From Africa to the World, Yaya Diallo Unleashes His Music

From Africa to the World, Yaya Diallo Unleashes His Music
By MuzikMan, MusicDish.com

Yaya Diallo is a master drummer. A native of Mali, West Africa, he is
the personification of a country celebrated for its rich musical culture
and diversity. Motivated by his personal experiences in traditional
village life, Yaya expresses his profound knowledge of West African
healing arts in his instrumental album Nangapè, a recording that
focuses on West African drumming, balafon and flute music. I particularly
enjoyed the flute segments, which provided an alluring and rich
atmosphere for the entire session.
http://www.onzou.com

During the interview process, I heard entirely different viewpoints
from Yaya than I would have received from an artist in the U.S., or any
other country for that matter. Initially, I was puzzled by his responses,
then after realizing that he is worlds away immersed in music that is
so prolifically non-mainstream, it seemed only appropriate that he
answered my questions as he did. He knows who he is and had no problem
telling me exactly what he felt. I am sure you will come to know the man and
his music in a way you could have never imagined after listening to his
music and reading the interesting responses he so graciously provided.
He fired back his answers to my questions in a very matter of fact way.
I obviously touched upon some subjects that he had some strong feelings
and opinions about.

Yaya Diallo's albums The Healing Drum, Dounoukan and Dombáa
Folee offers the worldly open-minded listeners ceremonial, ritual and
Minianka medicine music of Mali. Diallo's manager Stephen Conroy commented
that the forthcoming album Live at Club Soda (recorded in performance
with his band Kanza) takes a dramatic shift as Yaya bridges traditional
music with Occidental sounds including saxophone, electric violin, bass
and lead guitars and drum set, as well as voice and traditional African
drums.

His innovative music gives solo voice to all the instruments within an
African rhythmic structure and swings with a sound reminiscent of
1950's rock 'n' roll and blues to a beat driven and spoken to by the
Dounouba and Djembe drums. I have to agree, it is one of the more unique and
original sounds that I have ever heard. It sounds like world-jazz meets
the blues; it is truly an amazing amalgamation of sound and culture.

Following graduation from the University of Montreal and a brief career
as a chemist, Yaya was co-founder of the music and dance groups
Djembe-Kan and Cléba and a member of the African Troubadours with the
World Music Institute as well as a faculty member of the Creative Music
Studio and the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies of New York. He is
currently active with his band Kanza and continues to teach and perform
internationally. Goals include the creation of traditional African
healing centers.

Do you feel your music brings you closer to your higher power? Do you
feel the music breathes the life of your upbringing and culture so other
people can understand who you are?

[Yaya Diallo] What do you mean by higher power? I came back to play
music because something was missing in my life. I play because I love it.
I did not do that for fame and I think I am myself now, and that is
enough. When I came back to music, I did not think about culture. People
said that is your African music; that is your culture. I did not know I
was carrying Africa on my back. I did not want to be an ambassador. I
played what I knew."

What is your goal when you create music, what do you hope to accomplish
from a performance?

[Yaya Diallo] When I sit down and an idea comes to me, I do not have
expectations. When I was young and I saw people coming from forty
villages every Friday to play for my grandfather who was the canton chief of
Zangasso, I thought one day I will come with my own band to impress my
grandfather and to be part of the celebrations. It did not happen. My
grandfather died and I did not play. It was a kind of frustration.

When I play a performance, I try to be myself. I talk to people; I make
jokes. Sometimes I care too much about the audience. When you play, you
think maybe they will be bored. You come to party and you want the
party to be good, you forget the order of the songs. People do not come to
see my face only. They come to get something. That is my responsibility
to make the party happen. That is why sometimes I care too much. Inside
you say, now what can I do. I cannot sit down and follow one plan. I
can change the order of the songs. You have to find the magic formula for
people. When you play something and people do not react, you have to
change something to find someway to put people in the party.

Do you think World music has received more attention and respect due to
the Internet?

[Yaya Diallo] When you use common sense, you say World music is more
popular because of the Internet. For me, Internet or not, it does not
matter. Music is subjective. That is your choice. You do not listen to
World music because you get it free on the Internet. People are not
looking for something they do not know and the fact you give them World music
by Internet does not mean they will listen to it. You will not change
your taste for music because you get it free. When you are a Rastafarian
the first music you look for on the internet is Reggae. Do you think
they look for what is happening in India? When you are punk you are
looking for punk music; you will not look for didgeridoo music. They do not
care about didgeridoo music.

How do you plan to get the word out about your music on a "World"
level?

[Yaya Diallo] To be on a World level it is some kind of luck. I know
some people who said, "I don't want to do commercial music. That is too
commercial for me." I found out they cannot do it. To be recognized at
the world level, that is a kind of lottery. You do one song, people love
it, and you get (a kind of) prizes. You can get money quick, you can
get a name quick, and people can forget you quick.

A good example is, "Who Let The Dogs Out." Quick they come and now we
forget about it. Moreover, you come up quick and the faster you fall
down; sometimes it is really painful. One more thing I tell young
musicians, "When some people love your music, be happy. Do not try to get 100%
of human beings to love your music. We have 6 billion people. Are you
ready to get 6 billion people to love you? Even about God, they are
fighting who is right and who is wrong. Do you think you will come and
everyone will love you? Nobody gets 1% of humanity, 60 million you can hear
about but 600 million? … nobody needs that."

Sometimes people know your music and they do not know you. Everybody
goes dancing to "Feeling Hot Hot Hot, Olay Olay" but ask them who is
singing that and they do not know and they do not care. They come to dance.
They come to party. Your music is more important than you.

I do what I have to do and you cannot control the fame or the money. If
people like it, fine. Who wants to be poor? Nobody. If it was easy, you
could sit down, write one good song right now, go to the bank and
borrow money. If I go to the bank today and I say, "give me $10,000, I'm
writing a song and I'll be a millionaire," do you think they will give you
money? I will be lucky if they do not send me to see the psychiatrist.

Do you feel all of your life experiences are the main motivation behind
the music you create?

[Yaya Diallo] No. My motivation in life is to be a good human being, a
good brother, son, husband, father, grandfather, not to give trouble to
people, and music can help me to achieve my goal. Music is only the
tool. Music can help me to reach my goal to get my balance in life.

To be a good human being is to take care of your duties and to assume
your responsibilities as a human being of the planet. You need to
respect yourself, nature, and the life of others and to be tolerant, that is
enough. You have to be humble. The fact that you play good music is not
enough to be God. You do not play music to be a star. You do music for
people, not to be God for people.

When you pay one ticket on a bus and you put your bag on the next seat
and someone asks if they can they sit next to you… What is your
education? You pay for one ticket. You don't know what to do as an adult?
You see the elder coming and you do not move. You educate the children.
What kind of values do you have?

It is obvious to me that there is much more to Yaya Diallo than his
music. He is a very spiritual man that has the gift of music in his heart.
I am so glad he found his path and now shares the beauty of his soul
through his music. I am a better person today for listening to his music
and having the opportunity to understand how he feels about his art and
the world around him.
http://www.onzou.com