photo(c) Jean SaintJean

Greg de Villanova is a multi-talented french/brazilian character! Fellow digger, heavy collector, tropical DJ, music historian as well as music consultant! But he’s also a label owner at Oriki Music, where he (re)releases the music he loves! Let’s share this wise guy’s opinions on the LP market!

When did you start digging records?
Around 1987-88, digging for rap records when those were badly distributed in Paris.

What Lps did you buy at first? Do you still listen to them?
Jazz funk and funk classics, first record ever was Herbie Hancock’s ‘Manchild’. I still buy and listen to 70’s classics, those are the real deal, not the super obscure stuff I’ve been collecting for the past 20 years.

Do you have a particular style or favorite period?
60’s hard soul and early 70’s deep funk.

Are you still digging’, buying vinyl, visiting record shops?
I dig on a regular basis but not in stores, try to link up with private owners, collectors, buy cheap and in large quantities.

What was your first release on Oriki ?
Orchestre Baobab’s ‘A night at Club Baobab’.

Orchestra Baobab
Souleymane

What could be your editorial/esthetic line?
Afro ! Oriki has 6 African music releases and 2 Afro Brazilians.

What could be the label’s leitmotif?
Modernity and beauty are universal.

What is the Oriki LP you are prouder?
Baobab’s : it’s our biggest sales and media hit (about 15.000 copies sold) and it’s surely one of the most consistent African bands of the 70’s, ultimate work .

Did you have any references labels when you started ?
Not at all, I always do my stuff with the heart and don’t buy or listen to reissues. I also barely know what’s being done by other labels.

Do you think the adventures of diggers have changed over time? Do you keep going to the field?
I don’t really know what you mean with the first question, my work as a digger remains the same, go to the field, hunt intensely, discover new stuff, keep eyes and ears wide opened, never give up even if it’s the 10th mistaken lead I’m following.

Your first references were on the West African zone. Is it still easy today to find rare, unedited records?
There is more to do than done, always… Question is how relevant some reissues would be.

Moussa Doumbia
Femme d’aujourdhui

And how do you negotiate with the right owners?
Patiently!

You have released some Brazilian records, and you are known as a great connoisseur of this country. Why not more reissues?
Most of the relevant stuff is owned by majors which don’t allow licensing.

Could we dream to listen on LP the fantastic Obaluayê!?
All dreams are possible, but I won’t do it, worked on that on cd 15 years ago, changing the format is not really challenging, and I need the project to be so to get interested in doing it.

Can you introduce us to the new Ivorian selection? Its particularity, its difference compared to all the others that come out on the market?

I’d say it’s more interesting than most stuff out there for three reasons.
1-It’s super obscure, ultra hard to get and extremely expensive stuff which you can spend years looking for. Most collectors have a very vague notion of how rarer this or that African record is compared to another, the Société Ivoirienne du Disque funky catalogue is simply the ultimate when it comes to French speaking Africa.
2-It’s a coherent compilation focusing on a single label, and more particularly on what could be spotted as a collection within the label, even though it’s never been marketed as such by the producer. Most tracks have the same funk and fusionny, African American music influenced sound, a lot has the same sidemen and / or arrangers.
3-Finally, a lot of the music has that raw and deep funk vibe, completely unique in French speaking Africa, when it was much more common in English speaking Ghana and Nigeria. The compilation focuses, with a few exceptions, on what I consider to be the ultimate in terms of solid deep funk and jazz funk coming out of Ivory Coast.

De Frank Jr
Ayee Menko

Why such a long silence before this come-back ?
Well, the label is my own little dancer, I don’t make profits out of it, which means I need spare time to work on it. I lacked that spare time. Also, when the first releases came out years ago, most didn’t sell enough to cover expenses (I used to buy advertising space in magazines and pay for a press attaché). What customers wanted was the funky stuff and I didn’t specifically focus on that because I thought there was much more interesting stuff to be reissued. Even if this new compilation rocks, most artists included within it have quite anecdotical carriers. Our first reissues focused on heavy weights of modern African music, but I guess Western ears were not ready to leave their funkocentric approach and listen to modern African music for what it is and not for how much it’s been influenced by James Brown or Fela Kuti.

Nowadays, there are many LP labels who follow this model, I mean more quality even if it’s more expensive… but in same time, there are also another « new » LP market, with major companys come-back and other labels, who prefer to sell cheaper. Is it the (re)creation of two camps for the LP ?
Vinyl is trendy, and there are different ways of doing it. Some labels try to make money out of limited quantities, which is impossible, so all they can do is shitty pressings and bootlegs. That really sucks, they should try to get into another business to make profits. Majors have a different, but also opportunistic approach. They sell vinyl records to people who didn’t really give a shit about the format until recently, they just think it’s cool, today, don’t know how long this « coolness » will last. Then there is the passionate, hard working, accurate people doing amazing reissues, deep historical work with consistent liner notes and tracklistings. Those contribute to something bigger than us, universal knowledge and beauty.
But if you’re just into music, you don’t really give a shit about that, all you want is the sound, and from this point of view, anything is good. This discussion is mainly for the passionate professionals, most of the audience is not interested in such considerations.

Sewa Jacintho
Secret Populaire

There are more and more reissues of old LPs, and more and more record labels (major or indie) now release their new artists on LP, or EP. Do you think that the LP reissue market could ever reach saturation point?
No idea at all, but at some point I guess this will happen. Customers into vinyl have limited funds, but I don’t have numbers as to the extent of this market. But frankly, how many thousand copies maximum of a vinyl title are pressed ? Several tens of thousands ? How many people on the planet ? It’s just a drop in the middle of the sea which the music industry is. Mp3 rules.

What are your other next releases ?
No idea yet. Right now I’m in my hammock, recovering from the hassle the last one was with all the boring crap I had to do to put the record out, sending emails, phoning, dealing with pressing, graphic design or digital distribution. If you wanna listen to good obscure stuff, you should come join me in the hammock, we’ll be able to deal with much more music within much lesser time !

What is the LP you dream of issuing/reissuing?
None. Or maybe Nicole Croisille’s debut album. Or any other hard to get French stuff that’s not interesting to grooveaholics nor anyone else. And I’ll get someone deal with the boring part. Need to get rich first though, cause this won’t sell.

http://gregdevillanova.com/mixes

Photos by Etienne de Villars

We proudly introduce the man behind one of the greatest African Funk albums ever, Marijata band leader Pat Thomas. He is touring again with the fantastic band and his shows are incredible. Check the story behind this exemplary 40 years career.

Can you tell us the origin of your new record on Strut?
The record came about when Ben and Kwame approached me to work on the project. Ben had produced Ebo Taylor’s records on Strut and I’ve known Kwame since he was a baby! So it was a great team.

How did you record it?
It was recorded at Kwame’s studio in Accra. They also used Lovelite Studio in Berlin, where they had done the Ebo Taylor records.

You have some guests, old pals : Tony Allen, Ebo Taylor, Osei Tutu… What do they represent for you?
It’s great that Kwame and Ben brought those guys in. It brought a deeper level to the recordings, for sure.

You played with them in the 1970’s, memories?
Oh, too many!

You are accompanied by young musicians: Kwashibi Area Band. What does that change in your music over your old records?
The Kwashibu Area guys are great. So much energy! They keep me on my toes for sure.

What was the role of Kwame Yeboah for recording? sound designer? artistic director? New ears?
Ben and Kwame worked together on this project from day 1. Kwame has a great band and is a natural leader. I know Ben from his work with Ebo Taylor. The 2 of them made this happen.

The new record sounds like the old 1970’s ones. It was a voluntary choice, assumed?
Well you’ll have to ask Ben and Jochen about that.

“I Need More” sounds as the perfect «one more» track. Do you believe that a title from 1970 is still an hymn that summarizes the spirit of your music in 2016 ?
Hahaha! Well that song was recorded in the 1970’s and believe it or not we never performed it live at the time! It works great now and I think it’s still fresh.

Can we expect some reissues of your old discs, hard to find?
Yes I believe Strut will be releasing my « best of Pat Thomas » album soon. Some of my older records will be reissued later this year.

In the 1960’s, you started in the Broadway Dance Band and The Stargazers. Do you think the scene was richer than today in Ghana?
Oh well, that was a completely different time. In those days there were so many bands. If you wanted to go out, you would go to a club and dance to a live band. Nowadays it’s much different.

Yourself, how did you get started? Your first influences: your parents? Is that true your father was a music teacher and your mother a band leader?
Yes my family is musical. I started out singing with my uncle King Onyina who was a very famous and important highlife guitarist!

What do they teach, spread to your mind? And you, what have you teach to your daughter, who sings with you?
Oh, you learn by being there, you know…

What musician and what music has influenced you in your youth, and in the beginning of your career?
In Ghana we play a lot of different kind of songs. There are highlifes and funeral songs, also we played «copyright» which are covers of the popular songs of the day. I used to love Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye of course.

Do you believe highlife is still the matrix of your music? And how have you made the connection with the Nigerian afrobeat?
Highlife is my whole thing man. I grew up with highlife and will die with highlife. That’s our music, Ghana music. I never really sang afrobeat.

In 1978 You were crowned Mr. Golden Voice of Africa and at the time you won the ECRAC award of the year. How do you explain that you have not been as successful in Europe as other Africans?
The late 70’s were a difficult time in Ghana and many musicians left the country. I spent a long time abroad too. We played a lot in Europe, but in the Ghanaian community, not at European events.

Thereafter, you have recorded more disco highlife LP. Why this choice ? How these records have been received?
I sang those songs because that was the sound of the day. The burger highlife was very very popular. We had a lot of hits.

In the 1990’s, you had a first comeback with “Sika Ye Mogya”…
You say comeback, that’s strange to me because I never went away. I’ve been singing in Ghana the whole time.

How could explain this «renaissance» on european scene?
The new album was well received and now we can work! I hope it keeps going for ever!

For a year, you are again at the top. You tour a lot in Europe… Is this the same show that you can play in Accra?
Yes this is our show with Kwame and Ben and the Kwashibu Area guys. We played a show in Accra just before we came to Europe.

What are your future artistic projects?
For now I’m concentrating on the tour: we have a lot of new songs and the second album will come next year.

Thanks for their supports Christine @New Morning & Corinne Serres @MadMinute