Thursday, December 8, 2011

An introduction to Sawa Blues

It was a music journalist who coined the term, Sawa Blues for the music style of Cameroon's Muntu Valdo.

Unable to place Valdo's unique blues style within the parametres of Delta, or Desert blues he asked the musician where he came from and from the answer new genre of blues was born.

Muntu Valdo describes himself as a "Sawa Boy", hailing from the Sawa people who live in Cameroon's coastal region.

The current album's title, "The One and The Many" describes his music-making formula, he says, and on stage he performs his Sawa Blues as 'one' but the sound is of 'many'.

With a guitar in hand, a harmonica at his lips and at his feet a deck of pedals - dubbed his "sorcerers," Valdo performs and records an array of musical parts that create his multi-layered grooves via a series of loops.

He explained to BBC World Service's Network Africa programme how he performs his music. {Via BBC}