PART OF THIS WORLD: Angélique Kidjo
by GERARD DEE
New York-based, Benin-born singer/songwriter Angélique Kidjo doesn’t think winning awards is a big deal, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t thrilled to be this year’s recipient of one of the Jazz Fest’s biggest prizes, the Antonio Carlos Jobim award for innovation in world music.
“I just think of myself as part of this world, among other musicians and among other human beings, and I’m here to give my musical opinion,” says Kidjo, “That’s why this award means a lot to me.”
Still, the four-time Grammy-nominated artist feels that winning isn’t necessarily what’s most important. “It means that my work is acknowledged, that’s what the nomination is about. And winning or losing doesn’t diminish the value of an artist, it just gives you the sense that you have to work to achieve goals.”
As for being a musical innovator, well, Kidjo just calls it being herself. “I think that as a musician, singer, songwriter, I don’t limit myself to anything. I’ve been exposed to so many different types of music since I was a child. It’s inside of me and without even thinking about it, I just deliver what’s in there.
What Kidjo delivers on her eighth album, Djin Djin, is an energetic smorgasbord of African rhythms and global pop. She also invited a few friends, like Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel and Carlos Santana, to sing along with her. Mind you, the guest list wasn’t preconceived.
“I wrote the songs even before I thought about collaborations,” says Kidjo. “I think that the most important thing is a good song. If the song does not inspire both parties, then there’s no collaboration.”
What inspired Kidjo throughout this set is the multitude of problems facing her home continent. For instance, the title track is actually a wake-up call, figuratively and literally.
“‘Djin-djin’ is the sound of the bell that you hear in the morning. But it’s also a wake-up call for my continent, for all Africans to realize that we still have a chance to make a change in our own lives.”
Likewise, another song, “Ae Ae,” addresses the issues facing Africa’s next generation. “The youth of Africa have dreams, but how do they fulfill those dreams when they are born thinking that their future is already jeopardized by their own leaders, and by the rich countries that are supposed to be helping, but are taking their resources without giving them any chance to get out?”
Kidjo says that the topical theme of her album is actually her way of continuing an important African tradition. “You can entertain, but you can educate at the same time, this is what I was taught by the traditional musicians in my country. You have to tell people about what’s going to affect their lives.”
And while she realizes that songs about serious issues may not appeal to everyone, she’s willing to sacrifice financial gain for principle. “Money is a necessary evil but it’s not what brought me to music, because if that’s what brought me to music, I wouldn’t be doing the music that I’m doing today. I can’t live with myself singing songs I don’t love. When I’m holding my microphone, my public is sacred and I cannot mess up with that, ever. That’s the bottom line of who I am.”
At le Spectrum tonight
Thursday,
June 28,
6 p.m., $36.50
Truth be told
>> Soul legend Chaka Khan’s got plenty of great things going on, and that’s no lie
BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL, FABULOUS: Chaka Khan
by GERARD DEE
Ask high priestess of funk and soul Chaka Khan what she thinks about being called a legend and her answer is, well, down-to-earth. “I used to have problems with that kind of stuff, but I’ve sort of gone off that because it’s so silly. I don’t really care what they call me, just call me,” she says, laughing.
These days, the Chicago native, who began her career as the frontwoman for funk band Rufus, is getting lots of calls to lend her incredible voice to any number of projects. Already this year, she’s featured on gospel singer Richard Smallwood’s latest set Journey: Live in New York, and on the Earth Wind & Fire and Ella Fitzgerald tribute sets Interpretations and We All Love Ella, respectively. Khan says most of her decisions to appear on special projects or other artists’ albums are made for simple reasons.
“They’re usually friends of mine, or I love the songs, and it’s usually no deeper than that, unless it’s [for people like] Ella or Sarah [Vaughan], then it’s really a tribute.”
Khan herself was paid tribute in 2005 by Oprah Winfrey, whose now famous Legend’s Ball honoured 54 eminent African-American women, including singers, actors and social activists. Chaka was most impressed to meet revered actress Cicely Tyson, but says the whole occasion was remarkable.
“It was a beautiful experience. It was really life-altering in that we were able to deal with each other without bodyguards and managers. We were all able to get together for a minute as friends and admire each other. There were a lot of women there that did lots of great things and I was just honoured to be a part of it.”
Stage fright
Khan has accomplished a lot of great things during the course of her over 30-year career, including 27 Grammy nominations (eight led to wins), nine gold and platinum albums and a BET Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. But perhaps one of her greatest successes has nothing to do with music. In the late 1990s, she created the Chaka Khan Foundation, which raises money for women and children in need. A certain portion of the funding is dedicated specifically to autism.
“I feel so guilty that there’s someone who’s in need and I’m not,” she says. “Children are usually not empowered and are often victimized, and women and children are the most [at risk]. I picked up on autism because I have an autistic nephew and I work a lot with schoolchildren, mentoring them. I’ve always been involved with doing something with children.”
One thing Khan won’t be getting involved in any time soon is theatre productions. Although she’s starred in two shows—the London production of Mama, I Want to Sing, and Signed, Sealed, Delivered, a show which celebrates the music of Stevie Wonder—the experiences left her cold.
“I hated it. It’s repetitious stuff, I might as well work at the post office. And they don’t pay you any money, it’s ridiculous. And I never did like musicals. I either like movies or good music, one or the other.
“I had reasons for doing both of those [productions],” she explains. “I had objectives and they were achieved, even though I compromised myself. But I shan’t do that again. I don’t think it’s good for the spirit. I don’t think it’s good to lie.”
Laying it out
Khan certainly didn’t lie in her very candid 2003 autobiography Through the Fire, where she discussed her troubled relationships and problems with substance abuse. She says writing the book was therapeutic.
“I really didn’t want to write it but my sister, who’s my manager, felt that it was a good idea. She thought it would help a lot of people and it turned out that it did just that. Normally, I’m a very private person, and you write an autobiography, you either tell the truth or you don’t. So I just decided to lay it out, and I’ve had a lot of women walk up to me and say that it really helped them.”
Having made peace with her past, Khan’s looking forward to the future, particularly her upcoming album, tentatively titled Funk This! It teams Khan for the first time with super-producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. Khan’s description of her working relationship with the dynamic duo, who’ve crafted career-defining hits for artists like Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige and Usher, is enthusiastic. “Beautiful, wonderful, fabulous. They believe in me. They get me. And that means everything.”
At Metropolis on Monday, July
2, 8:30 p.m., $42.50
Getting a move on
>> Toronto’s Elizabeth Shepherd is a
major
new voice in Canadian jazz
ON THE RADAR: Elizabeth Shepherd
by SCOTT C
Jazz pianist and singer Elizabeth Shepherd is one of the brightest lights that Canadian music has to offer, but it’s a safe bet that you might not have heard of her yet. Her debut LP, Start to Move, was released on Do Right Music a year ago, and already, the Elizabeth Shepherd Trio has performed on Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide on BBC Radio 1, was nominated for a Juno, and voted favourite jazz artist for Canadian Music Week. The Mirror reached Elizabeth by phone in Toronto.
Mirror: Between the two of us, we probably know quite a few young and talented jazz musicians who unfortunately never get any love in this country. What do you think about the way jazz musicians coming up in Canada are portrayed?
Elizabeth Shepherd: How they’re portrayed? Like where? There’s no coverage of young jazz musicians, so is there a portrayal that I’m missing? Jazz isn’t such a big scene here, so there isn’t even that much coverage of the old guys. Come festival time, sure, but there’s no real scene to speak of.
M: It must be frustrating if you’re not playing commercial or adult contemporary jazz, to know that you’re not going to get any real play in this country.
ES: I don’t know what it’s like in Montreal, because I left Montreal before I started out. I’ve been working out of Toronto ever since, and the scene here is kind of old in the sense that it’s very be-bop heavy, and the JAZZ FM radio station totally supports that scene and keeps it alive. Meanwhile, the young musicians are doing all kinds of crazy stuff, writing and performing their own material, and you get everything from more fusion-based sounds to more groove-based stuff, like what we’re doing, to really open improv. Radio stations here do a lot to keep jazz alive, but they don’t incorporate the new aspects of the scene.
M: Where do you stand on Diana Krall, Michael Buble and that whole crowd?
ES: I think Diana Krall is very talented. She’s a good singer and a really good piano player, and Michael Buble is doing good stuff too, but it lacks a certain depth for my liking. I think Diana Krall has paved the way to bring jazz back into focus, even though it’s not the kind of jazz that I would put on and listen to. It’s always good when jazz is on the radar.
M: Must be hard contributing to a larger international scene of converging, innovative musical styles that still fly under the radar here at home. Your remix record, Besides, is a good example of the possibilities out there.
ES: Yeah, I get the sense that we’re doing well abroad, but I’m not really out there to see it because I live here. I’m actually trying to go to Europe for a couple months to see what it’s like. I have this picture of all these people making music in a thriving vibrant scene, but I don’t know if it’s true. I’m in a bubble here, so I’d like to see what it’s like.
At the Alcan stage (Ste-Catherine
between Jeanne-Mance and St-Urbain)
on Sunday, July 8, 8 p.m., free |
