Somi, an eclectic jazz and Afro-Roots singer-songwriter born in Illinois to immigrants from Rwanda and Uganda, is set to perform on January 17, 2016 at the globalFEST world music showcase. The concert will take place 7:00-7:50 p.m. at the Marlin Room in Webster Hall, New York City. Somi talked to World Music Central about her background and upcoming concert.
Can you tell us about the band you will be taking to globalFEST 2016?
I’ll be there with my all-acoustic chamber jazz septet which (in addition to myself) includes drums, bass, guitar, piano, violin, and cello. It’s different from my usual touring electric quintet in that it’s meant to be a more explicit juxtaposition between definitions of African and western music, in both traditional and modern contexts. We will presenting material from my album “The Lagos Music Salon” which was inspired by my 18-month creative sabbatical in Lagos, Nigeria.
Many influential North American arts presenters will be at globalFEST 2016. What do you expect to get out of it?
I hope to get out of it what I hope to get out of any performance – an opportunity to connect with new audiences. The beauty of having so many presenters in one room for this particular show is it that it will hopefully serve as a more direct connection to those audiences.
Can you give our readers a brief history of your band?
I’m not sure how to answer this one, but I will say that the main rhythm section (Toru Dodo, Liberty Ellman, Nate Smith, and Ben Williams) are jazz musicians that I’ve had the pleasure of working with as my touring ensemble for a long while – some of them for over 10 years. We come from a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds but all live in New York City and all share a love for global music.
I’m thrilled to have begun touring with strings as well it adds a textural dimension like no other. Although we’ve known each other through the music community over the years, I have only just begun working with cellist Marika Hughes and violinist Mazz Swift in my band.
What do you consider as the essential elements of your music?
Improvisation is an essential element in my music. I am in no way a straight ahead jazz vocalist, but I love the freedom that jazz has always given me both in performance and form. As a songwriter, the explicit freedom of jazz allows me to share and be all of who I am both in sound and word – Rwandese, Ugandan, Midwesterner, Harlemite, New Yorker, Lagosian, etc. I love that. Other elements that are essential to my music are rhythm and color. I play with a wide range rhythms from various parts of the African continent and I always try to privilege a sense of color so that the listener feels immersed in both imagined and lived cultural memory.
Who can you cite as your main musical influences?
Honestly, there are too many to list, but if I had to pick three I’d say Miriam Makeba, Nina Simone, and Sade.
You have Rwandan and Ugandan ancestry. Did the traditional music of these countries have any influence in your music?
Yes, definitely. My cultural heritage shows up in my music in more nuanced ways than are usually expected though, both linguistically and musically.
What languages do you use when you sing?
Mostly English, but also Swahili and Kinywarwanda. On my Lagos album, I also sing in Yoruba, Igbo, and Nigerian pidgin English.
You lived in Nigeria. What led you there?
I had been to Lagos before to perform at a jazz festival with my band and fell in love with the “Africanize” parallels I saw between there and New York – the cosmopolitanism, the vibrant intellectual and artistic communities, the hard-earned reward that awaits those who persevere. After that first trip, I knew I wanted to come back. I also loved that there was a jazz audience there which spoke volumes about the city’s creative economy and world view. About a year later, I was invited to do a seven-week international teaching artist residency at a university five hours north of Lagos. While there, I was deeply inspired and knew that I wanted to stay.
Tell us about your first recordings and your musical evolution.
In my earlier recordings, I was still learning about my voice and discovering the stories I wanted to tell and how I want to tell them. Over time, I’ve become so much clearer about those things. Although we continue to evolve as artists, I have been at it long enough to know what I need for a most generative creative process.
One of the greatest gifts I received from my Lagos sojourner was a reminder to take greater risks because nothing is guaranteed. Living in a context where you are constantly reminded of your position of privilege helps me not to take any opportunities as an artist for granted. So I would say my greatest evolution is probably that I take more risks both on and off stage. Hopefully when people listen to my newer work they hear the honesty of those risks.
Do you have any upcoming projects to share with us?
I am currently working on two main projects. One is my new album that I can’t say much about yet, but will be out on Sony/Okeh in fall 2016. The other is a theater piece about the life of Miriam Makeba that will be in theaters late 2017.
Discography:
Eternal Motive (SanaaHouse, 2003)
Red Soil In My Eyes (World Village/Harmonia Mundi, 2007)
If The Rains Come First (ObliqSound, 2009)
Live at Jazz Standard (SanaaHouse/Palmetto, 2011)
The Lagos Music Salon (Sony/Okeh, 2014)
Official website: www.somimusic.com
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.