« Kalimba » - Yapi ||| Record Reviews

« Kalimba »

« I’ve been refused by all the majors because my music defies categories, » sighs Yapi, in a telephone exchange. « They just can’t categorise me because, for some I’m too western to be world music - not ethnic enough, whatever that means – and, for others, I’m too rooted in my African traditions to be pop, funk or rock ».
It’s easy to understand the frustration of father-of-one Yapi. From the first notes of his self-produced album « Kalimba » it is clear he is equally at ease singing a moving soul homage to Marvin Gaye as beating out the complex 6/8 « agbongbo » rhythms of his Akié people. The 12 well-thought out songs on this promising first album reveal a grace and dexterity that breaks down barriers between seemingly-irreconcilable styles. Yapi spent five years forging tunes that alternate from the catchy (« Tambour-inné ») to the melancholy (« Y’a des jours…. ») without ever losing the listener.
The opening track reveals Yapi’s defiance within family circles as he tells his politician-father that he has a right to choose his own way in life. The composer also pays homage to his uncle, the well-known storyteller Manféi Obin, as he puts an old lullaby «Mê bitouo nin » to music. And, to close the family trilogy, there is « Nanan », a call to Yapi’s grandmother to help him in his moments of solitude.
But the greatest symbol used in the album by this likable singer is found in the title-track, « Kalimba ». « This is a very simple instrument you call the thumb piano. But in Africa we play it in such a way that it creates both the harmonic and the rhythmic patterns », Yapi explains. « I use it in the title track where I talk about war and the leaders who conduct it. You know, my country is cut in two. And so I ask the war leaders to listen to this instrument and let it touch their hearts ».
An example of the courage and commitment of this modest yet determined musician whose album is only available through internet orders. Sure, the album takes a while to get into, and could do with a rearrangement of the playing order. But Yapi deserves better exposure if only for the originality of songs like « Sengui », « Tambour-inné » and, naturally, « Kalimba ».

Daniel Brown

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