards, because they were mad at me because I hadn't been punished, they nicknamed me Rochereau, sarcastically. I hated the nickname but it stuck. Now I have a soft spot for Place Denfert-Rochereau in Paris. There was even a certain Monsieur Rochereau in Mitterand's government who put a lot of effort into contacting me through my embassy.
T. L.: Its a town where people are still used to having a good time, but the facilities aren't what they used to be. Some people today call it "Kin poubelle" (Kin the tip). I don't hold with that because I think its an insult to my town. I arrived there when I was three months old and I grew up into a man there. I have a strong attachment to the place. But it is true that the town is not what it used to be and that it has gotten quite dirty.
T. L.: I don't like sects or false pastors. They have created so many problems in families, they preach cheap-rate evangelism. The reason it is so widespread stems from economic difficulties. People take refuge in the imaginary, they think that if they pray hard enough, God will sort everything out, give them food to eat, etc… The positive side is that it helps keeps civil peace, while they're praying, people are not rebelling, they accept their lot, but overall the sects cause more harm than good.
16/07/2007 -
07/04/2003 -
