Gwangju World Music Festival

 By Adam Hogue

In just a few short weeks the world will be coming to Gwangju. On September 7th and 8th the Gwangju World Music Festival will be taking place in venues throughout the city. Gwangju will continue to live up to its name as the “art city” with bands and artists set to flood the streets.

Music is a universal language that also carries within it great differences. Music is living history. It is the influences of culture that run deep wherever we come from, told and shared in song. In one place we can hear the wonderful diversity this world has to offer in a language we can all understand. It is what music does best.

Gwangju News had the chance to interview two of the groups who will be bringing their eclectic sounds to our city this September.

Sousou & Maher Cissoko are an afro-pop duo from Sweden and Senegal. Take a trip to their Myspace music page and you’ll be met by an image of a vibrant van parked at what appears to be a festival. This serves as a testament to the music they make — colourful music that everyone can enjoy. Sousou & Maher Cissoko are a couple that came together over the shared instrument they play – the kora. The kora is a stringed-instrument with a 700-year history. Maher came from a kora-playing family in Senegal, while  Swedish Sousou began playing the kora when she was 19. She went to study the instrument in Gambia and some time later she met the Cissoko family and Maher. The duo made a debut album Adouna in 2008 and they have been touring the world ever since. For a taste of their music, check out their optimistic tune “Idong”.

Gwangju News: Music listeners, especially Korean music fans, have been interested in such genres as acoustic and folk since as early as the 1970s. Upon reflecting on the folk music of the 70s, could you please explain your acoustic and folk-based music by comparing and contrasting it to old folk music?

Sousou & Maher Cissoko: Time. That’s the difference. Music with roots in the tradition and its head in today and tomorrow will change when today and tomorrow have changed. Before it was now-then, now it’s now-now. And also every tradition is different. One tradition could be similar to another one but not the same, never quite the same. The tradition from one part of or even one village in a country is not the same as the music from another part or village. And each family has their traditions.

We both grew up in musical families where music was a part of the daily life. Our music is our music –  our traditions mixed together with our personalities, and the time we play and live in, and also with other music we´ve been listening to. In the griot tradition, that has been inherited in Maher’s family for over 700 years, it is essential to break the traditional “rules,” renew and find your own way and that is what we are doing today.

GN: As you know, we are hosting the 3rd Gwangju World Music Festival this coming September. Still, many people are not familiar with what “world music” means. I think your nationalities and musical style fit well with the concept of our festival. So could you please tell me more about your music in terms of the ethnic elements of your countries and the now-popular genre, afro-beat or afro-rhythm?

SS & MC: We see “world music” as music without borders, music that brings people together. You can say that world music is different traditions, two or more, mixed together or just meeting and saying hello to each other. Or really any tradition from one part of the world playing together with any other tradition from another part of the world.

So world music can sound 1000 different ways, if you ask 100 or 200 people what world music is you may get 100 or 200 different answers. For us no music or all music in the world is world music. It’s all depending on your perspective. We sing in different languages – Mandinka, Swedish, Wolof, English and French and we use instruments such as kora, djembe, guitar and bass. We create music from our hearts and souls with inspiration from our musical backgrounds with beats and rhythms from Africa and all over the world. Come and you will see!

Nueva Manteca is a Latin-jazz group founded by Jan L. Hartong in 1983. They have the big band jazz sound with glimpses of Latin music and some great improvisation. One look at a live performance of the group online shows that they can really cook. Each member of the group adds elements to the sound that pushes the music further and further into places unknown. They play mostly original arrangements, and their music has been celebrated all over the world. They regularly top US radio jazz playlists and their success and abilities as a group are only getting better with time. They’re not called “Europe’s Finest in Latin Jazz” for nothing.

Gwangju News: I heard that your group is praised as “Europe’s finest band in Latin jazz,” presenting a style, performance, and repertoire that are unique from other many Latin bands. So could you please elaborate more on these aspects for common music fans? 

Nueva Manteca: Nueva Manteca is mixing all kinds of Afro- Caribbean traditions with other music such as Latin American or jazz or in this case rock music. We make our own unique blend, but we always have respect for the Latin traditions. The band started in 1983, so we have a long musical history together, which is what makes us a tight musical family. And another important thing is that we stay true to ourselves and never lose ourselves in a sort of trendy imitation of somebody else.

GN: Your group is made of seven people, including two trumpets, a bass, an organ, and a sax, which looks to me like quite a large a band. In comparison to pop or rock bands, what are the advantages of having more players in the group, or how effectively or harmoniously can these many players work together to make albums or perform at concerts?

NM: The line-up is a mix between rock and Latin.

The rock part is the electric guitar and the Hammond organ and the Latin part is the rhythm section. It is not very common in Latin music to have this combination. It combines the swing from salsa and the power of rock.

Latin bands have originally always had horns and a lot of rhythm, so eight people in the band is quite a normal size. The music takes care of the harmony in the band so all the people in the band are just following the music.

Come check out these two acts at the Gwangju World Music Festival and see the world of music as it should be seen – live and outside.