Record labels need 'reinventing'

Peter Gabriel says record companies should reinvent themselves to be seen as a service industry and not as "owners" of music. The former Genesis singer told the BBC he thought the current digital age paved the way for changes to me made.

The 59-year-old has been a pioneer in distributing music legally online. He co-founded We7 - a website that allows users to stream and download music for free, with or without adverts - last year. "I love all these experiments - there's a lot of ways for musicians to communicate and sell their records to their fans," Gabriel said.

'Mixed up'

"There's still room for record companies but they should reinvent themselves as a service industry and not as owners. The structure of the old album and waiting for that to be finished still has some merit but you can do a lot of other things and I think it should be a lot looser and mixed up."

Gabriel's comments come a week after rock band Nickelback became the latest group to sign a global recording, touring and merchandising deal with concert promoter Live Nation, over a traditional record deal. Artists including Madonna, Jay-Z, U2 and Shakira have also all signed to the company in the past year.

We7 is not Peter Gabriel's first foray into digital music. In 1999, he set up OD2, a music download service selling individual tracks. He built it up to a database of approximately 350,000 tracks before selling it on to US digital music distributor Loudeye in 2004.

Martha and the Muffins - Danseparc - 25th Anniversary Edition

CD Review, By Martin Hutchinson, The Bolton News

For the first time in the UK, the fourth album in Martha and the Muffins' catalogue, gets a release on CD in a remastered and extended format.

Produced by Daniel Lanois (U2, Peter Gabriel), it could be described as "Stockhausen colliding with punk funk". It actually serves as a taster for a brand new album from the band in November.

Written and performed by the bands' founding members, Martha Johnson and Mark Gane; along with Jocelyne Lanois, Nick Kent and John Oswald - the band really hit their creative peak with this recording.

Danseparc' is regarded by the band as something of a "concept album" as Gane explained. "When we recorded it we had an obsession with parks and the concept of the park is an attempt by urban man to get to a point of naturalness again."

The nine original tracks (with three bonus tracks) seem to be a mixture of traditional pop with an element of experimentation that raises them above the norm. There's also some social commentary. For instance, the opening track Obedience' and Sins of Children' deliniate the social restrictions and Several Styles of Blonde Girls Dancing' tells about seeking pleasure through dreams. Contemporary topics are addressed in What People Do For Fun' and the title track is about people in their urban city centres.

Whilst the lyrical content may seem profound, the music is generally uplifting and kinds deflects from the seriousness of it all. This album was hailed as the band's most quintessential collection of songs and has been overdue for release. It's been worth waiting for.

Songs of Freedom - Emmanuel Jal interview

By the age of eight, Emmanuel Jal was a hate-filled soldier for the Sudanese rebels. Now this gentle young man tells Nigel Williamson how his experiences inform his unique brand of music.

extract:

(...) His tone is quizzical, as if he still cannot quite believe that he has survived. Yet his voice also betrays a quiet determination. That he did survive against the odds has given him a sense of mission and the profundity of his experience is reflected in the vivid eloquence of his music. Shortly after our meeting, I asked Peter Gabriel for his opinion just before he introduced Jal on stage at Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday concert in London's Hyde Park last month.

"I remember my first meeting with Youssou N'Dour and it was clear he was going to have an influence in the world way beyond his music and I felt the same way when I met Emmanuel," Gabriel answered. "He has an evangelical zeal and I'm convinced he will have a huge influence way beyond his African roots. He's still developing his musical voice, but we could be looking at an artist with the potential of a young Bob Marley." (...)

Sudanese child soldier trades gun for beats

By Emily Geminder, Mediaglobal

Extracts:

It could almost be the archetypal rap song’s story, with its brushes with gunfire and shades of oppression, its long odyssey from violence to redemption. But Emmanuel Jal is no typical rap star. At the age of seven, after witnessing his mother’s death and the rape of his aunt by opposition forces, he was conscripted into the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. He carried an AK-47 that was roughly his height. (...)

Two weeks ago, at a massive concert to honor Nelson Mandela and raise money for AIDS, Jal appeared on stage to an introduction by Peter Gabriel, who called him an artist with “the potential of a young Bob Marley.” Singing his song “Emma,” dedicated to the woman who saved him and some 150 other child soldiers, Jal called out to all those who incite change. Half-dancing, half-tumbling across the stage, his limbs shuddered and shook, faintly possessed with sound. The crowd of thousands pulsed to his words, and Jal looked like a man at peace telling his story. (...)

Pharaoh of Egyptian tunes

By : HIZREEN KAMAL

Hossam Ramzy's passion for traditional Middle Eastern rhythms has led him to collaborations with household names in music. Hizreen Kamal hears about his musical explorations.

He is one of Egypt's most formidable talents — a brilliant music producer, composer and arranger.

Cairo-born percussionist Hossam Ramzy has successfully introduced Egyptian sounds into mainstream music, and these sounds are now heard in albums of various genre.

The 55-year-old musician has collaborated and performed with many renowned recording artistes such as Peter Gabriel, Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Chick Corea, Sting, Rachid Taha, Rolling Stones, Deborah Harry, Big Country and Paul Young.

"It's an achievement to see many major artistes incorporating the rhythmic grace of Arabian sounds into their music," said Hossam who was in town for shows at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas on July 7 and 8. With 18 solo Egyptian dance music albums under his belt, he has performed in many countries like Hungary, Portugal, England and Argentina, and hopes to go to Brazil next. Hossam also aims to collaborate with Asian artistes.

"My main interest now is to collaborate with artistes from the rest of the world. I have done a lot with Western artistes but I haven't had the pleasure of working with those from Asia. Now we are in a midst of doing a project with a Malaysian artiste for a charity song for the Malaysian community. However, I can't tell you much about it because we are still discussing it," he said.

Hossam expressed his delight at performing before Malaysians for the first time. Hossam is also in awe of Malaysia's architecture. "I didn't know much about Malaysia. I was shocked to see the Petronas Twin Towers... I thought I was in Hong Kong!. I wish we had that in Cairo," he quipped.

Hossam's virtuosity is also demonstrated on scores for film soundtracks, which include The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, The Last Temptation Of Christ, The Saint, Stargate, Stealing Beauty and Wings Of A Dove. He is currently working on music scores for two films titled Lebanon and Cairo Times.

As an Egyptian percussionist, the Egyptian tabla (drum) features as Hossam's main instrument. He was introduced to it at the tender age of three, and so, his musical career began."When I heard it for the first time, I thought there were three to four drums being played. It's fascinating that one instrument can produce all those sounds."

Hossam went on to study under leading Cairo music teachers. A move to Saudi Arabia put him in contact with several Bedouin tribes, and this allowed the young Hossam to gain insight into the cultural origins of Middle Eastern music, which eventually inspired his rhythmic directions.

"I learned a lot from the Bedouins who have a different take on rhythm. The music you hear in Saudi Arabia is a mix of Indian, Persian and Yemanite influences.

Like many of the other artistes, the young Hossam had a false impression about the whole music scene. He became a jazz drummer in England in the mid 1970s, working with jazz musicians like Andy Sheppard and Geoff Williams.

"At that time, before MTV was invented, everyone thought jazz bands had the greatest style, only to realise later that these bands were actually trying to copy Arabic rhythms."

He found himself coming back full circle to his first love — the Egyptian drums — and the thrilling dance rhythms of the Middle East. Hossam then used all his rhythmic experiences to create a new sound that is heard on many best-selling albums. The club scene of 2001 was taken by storm by Hossam's number 1 hit Edony, which topped the dance charts worldwide.

The distinctive Arabian and North African string arrangements, percussion and exciting rhythms on his albums caught the imagination of Peter Gabriel, and Hossam was invited to perform on Gabriel's album Passion. Gabriel is one of Hossam's idols.

Hossam's dream will soon turn to reality, when a huge complex, boasting recording studios and dance studios in Cairo, is completed. He says of his project: "The arts centre will also have living accommodation for artistes who come to the complex. We are introducing a world music label based on Middle Eastern music, with music collaborations with artistes from around the world," said Hossam, who travels between homes in England and Egypt.

Peter Gabriel becomes dad for fourth time aged 58

After battling depression for years, he said fatherhood gave him a new lease of life. Now singer Peter Gabriel is to be a father for the fourth time at the age of 58. It is the second son for the former Genesis singer and keyboard player and his 37-year-old Irish wife Maebh Flynn, following the birth of Isaac six years ago.

He also has two adult daughters from his previous marriage to Jill Moore whom he married when he was 20. Anna, now 33 is a documentary film-maker while Melanie, 31, works as a music producer. In June of last year, just three months before his current wife became pregnant with his new son Luc, which means 'light', the singer, who plunged into depression after the collapse of his first marriage in 1989, said becoming a father again had handed him a 'second adolescence'.

The delighted singer made the announcement of the new birth of his website saying the couple were now 'proud parents of a second son'. The message added: 'Luc was born on Saturday, 5th July a bouncing 7Ib 2oz. Big brother Isaac reports that mother, father and baby brother are all doing well. They request that any congratulatory flowers people may contemplate sending be left to grow in the ground for all to enjoy.'

Gabriel married Miss Flynn, a music technician-turned-filmaker, four years ago. Having initially struggled with the demands of being a father earlier in his career, he says he is now prepared for sleepless nights at a time when most would be thinking of a peaceful retirement.

Last year he revealed how Isaac's birth had finally helped his struggle with the blues following several years of therapy, which he also claims was fuelled by guilt over being a 'weekend father' to his daughters. Some would say much of his music as a solo artists reflects that.

'I was very busy when the girls were young. I've had much more time now to get up in the night and then play with Isaac in the day than I did before. It's like having a second adolescence,' he said. 'I'm less concerned about my worldly success and more interested in bringing up Isaac.' He added: 'I absolutely love being a dad. I hope I give up more time to it. I know what my priorities should be. I think I know now what a joy it is and how fleeting it is because they've left home before you can blink.'
(...)

A spokesman for the Peter Gabriel said he would now be taking a break from his music in favour of fatherly duties. 'Peter is working in a new album, but naturally he'll be taking some time off now. He loves performing live but he's decided to cut back on work for the time being.'

‘Down in the dumps’ music listening soars as the credit crunch bites

by Monument PR Worldwide

New figures from Peter Gabriel’s entertainment recommendation website TheFilter.com show dramatic rise in liking for ‘depressing music.’

Bath, 11th July 2008

New figures from website TheFilter.com indicate the number of people listening to snippets of gloomy music or rating the tracks as positive have soared in the last month. The entertainment recommendation service, led by Rock legend Peter Gabriel, has seen well known ‘downbeat’ bands like The Smiths flying up its popularity charts much faster than happier types of music.

CEO David Maher-Roberts says “We’re seeing more of our users than ever before rating depressing or slightly miserable tracks more highly than happier types of music. It’s logical to assume that this is a reflection of what’s happening in the economy. The good news is that there are a large number of happier, more uplifting tracks out theree than can do wonders for your mood!”

The Ten Most Popular Depressing Songs, as rated by The Filter users in order :

1. Amy Winehouse - Tears Dry On Their Own 2. The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby 3. The Smiths - Heaven knows I'm miserable now 4. Coldplay - Trouble 5. The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work 6. Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb 7. Blur - No Distance Left To Run 8. Radiohead - How to Disappear Completely 9. R.E.M. - Everybody Hurts 10. Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart

The figures have been gathered by measuring how many of The Filter’s user base positively rate or have previewed recommended audio tracks. The news comes just weeks after the Samaritans issued an appeal for more phone operators because their branches were so busy.

Paula Cole's comeback includes arboretum stop

By KATHY CICHON, Naperville sun

A lot has happened in the life of Paula Cole since she took home the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1997, an award she earned with her second release - the breakthrough album "This Fire." Putting her music career on hold after the 1999 follow-up release "Amen," Cole wanted a family. In the decade that followed, she married, became a mother, went through a "brutal" two-year divorce, lost loved ones and this past winter battled pneumonia.

It's been 12 years since the release of "This Fire" - which sold two million copies and spawned the pop hits "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" and "I Don't Want to Wait," which became the theme song for television's "Dawson's Creek" - and several years since she has toured. "I've been gone a long time," Cole said by phone last week. "It's near-death in a pop career."

But a new album and tour, which stops Saturday night at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, have revived 40-year-old Cole's musical career. The challenges she faced served as inspiration for her latest album, the critically acclaimed "Courage," which was released in 2007. Like all of her works, "Courage" is a personal one - "almost embarrassingly so," she said. The songs, she said, are snapshots of where she has been. The title - Courage - is a recurring theme on the album. Many of the songs relate to her recently finalized divorce.

"The words came to me like little white flags saying 'help, I want to get out.'" Cole said. It was the music that brought her through the difficult times, she said. "It's like finding my power again," she said. "I wouldn't take that for granted."

Listeners might find "Courage" has more of a jazz influence than Cole's previous albums, but the musician said it has always been an element in her work. "It might not have been apparent, but it's always been there," Cole said.

In fact, the first deal she was offered came from a jazz label, while she was a senior studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. "I turned it down because I wanted less of a label to my music," Cole said.

Cole's concert is part of "In Tune With Trees," The Morton Arboretum's 2008 Summer Concert Series designed to support the arboretum's mission of encouraging the planting and protection of trees. The last time she played the Chicago area was in 2000 at the Park West. She's looking forward to returning and is grateful to her fans.

"I thank you for remembering me and holding on," Cole said. "I'm totally excited again to play in Chicago." Fans can expect to hear a mix of both new songs and old hits Saturday, she said. "I love my old songs," Cole said. "I'll do it all."

Having toured extensively on her own, and before that with Peter Gabriel on his Secret World Tour, she considers herself "a citizen of the world." She has lived on both the West and East coasts. And while she considers New York City her spiritual home, she recently moved back to where she was born.

"I'm back," Cole said. "I'm full circle in my hometown in Rockport, Massachusetts." The return home comes after the death of her grandmother, and a desire to be near her parents and for her daughter, Sky, to be near her grandparents. "I just want to be around them, and I want my daughter to be around them," Cole said.

Although Cole has several tour dates scheduled in the fall, she wants to make sure she has plenty of family time. "I want to be an involved mom. I can't be away too much," Cole said. "I want to be able to tour like I need to. It's a balancing act." But fans shouldn't worry, she won't disappear. "I don't anticipate taking a seven-year break ever again," Cole said.

SA choir in Disney smash WALL-E

The Grammy Award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir has added its distinctive sound to Disney Pixar’s latest hit WALL-E, which hits South African cinemas tomorrow.

VIDEO: Watch the Wall-E trailer

Down to Earth was written by English musician Peter Gabriel, of Genesis fame. It will run during the film’s credits, with the choir singing the chorus. The animated movie, which is topping sales on the US circuit, follows the journey of a robot left on an abandoned planet Earth.

“The Soweto Gospel Choir is absolutely thrilled to have collaborated with Peter Gabriel on the WALL-E song. They are not only honoured to have sung with an icon of the music industry, but to have the song included in one of the top films on circuit,” said Beverly Bryer, executive producer of the Soweto Gospel Choir.

Gabriel approached the choir to work on the song after collaborating with it at the December 46664 Aids benefit concert . The choir recently performed with Josh Groban and Amy Winehouse at Madiba’s birthday party in London. It has sung for talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, and it sang “Happy Birthday” to its patron, retired archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Small Places Tour in MTV newsroom

Amnesty International is launching a campaign called the Small Places Tour in which bands will play hundreds of shows across the globe to help raise money and spread the word about global human rights issues on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The spokesmen for the tour are U2’s the Edge and Peter Gabriel, and acts are encouraged to sign up on MySpace for a single gig or a full-blown tour.

Yvette J. Alberdingk Thijm was named executive director of Witness

by Michael Learmonth, Silicon Alley Insider

Top Programming Exec Leaves Joost

The architect of Joost's many splashy TV deals is leaving the company. Yvette J. Alberdingk Thijm was named executive director of Witness, a human rights organization founded by Peter Gabriel.

Thijm was EVP of content strategy & acquisition at Joost, which was an important job when Joost was out signing content deals with TV networks in 2006 and 2007. In the past year Joost has been busier remaking the P2P TV service into a Web-based application that consumers would be more likely to use. We expect Joost to relaunch the service later this summer.

(Joost did announce a content deal today, adding shows from Japanese public broadcaster NHK.)

Thijm's departure further thins the ranks of Joost employees who were around for the Internet TV service's heyday. Joost recently hired two programming execs from Paris-based video sharing site Dailymotion: Danny Passman was named global head of programming strategy, and John Schultz, director of programming strategy.

Before Joost, Thijm was EVP of business affairs for MTV Networks International. She has been on the board of Witness since 2005. Her last day at Joost is July 15.

PETER GABRIEL BIOGRAPHIE ON THE AIR !!!

http://petergabrielbiographie.blogspot.com/

LOKERSE FEESTEN (Belgium)

(...) Le dimanche 3 août sera plus cool avec la star irlandaise Sinead O'Connor ainsi que le Canadien Daniel Lanois bien connu aussi en tant que producteur, notamment auprès de Peter Gabriel et de Bob Dylan. (...)

Is Damon Albarn the new Peter Gabriel?

Richard Gehr, The Village Voice

The 2002 release of Mali Music on his Honest Jon’s record label added Damon Albarn, of Blur and Gorillaz fame, to a lineage of rock-star adventurers in African music that extends back to the Rolling Stones’ posthumous 1971 indie release of Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka. Not unlike Peter Gabriel’s Real World endeavor, Albarn gets his first WOMAD, of sorts, when the Lincoln Center Festival presents the Honest Jon’s Revue. This two-hour “chop-up” (Nigerian slang, I believe, for “too much music in too little time”) includes the cream of the label’s roster: Nigerian Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen; acoustic guitarist Afel Bocoum and Kokanko Sata, from Mali; Southern soul singer Candi Staton; New York’s Hypnotic Brass Ensemble; free-floating American singer-songwriters Simone White and Victoria Williams; and Albarn himself, who will also participate in a pre-show symposium at 6 p.m.

Peter Gabriel's "Ball" finally gets rolling

By Randy Lewis,Los Angeles Times

Extract :

LOS ANGELES — OK, so cut Peter Gabriel some slack for taking too long to finish an album: "Big Blue Ball," a long-simmering world-music project he launched back in 1991, that finally surfaced June 24.

Gabriel also sings and co-wrote "Down to Earth," which plays during the end credits in the new Pixar film "WALL• E." (...)

read more here

Father and sons

On Petergabriel.com :

08-Jul-2008

Father and sons

We're happy to report that Peter and Meabh are proud parents of a second son.

Luc was born on Saturday 5th July, a bouncing 7lbs 2 oz. Big brother Isaac reports that mother, father and baby brother are all doing well, and requests that any congratulatory flowers people may contemplate sending be left to grow in the ground for all to enjoy.

Music club, le téléchargement de musique haut de gamme

par Denis Poillerat, Digitalworld.fr

Quand un fabricant de produits audio haut de gamme s’associe à des musiciens renommés pour proposer du téléchargement de musique, cela donne forcément un service basé sur la qualité. Music Club est en effet une offre conçue par le Britannique Bowers & Wilkins, en association avec les studios Real World de Peter Gabriel.

Pour un peu plus de 40 € par an (33,95 livres), ou environ 30 € pour 6 mois (23,95 livres), Music Club propose aux membres inscrits de télécharger un album chaque mois, soit un coût de revient d’environ 4 euros par opus. On est donc très loin des catalogues plus étoffés des grandes maisons de disque.

Et pour cause, l’offre lancée par B&W est principalement destinée aux audiophiles. D’abord parce que les fichiers sont à télécharger pendant un mois, dans un format dit « lossless », c’est-à-dire, sans dégradation du son par rapport à l’enregistrement original – rappelons que le MP3 est un format compressé et donc de moindre qualité, quel que soit l’échantillonnage.

Enregistrement inédits et absence de DRM

C’est justement sur la qualité de l’enregistrement que Music Club se distingue : les albums des artistes partenaires (citons pêle-mêle Grindhouse, Little Axe, Dub Colossus…) sont directement enregistrés dans les studios Real World de Bath (Angleterre), propriété de Peter Gabriel, avec un « matériel d’enregistrement excellent » selon l’ancien membre de Genesis. Un mois après leur mise à disposition, les albums ne seront plus disponibles et retourneront dans le giron des artistes. Une manière pour Peter Gabriel de ne pas les enfermer dans Music Club.

Enfin, l’absence de protection numérique (DRM) est également un atout important pour Music Club, qui permettra, entre autres, aux utilisateurs de graver leur musique. D’ailleurs, la jaquette de l’album est fournie pour se constituer un véritable objet musical.

Bowers&Wilkins accompagne le lancement de Music Club d’un nouveau site, Society of Sound, pour accéder à des contenus complémentaires (blogs, interviews, vidéos, etc.).

Youssou N'Dour, l'«étoile de Dakar»

Par Hayat Kamal Idrissi, LE MATIN

Un artiste accompli qui a plus d'une corde à son arc

Son spectacle qui a marqué l'ouverture du festival Timitar à Agadir a attiré plus de 80.000 spectateurs. C'est la star de la musique africaine, Youssou N'Dour, un artiste accompli qui a plus d'une flèche à son arc.


Connu pour son grand engagement pour les causes de l'Afrique, il est également apprécié pour sa musique créative, ses sorties intelligentes et son sens des affaires bien développé. Avec une confiance en soi sans limites et un charisme indéniable, le chanteur sénégalais a su, au fil des ans, s'imposer sur la scène africaine et internationale. Un succès mérité qui ne va pas affecter sa lucidité et son sens de la réalité.

Démonstration à Agadir, lors d'une conférence de presse pas très conventionnelle. Habillé simplement en jean et t-shirt noir, il n'a pas hésité à se laisser emporter par la musique en gratifiant l'assistance d'une petite danse tout en buvant son café à la va-vite.

Mettant à l'aise l'assistance, il dévoile rapidement l'être engagé qui se cache derrière cette allure décontractée. C'est un homme qui appréhende la vie, le monde, l'art et sa grande patrie l'Afrique avec beaucoup de sérieux. Pas question de se laisser faire ! C'est un volontaire et il le fait savoir. En plus de sa production musicale qui a charmé le public au niveau international, ses actions «pour changer les choses», comme il les qualifie, sont multiples. Ça va de la création d'associations aux actions sociales en passant par les manœuvres politiques. Ne doit-on pas à Youssou N'Dour le grand concert pour la libération de Nelson Mandela organisé à Dakar, sa ville natale, en 1985?

C'est également lui l'initiateur de plusieurs concerts lancés au profit d'Amnesty International. En 2004, il participe au disque «Agir Réagir» produit en faveur des sinistrés du tremblement de terre d'Al Hoceïma.

N'Dour est un ambassadeur de bonne volonté pour les Nations unies et pour l'Unicef et il prend ses missions à cœur. Il mène en parallèle et d'une main de fer carrière musicale et action humanitaire. Tout est calculé pour cet artiste qui garde toujours les pieds sur terre. Avant d'en arriver là rien ne prédestinait ce fils de griots à cette belle carrière artistique.

Né le 1er octobre 1959 à Dakar au Sénégal, Youssou N'Dour voit le jour dans une famille ordinaire dont le père est ouvrier et la mère est griotte. Sa passion musicale se manifeste très tôt mais ses parents ont envie de voir leur petit grandir et réussir. Pour eux les études étaient le seul moyen pour y arriver. Mais Youssou en pensait autrement. A onze ans déjà il intègre une troupe théâtrale pour y révéler son grand talent de chanteur. La coïncidence fait que le chanteur de la troupe décède pour laisser la voie libre au jeune homme qui ne manquera pas l'occasion pour se lancer enfin.

Afin de «légitimer» cette nouvelle carrière, Youssou rejoint l'Institut des Arts de Dakar. Passant rapidement du théorique au pratique, N'Dour fait ses premières armes dans un orchestre de la capitale. En 1979, il crée avec le chanteur Hadj Faye le nouveau groupe «l'Etoile de Dakar». Le lancement du tube «Xalis» (l'argent), fut un grand succès. Mais après deux ans d'existence, les choses ne vont plus très bien entre les fondateurs du groupe.

C'est à ce moment que naît la «Super étoile». La chance sourit à ce descendant de griots et il caracole sans grande concurrence en tête des hit-parades. Avec sa voix forte et rêveuse à la fois, il chante l'amitié, l'amour, les fêtes religieuses et la vie de tous les jours. Il lance une nouvelle danse «le ventilateur». Le succès est immédiat ! N'Dour semble trouver la bonne combinaison: une belle musique qui marie bien rythmes traditionnels et sonorités modernes et une bonne dynamique créatrice. Le public le lui rend bien et ses tubes «Indépendance», " Wala walo","Nadakaro" très appréciés le confirment.

La «success stroy» ne s'arrête pas là et le chanteur s'avère un homme d'affaires redoutable. Il construit une importante entreprise de production et ouvre un club bien couru à Dakar le «Thiossane». Sa grande renommée internationale, il la doit à l'heureuse rencontre avec Neneh Cherry. Les deux artistes se sont associés pour donner le jour à un tube au succès incontestable. «Seven seconds» était leur façon de dire leur position contre le racisme et pour la tolérance. C'était également le début d'un rayonnement international pour l'étoile de Dakar.

En parallèle avec sa carrière artistique, N'Dour est un virulent défenseur de la cause africaine. «Je prends l'Afrique comme une seule carte», répond-il fermement quand on évoque «les Afriques» occidentale et subsaharienne.

Côté artistique, il déplore la défaillance au niveau de la distribution et de la production. «Le problème en Afrique, c'est qu'il n'y a pas assez de promoteurs capables d'organiser des concerts en bonne et due forme. Cela est lié principalement aux problèmes des taxes et des moyens techniques», analyse-t-il.

D'ailleurs, l'artiste qui a côtoyé les grands noms de la scène internationale, tels Peter Gabriel, Sting ou Tracy Chapman, n'a pas caché son désir de collaborer plus avec ses concitoyens africains. «Le life et les concerts sont nos points forts ! C'est un avantage pour la musique africaine», certifie le chanteur qui n'oublie pas par la même occasion de dénoncer «le verrouillage des frontières» par les pays européens. «Cette attitude affaiblit la créativité et au lieu de travailler et de produire, les artistes passent leur temps à courir les consulats et à accumuler les déceptions!», s'insurge le chanteur qui a toujours œuvrer et avec obstination pour l'émancipation de la musique africaine.

Sur tous les fronts…

On l'a compris, Youssou N'Dour est un homme d'action qui ne tarde pas trop sur la théorie. Pour commencer, il lance le projet «Birrima» pour le micro-crédit. «Ce n'est pas la banque de Youssou N'Dour. C'est une action sociale en faveur de la population africaine qui n'a pas la possibilité de bénéficier des crédits bancaires. Le projet démarre très bien et j'espère qu'il va sillonner l'Afrique», nous explique-t-il. Malgré cette grande implication, le chanteur se défend vivement d'être le seul décideur. «Il y a des professionnels qui s'occupent du bon déroulement de ce projet», lance-t-il.

Concernant l'AMPA (l'Association des musiciens professionnels africains), qui a vu le jour récemment, N'Dour ne cache pas sa déception quant au niveau d'implication des artistes africains. «C'est une action qui vise à protéger les musiciens, leurs droits et à booster leur carrière. Mais si d'ici un an, ils ne bougent pas et s'impliquent davantage, je vais zapper pour me concentrer sur ma propre carrière», coupe-t-il net et sans états d'âme.

Contre la "world"

Véronique Mortaigne, LE MONDE

"Le rock a souvent montré qu'il était sourd aux autres musiques, c'est une honte", répète Damon Albarn. L'icône de la britpop des années 1990 n'est pas tendre avec ses pairs, et encore moins avec ceux qui ont trempé dans la world music, un "concept qui laisse croire que la Terre est plate, alors qu'à Honest Jon's nous la voulons ronde et fertile". Peter Gabriel, fondateur du festival Womad en 1987, puis du label RealWorld, en prend pour son grade : "Honest Jon's a une saveur radicalement différente des productions qui sortent des studios RealWorld. Là-bas, on ajoute des effets technologiques aux musiques du monde, on les triture, on les mélange. Donc on les tue, on les dénature. Cela devient de l'ambient music. Et puis, il faut se déplacer, ne pas attendre des démos depuis son chez-soi à Londres. Nous sommes allés en Algérie enregistrer le projet arabo-andalou El Gusto (présenté aux Nuits de Fourvière le 6 juillet), cela a duré trois jours, sur le vif, prenant la musique comme elle se joue, avec fraîcheur."

Plus déprimant encore, "scandaleux, criminel", fut le Live 8 organisé en juillet 2006 par Bob Geldof pour convaincre les dirigeants du G8 d'aider l'Afrique à sortir de la pauvreté. Parmi le millier d'artistes animant les concerts planétaires, il y avait une seule star africaine, le Sénégalais Youssou N'Dour, un ami et compagnon de luttes humanitaires de Bono, chanteur de U2. Damon Albarn n'avait pas décoléré, dénonçant en termes vifs "la volonté du Live 8 de montrer l'Afrique comme un continent fatigué, pauvre, en déclin. Ce qui est faux".

Depuis l'album Mali Music, publié en 2002, Damon Albarn attend que ça change. Mais pas les bras croisés. "Nous avons montré des possibles, j'ai une longue relation d'amitié avec ces musiciens, et j'ai du mal à penser que tout est encore compliqué."

Magic chaudron. La musique druidique à l'heure de l'electro

Le Télégramme.com

Depuis la nuit des temps, le « Chaudron Magique » aide la nature et les hommes à renaître sous de nouvelles formes. Myrdhin, Zil et Pascal Lamour y ont plongé leur musique...Il y a un an, quasiment jour pour jour, naissait, aux Rencontres internationales de harpes celtiques de Dinan (22), le « Magic Chaudron ».

S'inspirant de ce mythe européen remontant à la nuit des temps, Myrdhin, directeur artistique des Rencontres et harpiste emblématique de la Bretagne, Zil, sa complice et compagne, et Pascal Lamour, dub-sonneur, avaient fait tourner leurs inspirations dans le fameux chaudron. Ils y avaient ajouté quelques bribes d'un conte celte sur la naissance du premier barde, Taliesin, des pincées de thèmes hérités du druidisme sur la métamorphose et les migrations, des notes de tympanon iranien et de cornemuse bulgare.

Il en était sorti un spectacle, fusion entre les harpes celtiques et l'électronique, entre le conte et la musique. « Nous nous connaissons de longue date, mais c'était la première fois que nous travaillions ensemble », raconte le musicien vannetais. Myrdhin et Zil avaient proposé les bases mélodiques. Pascal Lamour a utilisé ses machines et travaillé la manière de restituer le son pour donner aux compositions une dimension onirique. Le « Chaudron » ne pouvait que tourner rond : les trois complices partagent, en effet, le goût de l'alchimie. Myrdhin participe à l'Afro Celt Sound System, dont les albums sont sortis sous le label de Peter Gabriel « Real World » . Pascal Lamour fait, lui, de l'ouverture de la musique bretonne sa raison d'être.

Voix universelles

Mais pour que le « Magic Chaudron » ne soit pas qu'éphémère, l'electro-shaman en a remixé toutes les potions dans son studio BNC Productions. Ainsi vient de naître « Magic Chaudron », l'album. Uniquement musical ou avec des voix en français, breton, allemand et anglais, le « Magic Chaudron » livre en dix tableaux, l'histoire de l'eau pure du lac Bala devenue source de connaissance universelle. Des tableaux aux accents folk, jazz et toujours celtiques. Vendredi, les trois complices dédicacent leur album à Dinan. Puis dès 2009, le « Magic Chaudron » tournera à nouveau sur scène. L'occasion de retrouver sorcière et magie, plantes et renaissance, en pleine lumière. Pratique « Chaudron Magic », BNC Productions (Coop Breizh).

www.myspace.com/magicchaudron
www.pascallamour.com
www.myspace.com/myrdhinbarde.