November 29, 2006

In the fall of 2005, our Detroit colleague Rick Steiger contacted Afropop to say that a musician friend of his had recently died, and had left two fabulous, Modulus basses that he wished to pass on to African musicians.  The donor was David Smelt, a redwood tree farmer and blues/R&B musician from Santa Cruz, California.  The recipients were Habib Faye of Youssou N’Dour’s band, and Oumar Diallo of Afel Bocoum’s band.  Both musicians were understandably elated with their gifts.  We at Afropop also found the experience deeply gratifying, one fulfillment of a long nurtured dream.

For years, Afropop has been encouraging listeners and web visitors to consider donating instruments that we could put into the hands of deserving musicians in Africa.  The glut of abandoned and unplayed instruments in North America seems well matched by the overwhelming scarcity of instruments on the African continent.  Why not create a flow from here to there?  We knew that even a single gift delivered to the right musician could change everything for that player, and so we put the word out.  In principle, this seems a simple enough proposition.  But as the case of David’s two basses illustrates, the devil is in the details. 

To begin with, David’s were no ordinary instruments.  These were fretless, left-handed, six-string basses!  Now for non-musicians, a bass normally has four strings.  Many advanced players have learned to grapple with five and six string basses.  But in most African settings, such instruments are rare, if not completely unknown.  If the challenge of dealing with two extra strings were not enough, playing a fretless bass is also a pretty specialized calling.  Add to this the fact that David’s instruments are built left-handed, so that the cutaway and controls are positioned opposite from the norm.  A further twist: David set his instrument up as if it were right-handed, so that the high strings are where the low ones would normally be, and the low ones where the high ones would be, another feature bound to confound many players.  Modulus makes some of the most high-end instruments around, with graphite necks that are virtually indestructible.  They are rock solid, ideal for harsh climates and rough and tumble lifestyle of musicians in Africa.  An ordinary, fretted, four-string, right-handed Modulus bass would be the envy of almost any bass player there.  But these were rarer birds, and finding the right musicians to give them to took research and thought.

Habib Faye topped the candidate list from the start.  To begin with, he was a musical hero for David Smelt, and understandably so.  Habib is a complete master who plays guitar and keyboards and sings, in addition to being one of the most powerful bass players in Africa.  We knew that he was up to the musical task of playing such an exotic instrument, and that he would have the skill and knowledge to work around the left-handed issue, either by changing the setup, or simply playing the instrument upside down.  Knowing the place Habib held in David’s heart, we made this decision quite easily, and presented Habib with his bass at the Afropop Hall of Fame event in New York City in October, 2005.  That was an extraordinary evening, full of magical moments.  But we feel quite sure that Habib Faye will remember it for the generosity he received, grace a David Smelt.  In a word, Habib was overjoyed.  (Unfortunately, the photographer we hired for that event failed to record this moment.  We are still trying to get our hands on a photo of Habib with his gift and will add it to this feature when we succeed.)

We found our second recipient in Bamako, Mali.  I was there doing some work with Afel Bocoum and some of his musicians.  Afel’s bass player, Oumar “Barou” Diallo, is an old friend of mine, and I noticed that he plays exactly the way David did, upside down and left-handed.  I also noticed that he was using a right-handed bass, so that the controls and cutaway were both in the wrong place, above his picking hand, rather than below it as they would be on a normal instrument.  David’s bass would solve that problem for him.  I casually asked Barou, who is a versatile player, if he had ever tried a fretless bass, and he said only a little, but that he had loved it and wanted to do more.  Beyond these remarkable qualifications, Barou also runs his own recording studio and has occasion to play on many different kinds of music both on stage and on record.  Barou’s Studio Yelen, by the way, is really coming of age.  Afel’s new album Niger was recorded there and sounds great.  That was the clincher.  Barou was not only a perfect match for the donated instrument’s idiosyncrasies, but we knew that in his hands, it would be heard by many for years to come. 

Next came the problem of how to get the instrument to Barou.  Sending such things in the mail is risky and expensive, and this time, I wanted to be sure to be on hand to photograph the event.  So we waited.  Afel Bocoum toured in Europe last year, but not in the U.S..  Finally, the chance came in October, 2006, when Afropop Worldwide attended WOMEX in Seville, Spain, and Afel’s group performed a showcase.  Sean Barlow and I came to the sound check with the Modulus bass in hand, and on behalf of David Smelt, his wife Cheryl, Rick Steiger, and all the dreamers at Afropop, gave it to Barou.  The images here say all that needs to be said about his reaction. 

This is an experience we would love to have more often.  So once again, we renew our call to all and sundry to consider donating instruments to Afropop to pass on to musicians.  As this story illustrates, we take the task seriously and work hard to find the right fit for each instrument.  In this case, we gave the instruments to fairly established and successful players.  These were such valuable and unusual instruments that we had to be sure the recipients would be able to manage them.  With more modest instruments, we would look for up-and-coming players in whose hands a serviceable axe (or other item) might mean everything, and literally change lives.  So think about those instruments moldering away in your attics, basements, and closets.  Know that if nobody is playing them there, an exciting life awaits them in Africa! 

Banning Eyre