A Look at the Portuguese World

 

h facebook h twitter h pinterest

The mindjer of bissau

Written by 

Karyna Gomes is one of the new voices of Guinea-Bissau music. Her first album, called Mindjer, is dedicated to all the women of her country and although it has this African identity rather creased by percussion and voice, is a record stuffed with warm sonorities from other places that influenced throughout her life.

You dedicate this record to women, but there is a whole very feminine universe in your songs, in Guinea-Bissau, the music begins with women? You spoke of an instrument, the tub and the reason for women to use it.
Karyna Gomes: Women are very much involve in music in Guinea, from the ethnic context shall we say to the pre-colonial, as a context ever more mestizo, or postcolonial. They are present in all, leading associations, taking care of the children, in the house, in agriculture, fishing, government, and is the mainstay of guinienses families. They walk kilometers in search of water, they go to markets to sell, they do miracles and it is so difficult the life of a guiniense woman, because tradition still penalizes too, she is considered an inferior being, is lower in social scale and it is only good to serve man. This makes these women real heroines because socially still suffer from very serious problems. I usually say that the quality of government in this guinienses homes, women are the best example of governance, because they make a thousand things at once and well.

So why only chosen this time to launch this first album? I know that only now did find the record label in which you feel reflected.
KG: Because I went to Brazil to take a course in 1996, in media, I'm a journalist and during this period I was part of a gospel group and started singing. I often say that I was taking a course and that God showed me my true path, it was just not easy to return to Guinea-Bissau, I was working as a journalist in RTP, was on community radio as radio host and trainer, in the middle had a daughter and that made everything more complicated to leave my child to chase the dream. To get the recordr I wanted to do I had to leave my country, knock on doors of record labels and get someone who believed in my talent. But what happened was not so I had to work, I was part of important institutions such as UNICEF, but then I thought I had to leave this part, not forever, because I continue to do something, but I decided to follow my dream, because I thought that the more I postponed, forward I would repent. During the time not recording, I researched a lot about the history of music of Guinea-Bissau, its instruments, I did a lot of studies, now, I'm doing a masters and I lack the thesis. I think the record came at the right time in terms of maturity, in which I have a clear idea, I long to see how things should be and what should I do, now I know more what I want.

What was the guiding principle for this album beyond the instruments? I realized the influence of Cuban music with its enormous fluidity.
KG: My album has much Cuban influence and I will explain why, we had a revolution that was strongly supported by the Cubans and many went to Guinea and with them came the music. I was born two years after independence, my parents had many Cuban friends who took their music, we shared conversation and sounds. Furthermore, I am the niece of one of the great guiniens music icons that is Micas Cabral, from the Tabanca Jazz, he was in Cuba to study and when he came back brought a lot of "Buena Vista Social Club" at the time they were not even known. I drank a lot of that Cuban source, was something wonderful, then, to have studied in Brazil also had a lot of influence of Brazilian music, but I heard more gospel, but before I went there I already heard Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, Roberto Carlos and many other stars.

You are very eclectic in your musical taste and it turns out to have influence on the music you do?
KG: Yes, always. It is subconscious.

But begins as?
KG: It depends. Two days ago I remembered a song that came out of nowhere, in the kitchen, which is my favorite place because I like to cook. And suddenly, during tidying and cleaning, I stop, because it came to me the melody and I saw the whole song. It is also a result of the many things I hear sometimes is only melody and then come the lyrics, or vice versa, and when I find the topics I find that there is a lot, this song I spoke of recalls the african-Mandingo which is the style that inspired the blues and has a lot of soul, so when I see my songs are very cast, the music I make goes thru soul, to R & B, the Brazilian and is very african-Cuban. Once I recorded the album that I realize how great is the influence of Cuban music in my life, was much the sound of my childhood, when we are children is when it seems that things influence us more.

Also is label as urban music.
KG: Yes, because I'm from Bissau, I am not only urban and African, I heard a lot of traditional and ethnic music, but especially during the 60s was done in Guinea-Bissau a lot of what we called the modern guiniense music. I take it all and add more things, which is why the Portuguese critics calls my songs new music of Guinea-Bissau because it is not a sound in its purest form, there is a format that fits this aesthetic that appears at the end of 50s and early 60s and it will be consolidated in the 70s and 80s and now its lost a bit. I get it back, but I traveled a lot, I also heard a lot of jazz, I sang with a jazz band and it's amazing how everything is in our head and when we compose everything comes naturally. I do not like nothing forced, if they ask me to do a song is mechanical, it is not spontaneous.

So one can say your music is fusion?
KG: Yes is the typical fusion music. It is for all ears, for anyone to identify with something in my song, for example, I attended a festival where there were Cubans, I had a very strong percussionist in the congas and they in the public were amazed, have even said that when they announced a singer from Guinea-Bissau they thought were listening to African music, has a lot of it, but there's a lot of Cuban, because they were our fighting brothers.

You are now promoting this record, but you are already preparing a second work?
KG: Yes. I think from 2005 that was when I started to 2015 are ten years that could led to three albums and If I wanted I could already record a second album and only wait for the right time to launch it.

What is the difference between one and the other, as part of the same research?
KG: The difference is minimal, the only certainty is that on my next album will not have so much, because this record would show where I left, I have an urban root that is recupercursion music, voice and tina, have two modern music themes, the 60s decade and my songs result of this merger. My second album will have more of my themes, will keep the root is touching the tub, live singing, voice and percussion. I will keep this sound, because it gave me a lot of work to create an identity, I can sang an older theme, but with a different guise. I think there will be no difference, perhaps more of my writing for the next album, with my way of singing, of being in the music and play classics that are always a challenge and sometimes it's not easy, unlike the themes that you compose that they are easier to sing.

http://tutaudio.su/mp3-album-mindjer-download-7028945.html

Leave a comment

Make sure you enter the (*) required information where indicated. HTML code is not allowed.

FaLang translation system by Faboba

Podcast

 

 

 

 

Eventos