Peace at home, pieces abroad

>>The musical mosaic of African reggae star
and UN Peace Messenger Alpha Blondy

SPREADING THE MESSAGE: Alpha Blondy

by ERIN MACLEOD

In 2005, Koné Seydou, known to the world as reggae star Alpha Blondy, was named as a Messenger of Peace by the United Nations operation in Côte d’Ivoire, a country that was struggling to end its civil war. Over the years, the conflict has ratcheted down, and with the signing of a peace agreement on March 4, 2007, there is hope that Ivorians will now live in peace. That’s why it’s not surprising that it’s been four years since Blondy made an appearance in Montreal, and three years since his last album. Committed to his role, he stopped recording while he worked towards uniting the warring factions in his country, and for the triumph of peace over war. For that reason, it’s no wonder that his new album is called Jah Victory. The Mirror spoke to Alpha Blondy over the phone from his home in Abidjan.

Mirror: Your new album brings African reggae together with Jamaican reggae by bringing Tyrone Downie as well as Sly and Robbie together.

Alpha Blondy: [Downie] and I always wanted to work together, but we never had the opportunity to do so. But luckily, this time, we were able to come together on this project. Downie made the link with Sly and Robbie. Nobody can play reggae better than Sly and Robbie and Tyrone Downie. I was very excited to work with them because I wanted to do reggae, but not only a tribal reggae in the African style. I wanted to make a new breed of reggae, a mixture of African culture and Jamaican culture. We succeeded in making that musical dream become a reality.

M: There’s a really large variety of musical instruments on the record.

AB: There is kora and djembe, but I also put the Scottish pipe and the accordion. I wanted to innovate. You don’t normally hear those kinds of instruments. I wanted that. I am a métissage culturel—I don’t know how to say that in English.

M: Like a cultural mixture?

AB: Yes. My multicultural dimension does not allow me to function strictly as an African or strictly as a French-speaking man. I was lucky enough to be influenced by Anglo-Saxon culture and French culture. As a born and raised African, I also have that culture within me. My reggae reflects these cultural crossroads. On the album, we were like painters, painting our cultures. Those who love the album belong to that family, that mosaic.

M: With 19 songs, there’s a lot of variety on the album.

AB: We wanted to have a great variety. With every song, there is a new heartbeat. It’s a music voyage.

M: How was the recording process?

AB: I was in Abidjan because of the war. I did not go to Jamaica. This was when I was working as a Peace Messenger for the UN, so I was trying to meet politicians in the peace process. But my music was taken to Jamaica, and was worked with by the Tuff Gong crew. Then it was in Paris, and I added my vocals and instruments.

M: So it was really an international experience.

AB: During all the recording process, there was something magical, something godly. I don’t even know how to describe what we encountered.

With Deya and Geoulah at
Festiraam 2008 at Metropolis
on Sunday, April 6, 8 p.m., $39.50