/ 26 May 1995

Making it nice and simple

DESPITE his funky dreadlocks and good looks, Gito Baloi is a marketing person’s nightmare. The bass player whose four-string wizzardry can be heard on all the Tananas albums is far too polite and humble for an aspiring pop star who has just released a stunning solo album, which his record company wants to push overseas.

Every answer begins with an apologetic smile or a friendly shrug from Baloi (30), who is happy to relate charming anecdotes about growing up in Nampula in northern Mozambique, the country he left when he was 17 to escape conscription into the army.

In Nampula, he recalls, he first heard the Afro-rock of the famous Ghanaian band Osibisa, which inspired him to play guitar — initially on a friend’s acoustic guitar with two strings missing, then on bass guitar with Nampula heroes Afro ’78. Later, when he became kind of famous, he played with local and international artists like Mzwakhe Mbuli, Zairean rumba star Pablo and Malian reggae musician Modibo.

Plenty of nice anecdotes. But you won’t find Baloi coming out with strong political statements or gossip about women, booze or drugs. He doesn’t even get mad when you say his lyrics are a bit shallow and, frankly, not that good. He just smiles and admits he is not a poet and that his music is more important than the words. “I just write what I think is nice and simple.”

That sums him up. Baloi is basically a nice and simple man who would be happy to play the bass eight hours a day, if that paid the rent. But it doesn’t, so he’ll have to take part in the promotional circus, which he does reluctantly.

But quite unexpectedly, near the end of our interview, with the gently swaying sound of his Ekaya album fading into the background, he shows signs of genuine annoyance. It’s when his previous record company, Gallo, is mentioned. “I submitted the demos for this album to Gallo,” he says angrily, “and I got no reply at all, nothing whatsoever. That’s very

One can only guess why Gallo wasn’t interested in Ekaya. Probably because it’s not commercial enough, and impossible to categorise. Lazy company ears will find it too jazzy to be pop and too poppy to be jazz. It will be difficult to get radio play. In music industry jargon: “It won’t sell, so it doesn’t mean shit.”

New local independent company Sheer Sound, however, was prepared to take the risk. The resulted is Ekaya, which was recorded in two weeks. And it’s an intriguing album which deserves to be heard.

While his famous fellow musicians lay down an intricate jazzy carpet, Baloi tortures his bass as a rhythmic, solo and percussive instrument. He also proves he has a melodic voice and great skills as a producer. The music travels effortlessly across the globe, from Maputo to Cape Town, West Africa via the Caribbean to Asia, and back to the Gauteng

The songs are short, sharp and unpredictable. Some, like the title track and Iklanganile ‘Afrika are even downright poppy and danceable, and should get some radio play, though Baloi says he won’t mind if they don’t.

Ekaya has no electronics or samples. The basis of the album is polyrhythmic African music in its purest and most organic form. “I wanted a real live sound, with very few overdubs,” says Baloi.

And the lyrics? Well, let’s say they are well-intentioned. They talk about the rain and the ancestors. And a song like Lidzime (Tongue) even touches upon the hostility Baloi’s fellow Mozambicans are facing in South Africa.

“African people are not refugees. When South Africans left because of apartheid we welcomed them. People are people all over the world. We all have the same tongue,” muses the man who likes to keep things nice and simple.

Ekaya is available on Sheer Sound Records. The Gito Baloi Band will play at Tandoor in Yeoville on May 26 and 27, at Rumours in Yeoville on June 8, and at the Bassline in Melville on June 10. The band will also perform at the Grahamstown festival