African Music Soars At The African Festival Of The Arts

 By Rosalind Cummings-Yeates

 The annual African Festival of the Arts always provides rare chances to experience African music the way it was meant to be experienced; with musicians offering their talents for the immediate response of an audience, creating the crucial give and take of this musical force.

 This year, the festival, which takes place August 29 to September 1 in Washington Park at 51^st and Cottage Grove, will host two acts that play important roles in the history of African music – Guinea’s legendary Bembeya Jazz, and Cuba’s powerful Bobi Cespedes.

 To understand contemporary African music, one must understand modern African history. There is no musical group more intertwined within that history than the 12-piece band of Bembaya Jazz.

 Guinea, on the west coast of the African continent and lead by Sekou Toure, won independence from France in 1958. Once the sit of the great Songhay and Mali empires, which were noted for artistic and intellectual advancement, Guinea was faced with the task of reconnecting with its culture after 60 years of colonization.

 “Before independence, we would sing in French, dance in French, and dress according to French culture. Everything was French for about 60 years,” says Mohammed Achiken Kaba, bandleader and trumpet player for the group.

 Toure promoted a return to African culture and music. He organized competitions where bands played indigenous music with modern interpretations.

 Combining a signature four-guitar section that echoes the melodies of the traditional kora and balafon, with sizzling Afro-Cuban rhythms, Bembeya Jazz won every contest.

 In 1965, Bembeya was nationalized and moved to Guinea’s capital of Conakry. They were named the national orchestra of Guinea, playing as many as six nights a week across West Africa.

 “We were bringing back African originality, and figuring our how to advance the culture,” says Kaba. “Bembeya is the expression of traditional Manding culture, which goes back to the great West African empires of Mali and Songhay. We went back to our roots.”

 After suffering a major blow with the tragic car accident death of their charismatic lead singer Aboubacar Camara in 1973, Bembeya regrouped, and was de-nationalized by Toure (enabling them to tour internationally) right before his death in 1984.

 Their current CD, Bembeya, ends a 15-year wait for a new recording. Anchored by legendary guitarist Sekou “Diamond Fingers” Diabate, Bembeya continues to represent originality in African music.

 “Our music is a direct translation of our culture,” explains Kaba. “It’s a synthesis of all the rhythms of Western culture. All the beats that your find in West Africa have gotten together in Guinea. We have restored the connection between Cuba, Africa, and the rest of the Diaspora.”

 The connection between Cuba and Africa is a significant one when it comes to music. The rhythms that enslaved Africans brought to the island were passed down to their descendants, who incorporated the new sounds they heard, creating son, rumba, mambo, and salsa.

 Bobi Cespedes, Cuban singer/songwriter, percussionist, folklorist, and Lucumi priestess, heads her own noteworthy movement to promote African culture.

 As lead singer of the family band, Conjunto Cespedes, she helped create a contagious blend of Afro Cuban rhythms mixed with traditional Cuban poetry, and accented with modern horn arrangements.

 On her recent solo debut release, Rezos (prayers), she continues her mission, subtly merging African musical forms such as hip hop and jazz wit traditional Afro-Cuban sensibilities.

 “I’m trying to teach my African people all around the world about my culture,” she says, “Everything is song in Cuban culture.”

Hailing from a musical family, Cespedes’ mother first put her on stage at seven years old, and she’s been on it ever since.

Boasting a richly commanding voice that recalls the late Celia Cruz, the singer only performs in Spanish, despite the fact that she’s lived in the U.S. for decades.

“I am Cuban, Cubans just don’t give their culture up,” she explains. “We have a tendency to hold on even harder once we leave our homeland. But I’m also a child of the ‘60s and the Black renaissance. Jazz, blues, and hip hop also influence me.”

Cespedes defines her music and culture as African, despite the fact that it was developed in Cuba. “African culture is seen in Cuba everywhere. It’s basically an African country. The traditions of the Africans in Cuba were consciously preserved by their descendents,” she says.