Sola Akingbola: Routes To Roots

SINGER , songwriter and percussionist with the Grammy award winning, international, UK band Jamiroquai, Akingbola has recently released Routes to Roots , an album of Yoruba percussion.

Konnections : What does Routes to Roots mean to you as an individual?

SA : Routes to Roots is an exploration of Yoruba Music from a western perspective:

I have spent most of my life in the west even though I was born in Oregun ,Ikeja , Nigeria- This was an opportunity for me to work with traditional Yoruba drummers and develop ideas I have always used within my mainstream work with Jamiroquai.

Culturally, I have always been fascinated with the idea of belonging: What makes someone a Yoruba person, or English person, what does this really mean in the face of globalisation.

Konnections: Which Yoruba musicians in particular have influenced your music?

SA : Haruna Isola, Yusuf Olatunji, Gasper Lawal, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Ayinla Kollington, Isiaka Atanda, King Sunny Ade. All the heavy weights!!

Konnections: How many instruments do you play and which one is your favourite?

SA : I play piano, drums and several types of percussion. Unfortunately the talking drum is not one of them!!

Konnections: How much of African percussion features in Western music?

SA : In the 60's many West African musicians were making their presence felt in mainstream music: like Reebop Waku Bah of Ghana , Gasper Lawal from Nigeria .

They introduced some lesser known instruments. Now, because of the explosion of ‘world music', there's an incredible array of instruments being explored.

Konnections: When did you have your first break and what advice would you give to up coming musicians today?

SA : My first break was given to me by Gasper Lawal. He saw a young man in need of direction and was kind enough to show me a way. Gasper always encouraged me to practise. He would challenge me to learn new instruments and rhythms. My big break came from Ronny Jordan, a jazz guitarist who now resides in the US . He produced a top 10 hit with a cover version of the Miles Davis tune ‘ So What'. I went from rehearsing in a small grotty studio in Neasden, to playing in front of 2000 people in Tokyo Japan !!!

Konnections: Have you any collaboration lined up in the near future?

SA : I would love to collaborate with some African artists like: Oumou Sangare, Lokua Kanza, or the Lijadu Sisters at some point in the not so distant future!

Konnections: On average how long do you spend working on a new album in the studio?

SA : For Routes to Roots , I spent 8weeks writing and recording.

I was under a deadline which definitely works better for me creatively, with Jamiroquai, anything from 6months to a year.

Konnections: Have you got any plans for a world tour yet?

SA : I would love to tour West Africa with Routes to Roots , that would be a dream come true! I'm working on it!

Konnections: What do you do in your spare time when you are not singing or writing?

SA : I like to read. I'm in the middle of reading 2 books at the moment: Redemption by Stanley ‘Tookie' Williams- Gang leader turned Nobel Prize Nominee.

Religious Encounter and the Making of the Yoruba, by J.D.Y Peel, retired Professor of Anthropology.

Konnections: One hears about the pressure that musicians face on the road particularly to do with drugs, sex and alcohol. How does one stay clean and focused on the music?

SA : Always keep your mind on the gifts that brought you to where you are.

Drugs, alcohol etc only undermine those gifts. There is so much excitement and pleasure in learning ideas for composition, arrangement, and technique. The joy of constant learning is the elixir, that's what makes us! To be able to continue doing what you do right up until old age is a gift one should not abuse.

Konnections: What if any are the main challenges that you have faced in your career

SA : The biggest challenge is maintaining discipline, studying, practising, seeking out new ideas so as to keep oneself fresh and interesting, balancing family life with a musician's lifestyle and accepting my limitations.

Konnections: What has been the main highlight of your careear to date?

SA : Playing at the Rosemont in New York , with the likes of Maurice White (Earth Wind & Fire) Stevie Wonder, Roy Ayres, George Clinton (Funkadelic, Parliament) Rolling Stones and Carlos Santana in the audience!!!

Konnections: It has been 48 years since independence and we know that we still have a long way to go, with regard to development. However, what do you think are the 3 most positive achievements that we can hold on to as a country and build on for the future?

SA :

If you would like to find out more about Akingbola, his gigs, or how to purchase Routes To Roots please visit his website at http://www.solaakingbola.com/