®F)e Cljarlotte
THURSDAY, September 5, 1996
1BIARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Guy taking his new success in strid
By Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLOTTE POST
I S life beginning at 60
for Buddy Guy?
It seems so. It’s not
like he hasn’t had a
spectacular one up to
now. The blues guitar
sensation has played in
all parts of the United
States and Europe with
all kinds of great peo
ple. Now he’s getting
the one thing that’s
seemed to elude him -
recognition.
His peers have
always recognized him. Ask
the Rolling Stones, George
Benson, or Guy’s idol B.B.
King. They’ll all tell you he has
few peers. Now fans are find
ing out. Three of the last four
CDs Guy recorded have won
Grammys. His breakthrough
Damn Right I’ve Got The
Blues was recently certified
gold, his first in his 40-year
career.
Now Guy is finishing a
House of Blues sponsored tour
that brings bim to Charlotte
Friday at the Blockbuster
Pavilion. The tour began July
27 in Portland, Ore., and ends
Sunday in Raleigh.
Guy is absolutely giddy
about his new found fame,
especially the gold album.
“I guess I feel like a kid who
got his first bike.” Gu.v said in
a phone conversation from his
Washington, D.C., hotel room.
“Black blues players don’t
dream of this. We just play
music. I feel like jumping up
and shouting.”
There have been times when
Guy just wanted to cry, but the
man’s dedication to his music,
no, make that love for his
music, carries him.
But the success isn’t going to
his head.
“It’s better late than never,”
Guy said. “But I’m very reli
gious. I believe God gives you
things when He knows you are
ready. If I would have had this
when I was 20, who knows, I
could have wasted it. Success
overnight to me is a disaster.
But if you pay for it, you’ll
appreciate it in the end.
Coming to me at 60, I can just
say thank you and I can help
someone else.”
Guy acknowledges his help.
Although he’s self taught
(“Know one’s ever sat down
and showed me how to play
one lick on my guitar,” he says)
he praises the blues masters
before him.
“Little Walter, Muddy
Waters, Jimmy Reid,
Lightning Hopkins, Sonny Boy
Williams - these are people
who didn’t do much more than
Saturday Night Fishfry -
putting a hat down, people
throw money down, you get a
bottle of liquor and play the
rest of the night,” Guy said. “I
slap myself and try not to
think about my success. Those
guys before me deserved the
gold records and the
Grammys, They are the ones
that made the music. I’m just
trviiiii to cuiT.v iin.”
Carrying on the blues tradi
tion is becoming harder.
Critics of the music are saying
it’s loosing its heritage, becom
ing too white bread for the
masses. Guy agrees to an
extent. “Shoot, if Eric Clapton
made the same songs I make,
he’d get played on the radio,”
Cover
Cover
By Jeri Young
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Segu Maryse Conde
Penguin Books
$14.95
BUDDY GUY
he said, then laughed. “But
wilhoLit Clapton, Bonnie Rail I
and the Rolling Stones, I don’t
know where our music would
be. When the Rolling Stones
first came over here to tour,
they demanded that the
Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy
Waters open for them.
Promoters were asking ‘who’s
that?’ They did more for our
music than any record compa-
n\ ”
Guy’s also a bit disappointed
at his own people. He owns
Buddy Guy’s Legends, the
largest blues club in Chicago.
His clientele is 99 percent
white.
“Everywhere we play it’s like
See BUDDY Page 2B
Unbeknownst to many, Africa has a rich and diverse literary
legacy.
Through the years, many African writers, Aminata Sow Fall,
Bessie Head, Cheikh Hamidou Kane and Camara Laye, to
name a few, have garnered international acclaim for their
autobiographies and fictional works that depict the everyday
lives of Africans.
Language barriers, many of the works were orginally writ
ten in French, and lack of interest by major American pub
lishers have allowed many of the works to languish unnoticed.
“Segu,” an epic that tells the story of the war between reli
gions in eastern Africa, is one of the first and best of these
works to be translated and distributed by a major American
press.
Written in 1987 by Maryse Condd, a native of Guadelope,
“Segu” introduces the reader to the Traore family, an aristo
cratic Bambara family of the 18th century. The family, head
ed by Dousika, finds itself at the center of controversy when
one of the sons changes from the religion of the ancestors.
Fetish, to Islam. The conversion causes much dissension
among the Bambaras and a subsequent string of “bad luck”
causes tbe family to be rejected by the king and the entire vil-
lage.
Eventually, war breaks out between the Islamic factions, the
Fetish and Christianity, the religion of the 'Tucolor, an eastern
African word for Europeans, and the Traores find themselves
at the center of the ensuing battle for African autonomy.
Well written and extremely well translated from the orginal
French, “Segu” is an excellent introduction to African litera
ture. The author, translator Barbara Bray and the publisher
have gone to groat lengths to keep the orginal work in tact, yet
accessbile to American audiences. Replete with an excellent
dictionary of Bambara terms, maps and footnotes, the book
provides an excellent history lesson as well.
Conde, herself of Bambara descent, looks critically at
African society and holds nothing back. She discusses in
depth the burgeoning miscegenation of colonial Africa, the
horrors of the African slave trade, as well as problems caused
by the introduction of foreign religions, both by the Arabs and
See COVER on page 2B
Kino delivers OK first CD, Lyte’s better
By Winfred B, Cross
MC Lyte
Bad As I Wanna B
Jermaine Dupri,
Rashad Smith, Carl-
So-Lowe and R. Kelly,
producers
EastAVest/Electra
Records
☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
MC Lyte’s name is something
of an oxymoron. Light, she
ain’t. She’s always possessed
mad skills as a rapper and can
hold her own with the best of
them. She’s also the first
female solo rap artist to
receive a gold record.
She’s may very well be reach
ing for her second gold record.
Lyte’s latest. Bad As I Wanna
B, finds her at the top of her
lyrical game with music that
slams.
She certainly is in fine voice.
Lyte possesses one of the sexi
est voices in the rap world. It’s
deep and growling, but purely
feminine. It commands atten
tion. Take her gold single
“Keep On, Keepin’ On,” from
the “Sunset Park” soundtrack.
She’s a woman who’s confi
dent of her sexuality and in
control of her man (You better
believe it’s time to give a toast
to/The women of the decade,
too bad to be played). It may
turn off some men, but how
many males have bragged
about the same thing and have
gotten nothing but praise.
Lyte isn’t afraid to brag
about her skills on the mic,
either. “Have You Ever” and
“Cold Rock A Party” are old-
school jams that bring back
tbe day when rappers were
talking about how they could
whip a crowd into a frenzy, not
capping someone.
This isn’t the kind of release
that’s full of socially conscious
messages like recent stuff
from The Fugees, De La Soul
or a Tribe Called Quest. This is
md^^ex and partying. But
Lyt^^iKs address some ^.(^es
in ' “Druglord Superstar'
which she dumps a drug^al-
ing lover who won’t leave the
life and “Two Seater” in which
she tells a friend “no smoking
weeda in my two seater.”
The language throughout
this CD is fairly rough so I
wouldn’t recommend it for
kids. But I can say this is one
of the most listenable rap CDs
I’ve heard this year. You go,
Lyte.
Michael Brooks and
The Nation
Choice To Rejoice
Michael A Brooks,
producer
CGI Records
☆ ☆ ☆
Michael Brooks has made
quite a name for himself as a
choir director since leaving
Commissioned some years ago.
As a producer, he’s crafted two
fine CDs for his Greater
Emmanuel Mass Choir.
Brooks is now turning his
attention toward The Nation,
a six-piece vocal ensemble that
makes a sparkling debut on
Choice To Rejoice
The group’s vocals are based
more so in the rich tradition of
choir singing than a small
ensemble - kind of the same
thing Richard Smallwood does
with his Smallwood Singers.
There’s plenty of sound coming
from this enthusiastic group.
Most of the music is praise
and worship with a good dose
of contemporary gospel thrown
in The song.s are .strong,
which should be no surprise.
Brooks wrote many a good
tune while with Commissioned
and he continues to hone his
skills on this project.
There’s not a bad song on
this CD, but if it has a fault its
that it may be a bit too low-
key, There are a couple of
times where I wished the
ensemble would drop its pol
ished sound and cut loose with
some unbridled emotion.
What’s here is fine, but a little
more here and there would
have made this release sparkle
instead of just glistening.
, There are some choice cuts.
“Praise His Name” has a calm
ing effect that should soothe
the most troubled soul. The
KINO WATSON
title song is a joyful mix of r&b
and contemporary gospel,
nearly approaching hip-hop.
The harmony is tight and free
flowing. “Help Me To Fight” is
the CD’s most moving perfor
mance. The uncredited female
lead adds subtle jazz-like
phrasing over a silky arrange
ment. She nearly cuts loose
towards the end, but she
remains restrained. Very, very
nicely done.
Kino Watson
True 2 The Game
Kino Watson and
Erik “Big Free” Smith,
producers
Columbia Records
☆ ☆ 1/2
Kino Watson is doing his best
to put Dallas, N. C., on the
map. I dare say he’s the first
from that small town to get a
major recording contract.
Watson puts that contract to
good use on his first CD 'True
2 TTie Game. It’s much like
you hear on any urban station
these days - songs of love and,
well, sex - but Watson does
have a slight edge over some of
the current balladeers, he can
actually sing,
Watson doesn’t possess a
spectacular voice, but its a
good one. It doesn’t have a lot
of range but he doesn’t over
tax it with difficult material.
Most of the stuff here is simple
in construction
Watson wrote or co-wrote all
of the material. He only relies
on two samples to craft his
tunes: the Floaters’ “Float On”
in the single “Bring It On” and
Teddy Pendergrass’ “Close The
Door” in “Got Me Open.” He
never breaks loose with a jam,
but he sets feet shuffling with
“Game Recognize Game.” Most
of the songs are low-key bal
lads.
There are no bad songs, but
Watson will tax your patience
with “It’s Time,” a nearly tune
less song that seems to drag on
forever.
'The rest of the songs are fine.
“I’m 'The Man (Your Mama
Been Warn’ You About) is the
nicest thing here, combining
machismo with manners. A
nice touch.
Rating: Classic;
Excellent; Good; Fair; i
Why?; No stars given - A mess.