The Boss of Strut Records comes back to the story of his latest issue, “Soul Sok Séga”. Compiled by DJ duo La Basse Tropicale, based in the neighboring island of La Réunion, this double LP is one of the best surprises of 2016 beginning: a kind of typical creole mix we love.
photos by Percy Yip Tong
When and how did you get in touch with La Basse Tropicale ? Did you know séga?
I had come across séga through a series of people over the last couple of years – Jean Paul “Bluey” Maunick of UK jazz funk band Incognito and George Benson’s manager Cedric Perrier (both Mauritians) had mentioned it during meetings and an ex-!K7 colleague, Aude Chagnon, had sent over a few tracks in the past. Natty Hô and Konsöle from La Basse Tropicale were completely the key to the new compilation, though. They got in touch through the Strut label website, I listened to a superb mix of séga originals on their Soundcloud and I think I replied to them to confirm the album the same day. As soon as you hear it, it’s just such unique and mind-blowingly good music.
How did you work with them? Did they bring the complete selection, or did you edit it?
They supplied a full list of around 50 Mauritian tracks and suggested a preferred line-up for the first compilation. They know the music inside out and we all agreed on 90% of their final selection – there were only 1 or 2 tweaks to get to the final tracklist, I think.
What did you like in that music?
The Mauritian séga sound of the ’70s is so rich, borne out of its long heritage stemming way back from 19th Century slavery. It has always kept its uncompromising African roots and it has its own unique flow and groove with its ternary 6/8 rhythm structure. The ’70s was an incredibly progressive period for the music – musicians like Eric Nelson effortlessly fused Western rock guitar into the mix and different artists took it into very different directions. Some like John Kenneth Nelson have a raw folk root to their music, Claudio particularly brings in the Indian influence, Ti L’Afrique’s ‘Soul Sock Séga’ is a lost funk-blues breakbeat while Menwar’s early work with Les Stardust is more psychedelic, with more of a garage band sound.
About the selection: was it mainly from 45s?
It was almost exclusively from 45s. Mauritian artists like Coulouce did record the odd album but most of the music was released on singles.
Michel Legris
Elida
Are there differences between séga from La Réunion and Maurice?
Yes, the sound feels quite different based on the tracks I have heard so far through La Basse Tropicale. There are basic traditional variations – the Réunion artists use alternative instrumentation like the ‘bob’ bow and roulér barrel drum but overall, the La Réunion maloya sound feels generally more stripped back… and laid back. Even on the more uptempo tracks, there’s more space in the music. Again, it’s really varied with the different fusions, though. There’s the nostalgic, more traditional ‘séga longtemps’ through artists like Maxime Lahope; then Hervé Imare and the brilliant Caméleons collective with their cool psyche approach while female artists like Michou take a coquette-ish pop direction. Cult Réunion artists like the late Alain Peters have also recently had the revival treatment through the Moi J’Connais label in France and a fair amount of press interest. Again, some really incredible music from the ‘70s period which has to be heard.
You released some compilations (Haiti Direct, Calypsoul 70…) from West Indies. What are the links with this one?
There are obvious parallels with Haiti in particular. It’s especially interesting to compare the folkier twoubadou side of Haitian music with séga. Both obviously developed out of the considerable displacement of different African populations and, although twoubadou brought in very different local influences including méringue and Cuban guajiro, the powerful African roots and kréol language draw clear comparisons. Both are incredibly rich music forms.
Ti L’Afrique
Soul Sok Séga
It becomes really trendy in Paris. Next stop… London?
Yes, I think that, despite the French kréol language used in the music, there’s such a constant hunger for new tropical and Afro sounds in London that this kind of album will hopefully get picked up. It is certainly a lesser known sound here than in France but the music’s so great and unique that it will spread, without a doubt. Tastemaker Brit DJs like Hugo and Frank from Sofrito, Chris Menist at Paradise Bangkok and Gilles Peterson have been including séga within their sets for a while here.
Could there be a Volume 2? And do you have such an LP, in your mind, that could be reissued?
Yes, we’d like to build a series, hopefully bringing in more Mauritian rarities as well as maloya from La Réunion, moutia from Seychelles and séga kordéon from Rodrigues. La Basse Tropicale have amassed a great archive of the music over recent years and there’s definitely the need to document the music in depth.
