SIX STRINGS


Sax Appeal 2 was fantastic. Kunle Ayo feels so too as I sit with him a day after at the Best Western Hotel in Victoria Island, where he and other performers from show are waiting for summons from a radio station. The jazz heavyweight betrays no signs of fatigue despite a playing his heart out just a few hours earlier. Rather he seems to be bubbling with enthusiasm as we settle into a leather couch for the interview, and you could say he is full of joy, like the title of his first album which has been followed by three others.
“It has been good,” he recalls with a rub of his chin. “We’ve been doing it now for the last eight-years. That was when my solo career started and the acceptance has been wonderful. It did not come on a platter of gold, but I just think we’ve been blessed as God has been really good to us. We are grateful that we are where we are and the love we have for music has compelled people to warm up to us and we are grateful for where we are.”
Jazz flight is a trait common to him and his indigenous colleagues. With the Nigerian jazz crooner having little value in his homeland, an exodus of talent has nestled in South African shores where they manage to do their thing along with other greats from around the world. Nigeria is often considered as a hostile ground for the genre, but Ayo feels all that is changing even though hip hop reigns.
“I think appreciation for that form of music is only now growing to an extent where it is worth it because as a business person there must be a demand for it. The demand for it is not as great as that for hip hop and hip hop musicians are able to live the life,” he says with a quick glance at his phone. “It is hard to live here and depend on your instruments alone but I think we are getting there big time. People are just warming up to listen to contemporary smooth, Jazz and other things.”
He pauses to answer a call before offering a comparison of the Nigerian and South African Jazz scenes, and his observations whip up the usual problems sounded by other artists.
“When you live outside of Nigeria you find out that the residents can go out to buy your music and don’t pirate it or take you for granted. People outside appreciate you and that is why they say a jazz musician will play a million chords to two people while a rock, blues or hip hop musician will play two chords for a million people. I think we have a satisfaction seeing what people love what we do and it is more important than money but it is also very necessary to sustain ourselves then and have a life, feed our families and have a home.”
Mixing business with pleasure has its perks for Ayo. Besides allowing him to thrive financially, it has also triggered comparisons with notable jazz greats. All the hype becomes significant when he adds that he only picked up the guitar a few years back. He was almost 20-years when he started playing in 1992 but would go professional five years later and tour with names like Lagbaja and Mike Aremu. With the influence from other pals like Femi Ojetunde, Niyi Adams and Agboola Shadare, he later realised he could do more than just play. This set the pace for a solo career which commenced in 2002, and fame, which has followed closely like his shadow.
“I am humbled to be acquainted with such names,” he admits with all modesty as he sinks further into the leather settee. “These are the guys I listened to when I was growing up and Jonathan Butler was one of those guys I respected a lot and when I had the chance of meeting him in California he was humbled. I was with him in his studio in Los Angeles and for him to request for me when he was in South Africa to feature on his song was awesome. There is no money you can pay for the value of that and I appreciate it since the love for the instrument is the primary reason we’re doing this. Not all of us are looking at the big money that will come out of it. It is just the joy of doing music and we do not care what the world brings. I am just very satisfied but reality sets in sometime and as an accountant having a studio is not the only means of living.”
Blowing his instrument is definitely prime pleasure and it has engendered four solid albums and laurels. But there are still some uncharted regions for him to tread amidst all the accolades and time as a model and broadcaster.
“Every industry has got goals and aspirations and even though you have all the awards and have played in all the stages there are still some things you look forward to. There is always that next thing and for us it is being able to reach more people and collaborate with them. There will always be more to achieve but it is two different environments and Nigerian artists do not get opportunities to know what is going on out there when it comes to music,” confessed the instrumentalist with another gaze at his Blackberry phone. “The ones that are really singing here have to start doing hip hop influenced sounds because of the pressure. People are really pulling towards that young sound thing.”
This has not stalled his love for traditional beats fitted over his diverse inspiration. He also has no plans of having full-time protégés but remains very particular about his role in the propagation of indigenous sounds.
“Asha is someone who has broken the barrier of playing to Nigerian crowds but her sound is even contemporary,” admits the instrumentalist. “You need to ask what has been happening to traditional sounds and that is what I am hoping to do by allowing people appreciate my traditional stuff. But it is the language. If I lived here and had access to traditional instruments I will use them. I think we should look inwards and try to use what we have, influence it and not completely relegate it to the background.”
A question on his homecoming attracts a bout of laughter which shakes his imposing figure to its roots. But it seems to be his itinerant streak at work rather than sarcasm.
“I am too young to think along those lines but the thing is does the home appreciate my music to the extent that I will be able to survive when I return? He asks. “We will try to build our base here even though we are over there. Kudos to Mike Aremu for Sax Appeal, but there aren’t many people that can sponsor such a show. If you go to sponsors, they will want to look at the commercial value so it is difficult. If we want to have it all the time, there must be someone who wants to sponsor without being particular about returns, In South Africa they have a culture of Jazz and Standard Bank sponsors all the time.”
The future is bright, and if he had to change anything, he would not as the guitar is home.
“I really don’t know because I don’t have what I want in terms of material wealth but I am so content with what I do and if I came back to this earth, it would still do it. We have not really released any of my albums in Nigeria due to the fear of not selling. We are going to start and see how it goes.”