by ERIN MACLEOD

Omar Lye-Fook is one of the rarest of artists—he’s not only a critic’s darling, he’s also a tastemaker’s toast and a musician’s musician. Over the past 15 years or so, he’s released six albums. He’s worked with artists like Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Common, Angie Stone and Stevie Wonder—who famously contacted Omar after hearing the 1992 U.K. hit single “There’s Nothing Like This” and offered to write him a hit song. Producers like Motown’s Leon Ware and Lamont Dozier have leant their helping hands to his work. His influence is far-ranging, from California’s Madlib to Canada’s Ivana Santilli. And he’s also become somewhat of a frequent performer at London’s Jazz Café, dazzling (it’s a fitting word for what he does on stage) audiences.

Sure, Omar hasn’t really reached the mainstream over here. But this doesn’t mean that his music hasn’t been circulating worldwide for quite some time. This is a man who played to crowds of over 10,000 in Indonesia and whose debut performance in our fair city is seen by many as a major event.

The reason why Omar is amassing fans left and right without topping charts is because he’s deeply committed to his music. A classically trained musician, he studied at London’s famous Guildhall School of Music. His schooling helped to form his approach to music—“because I learnt to play music with other musicians,” Omar says, “like in a group situation. Not just classical, but the jazz or the choirs or whatever. I like to emulate the same thing with my music and try to make music that sounds like it’s in a live setting.”

And Omar comes by his musical talent honestly. Not only is his whole family quite musical, but he works with his siblings. Is the family affair fun? “It’s a bloody nightmare,” he laughs. “Well, you know, it’s fun. Because when we get together, we make some stuff, some good music. My brother, Scratch Professor, is a very accomplished hip hop producer. Also, my younger sister Samia, we’re working on her album at the moment. My other brother Timon is a rap artist, an MC and a drummer. My dad’s a drummer as well.”

But they’ve never performed together. “We’ve done something on record, but any more than that, we’d probably kill each other,” he laughs.

Blender benders

Describing his sound as “a mix of the old with the new, a mixture of jazz, funk, soul, R&B, certainly hip hop, reggae [and] classical,” Omar also sees his influences as teachers. “I learned how to play the bass listening to [Level 42’s] Mark King. With John Holt and Dennis Brown, it’s their vocals that I try to emulate. It’s all where I learnt my music, basically.”

Omar’s interest in learning from the past while moving forward to the future has garnered him the title of the “reigning don of U.K. soul” in the British press.

North Americans have a solid fix on soul music, as popularized by singers like Al Green and Marvin Gaye, but within the U.K., there is also a long tradition of soul. As Omar explains it, there are different defining characteristics.

“In England, there is more the Caribbean influx, more than in the States, where it’s jazz and gospel—and you can definitely hear it when you listen to the different kinds of music. Everything we have over here is impacted by what you could call the ‘white element.’ There’s this thing called, you know, the cockney knees-up [a traditional party/piss-up to which everyone and anyone is invited]. We have that—you can only get that in England. That’s how we got jungle music, grime, that’s all come out of the second generation of West Indians living in England. Having grown up with white people as well, you kind of take on a bit of their culture and vice versa. I kinda call it, ‘knees-up Mother Brown and lively up yourself’—it’s a mixture.”

U on the tube

Omar has, in his words, been “mixing it up” since his first album, back in 1990. “When I wrote ‘There’s Nothing Like This,’” he explains, “we tried to get a deal with a major label and, at the time, it was house music and whatever else, but it certainly wasn’t what I was doing.”

That didn’t stop him. The record labels said no, so he simply released it himself. “It wasn’t until [the labels] saw the reactions that we got that they became interested. They wanted to have people dictate to me what was good and bad for the record and it didn’t make one bit of sense. I learnt quick to just ignore that and just to roll with the punches, to just ignore what they’re telling you to do. I just decided to opt for making music that I feel happy with, that I know I could play years down the road and be glad I made that music, rather than make some bullshit that they wanted and then regret it.”

Over the course of his career, Omar has moved from now-famous BBC radio DJ Gilles Peterson’s Talking Loud label, to RCA, to Naïve records out of France, to finally releasing his most recent offering Sing (If You Want It) on his own label, Blunt Music.

Thankfully, in 2006, a lot has changed—and is still changing—to make it easier for artists to maintain their own artistic integrity. “I think that we’re going to see music change in the next two to five years. Right now, like when we talk about the Internet, digital TV, digital radio, there’s so much more choice now for people to go out and check out new music that they like, and that’s just going to make it much more interesting.

“Over here in England we’ve got this channel called Channel U that shows primarily British acts. It doesn’t matter that they’re not big-budget or anything, they still show their music. I think there’s just more of that kind of nurturing that we have at this time in this country, because it’s been far too long. It’s been basically just chequebooks. In that sense, I mean the Americans, they compete for everything, which isn’t so bad, there’s a lot of talented people from there, but it doesn’t help everybody, especially the local people. And that’s not just here, that’s worldwide, because I hear the same from people in France, Germany, Italy. They talk about favouring Americans over the local talent. Now with all this technology and stuff, people just won’t settle for what they’ve been told to listen to.”

Wonder-struck

Sing (If You Want It) demonstrates Omar’s firm commitment to doing it his own way. “This is the most independent album I’ve done, because I’ve recorded it in my back garden studio, and it’s on my label, so I’ve licensed it out. Musically, it’s quite the whole package, it’s part of my journey.”

There are numerous collaborations, including the terrifically danceable “Gimme Sum” with MCs Common, Rodney P and the upcoming youth, Ashman. Not surprising, given that Omar wanted to return to the dancefloor.

“For this album,” he recounts, “I just sat down and said, ‘I’m going to make some music that they can play in the club.’ Because I haven’t done anything like that for a little while. And also, I wanted to kind of go a bit more funky.”

The record also contains that hit that Stevie Wonder promised, “Feeling You,” a tune that is tough to stop humming, long after it ends.

Omar’s pretty satisfied with what he’s achieved. “When I was younger,” he says, “I would play with orchestras and stuff at this place called the Royal Festival Hall in London, and I used to play there once a year with my youth orchestra. And when you play percussion, you’re always sitting at the back. I thought it would be nice one day to be up at the front of the stage performing. And I’ve already now performed at that venue three times with my own band.”

With Fredy V. & Black Soil at Jello Bar on
Friday, Oct. 27, 9 p.m., $15

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