COVER: Every shade of black
The Afrophilya concert series salutes Black History Month with a musical miscellany at le Piano Rouge, a venue with history of its own
by GERARD DEE
February 3, 2011
REACHING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD: Afrophylia artists Dawn Tyler Watson, Slim Williams, Sylvie Desgroseilliers and Alan Prater
Photo by WILL LEW
When asked if Black History Month is still relevant, the answer from Thau Weva, organizer of February’s Afrophilya concert series, is clear: yes.
“Why do we need a Black History Month,” Weva asks rhetorically, “because I mean, now we have a black American President and all this great stuff going on, right? Well, excellent, that means that things are moving forward—but it doesn’t mean we need to stop celebrating who we are.
“And, Black History Month is a cultural celebration of people of African descent, our contribution to world culture. It pretty much celebrates anything that stems out of black culture, so it’s something that can be celebrated by people who are not black. Culture doesn’t have any colour, at the end of the day.”
To help all Montrealers celebrate Black History Month, the Congo-born, Canadian-bred Weva, who’s worked in the local arts and entertainment scene for the last 15 years, created Afrophilya, a series of shows celebrating music, literature and performing arts.
From February 5 –26, a slew of top-notch local artists including Sylvie Desgroseilliers, Dawn Tyler Watson, Slim Williams, and Alan Prater will be performing at le Piano Rouge lounge in Old Montreal. Weva says he was more than ready to helm this kind of event—again.
“I hadn’t been very active in contributing to what was going on in my city for the last 12 years, in terms of Black History Month. I had the opportunity to be the [Black History Month] coordinator 12 years ago, which was an awesome opportunity.”
Of his return to the game, he says, “I felt that now, the time was right.”
MAGIC MEMORIES
“The people I selected are people that I admire,” Weva continues. “They inspire me and I felt like putting them on a platform and sharing their talent with other people. They’ve had an impact culturally on our city, as well as around the world.”
Weva is particularly exuberant about one of those people, soul singer Slim Williams. “Not only do I admire his talent, but he’s also a very close friend of mine. I was introduced to Slim back in ’98, through Charlie Biddle himself. I got to know Slim and his history. It’s just fascinating. He found his passion at an early age—I think by the age of four he knew what he was going to do for the rest of his life.”
Williams, who was born in North Carolina but has called Montreal home for the last 31 years, says that when Weva asked him to be a part of Afrophilya, he didn’t hesitate. “And then I found out that it was at le Piano Rouge,” Williams says, “which is the old Night Magic nightclub. And Night Magic has a massive history in Montreal. When I first came here in the late ’70s, that was the place that everybody came to when they came into town. I used to play there all the time and I used to love that place.”
Williams isn’t the only singer with fond memories of Night Magic. Award-winning blues and jazz vocalist Dawn Tyler Watson is a fan too. “It has a lot of history for me. It was one of the first clubs I went to when I moved here in ’87,” says Watson, who was born in England but grew up in Ontario. “And when I saw the changes and what they’ve done to it, I said, ‘Wow!’”
Weva thinks the revamped Piano Rouge is the perfect setting for Watson. “Dawn has an amazing, powerful voice, she’s gorgeous and she just emanates something really genuine. I felt that in the setting of Piano Rouge, with that beautiful, big piano and her under a spotlight—just that classic image you have of a diva in that type of lounge—would be really special.”
TRANSCENDING TONGUES
Watson is thrilled to be taking part in Afrophilya because she says these types of events not only allow blacks and non-blacks to celebrate Black History Month together, it also unites blacks themselves.
“There seems to be a divide between the French-speaking blacks and the English-speaking blacks,” she says. “I feel enriched by meeting and being exposed to the francophone black community. It opens my mind and my eyes. That’s what I think is exciting about Afrophilya. I know we’re going to have a mix of people there and it’s a great time for us as a community, language aside, to come together.”
The language divide is something Montreal singer Sylvie Desgroseilliers, knows all too well. Desgroseilliers, who is Haitian and sings mainly in French, wishes everyone would just come together all the time.
“If the French black community and the English black community got together, it would be so strong,” she says. “We could actually have a community. I don’t see the problem, but obviously there is.”
Like Watson, Desgroseilliers sees Black History Month as an important time to put differences aside and celebrate being who you are. “When it’s Canada Day, I’m Canadian. When it’s St-Jean Baptiste Day, I celebrate being Quebecoise, because that’s what I am. And I’m black—I’m not going to celebrate being Italian, I’m not Italian. I celebrate what I am, who I am, where I’m from, what my roots are. And I make sure that people do not forget.”
She says she’s particularly excited to be participating in Afrophilya because of the stellar line-up. “I’m in great company! When I heard that Alan, Slim and Dawn were involved, I was like, you couldn’t ask for better—I love these guys! And you know what? It’s genuine. We really enjoy being around each other and supporting one another!”
PAST TIMES AND FAST TIMES
CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION: Thau Weva
Photo by WILL LEW
Watson couldn’t agree more, especially when it comes to Desgroseilliers.
“Sylvie and I cross paths quite often. I love this girl! I’ve known her for a few years and we’ve played the same stages and sung some of the same songs. People get us mixed up—don’t know how, but they do! We don’t look alike at all except we’re both boisterous, animated black women,” Watson says, laughing.
Florida-born soul and funk singer Alan Prater, who fell in love with Montreal in the early 1990s and never left, also has nothing but good words for the other Afrophilya artists.
“We know each other, we see each other around but we don’t get to gig as often together because everybody’s doing their thing,” Prater says, “so it’s beautiful that we’re all doing the same thing for the same cause.”
Prater, who’s recorded and performed with artists ranging from the late Michael Jackson to Cameo, says events like Afrophilya, and Black History Month as a whole, are especially important in today’s fast-paced life.
“We have to keep reminding ourselves who we are and where we come from and how great we can be. Things move so quickly and sometimes we forget. We don’t pass things down as readily as we used to, so we need to be reminded of where we stand in the world as a culture.”
The fact that Prater chose this part of the world to stand in is something Montrealers should be grateful for, according to Weva. “This guy could pretty much live in any city in the world and do really well. And I feel that with everything we have going on throughout [Afrophilya], Alan Prater really brings that urban appeal to the table.”
And while Weva is confident that all the artists will be bring their own special appeal to Afrophilya, Prater himself sums it up best.
“We’re going to try to touch some souls, do some music and make people feel good like it was back in the day. We’re going to reach back and bring them forward. We’re going to let you know exactly where we came from—and where we want to go.” ■
AFROPHILYA PRESENTS SYLVIE DESGROSEILLIERS (SATURDAY, FEB. 5), DAWN TYLER WATSON (SATURDAY, FEB. 12), CHARLES BIDDLE JR. (MONDAY, FEB. 14), SLIM WILLIAMS (SATURDAY, FEB. 19), KALMUNITY & COCO CAFÉ (WEDNESDAY, FEB. 23, $7) AND ALAN PRATER (SATURDAY, FEB. 26) AT LE PIANO ROUGE (22 ST-PAUL E.), ALL SHOWS 7 P.M., $10. FOR MORE INFO GO TO LEPIANOROUGELOUNGE.COM.
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