Journeys Guided by Sound

#BABAZULA #DJ #journey #journeys guided by sound #Morocco #Senegal #Turkey #Music #Performance 2022.07.28

Turkey, Morocco, Senegal Encounter with Islam first part

In 2011, just two months before the shocking 3.11, I was at my favorite bar cheeky in Kichijoji when Latyr, a percussionist from Senegal who has lived in Japan for 30 years, asked me out of the blue and very lightly. ‘I’m going home to my parents in Senegal next month, come with me!’
I myself had just made a two-week car trip from LA to Arizona, where the Hopi tribe lives, with my two sons and a photographer friend at the end of 2010 (I will write about that someday), and although I expressed my hesitation, “It’s a bit sudden….”
On second thought, I realized that although I had been to Morocco in the past, so-called Black Africa was still new territory for me, and that it would be a rare opportunity to record with Latyr, a musician with whom I have worked and produced together and who is fluent in Japanese, in his hometown.
Above all, in terms of schedule, there are usually not many events such as DJs or live performances until about March, so I thought it would be a good chance to go at this time, and the next day I bought a ticket to Senegal via Turkey and Istanbul.

I was excited once I decided to go, and of course, I was going to mainly record with local African musicians, but I also wanted to see if there was anything I could do in Istanbul before and after the event, so I asked my senior “Salam Unagami” who is an expert in this field. He suggested that I should play as a DJ in front of a popular band called BABA ZULA, which was to perform in Istanbul at that time , and I readily agreed.

Yes… I think something had already started at this time.

There is no doubt that this trip had a profound effect on me unlike any other, and it changed my life and life afterwards.

The year before, I was asked by the Algerian female artist Zoulikha Bouabdellah to remix the song “Al Atlal” by the great Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, and was shocked by the completely unknown world. The foreshadowing of recording the percussion for this song with Latyr at the aforementioned “bar cheeky” was an important part of this journey.
(By the way, this song was recorded that year on the album MOVEMENTS .)

That year, 2010, I had performed with Latyr at the Aichi Triennale, an art exhibition of Algerian female artists, but at that time, I was suffering from headaches due to stress in my family, and I had to wear sunglasses because I suspected I had a stroke and one of my eyes was stuck and romped. Before the concert, we talked about the fact that Latyr had also gone through a divorce and was going through a difficult time, and although he was born in a different family and had a different skin color, there was no doubt that I began to feel as if I was two years older than him.

I learned again at this time that Latyr, including the aforementioned Umm Kulthum from Egypt, is a Muslim who belongs to the “Baye Fall” community. It is no doubt that the keyword “Islam” entered my mind deeply at this time. The song “Al Atlal (The Ruins)” was present in my heart, and “Islam” was needed to break out of it.

I believe that foreshadowing exists in everything, but the experience that made me understand the concept of “Islam” even theoretically was in Morocco, which I visited in 2000. It was a trip to search for indigenous music called ” JOUJOUKA,” and as a matter of course, we had to cross the Sahara Desert, and the journey took about 7 hours by an old bus that took almost 2 hours before the engine started. The only way to reach the destination town safely was to pray…. As a Japanese-born person, I wondered where and to what I should pray, as there were no mountains, rivers, oceans, trees, rocks, or any other tangible objects, only a terrifyingly hot sun and an eerily blue sky.
However, the sensation of a large presence watching me intently was something I had never experienced before, and I think I understood something from the experience that this might be what is called Allah.

After such various foreshadowing, I visited the city of Istanbul.

Because I arrived early in the morning, the mosque was beautiful in the morning mist.

Nice view from the hotel!

But! Here’s the problem!
The power transformer I bought in Japan for recording is too weak to be of any use at all…

Immediately after check-in, I had to go into town and buy new equipment.

Since our destination, Senegal, has the same European-type power supply system, it would definitely be better to buy one here either way.

So I ask the hotel staff about areas where electrical appliances can be found.

This is the case not only in Istanbul but also in other parts of the world, but in cities with older histories, there is often a division between the new city center and the old city center.

What is interesting here is that they use boats as if they were buses to come and go.
It is just like the Yaeyama Islands in Okinawa.

As we walked from the old town where the hotel is located to the new town, a man spoke to us in Japanese.
I was a bit suspicious of his fluency, but it was still a very classical carpet shop, and it was not bad that I could feel the Turkish atmosphere as soon as I arrived.

In the meantime, I went inside, though I was cautious.

He even offered me a Turkish specialty, chai, and I feel like I’m entering a situation where I’m kind of compelled to buy it!
There, I put my cultural researcher side forward, drawing on his wealth of knowledge and gathering information.

However, I did not come to Istanbul to buy a carpet that costs nearly 100,000 yen.
And it was only my first day!

So, I am visiting for recording, and I have to buy a power transformer now or I won’t be able to work…
I persuaded the shopkeeper, an intelligent and handsome man (Japanese girls would be taken in by him…), and he said he would have his staff drive me to the electronics district if that was what I wanted.

Well, I’m suspicious of this kind of condescension…

*By the way, I later learned from the guidebook that one should beware of business practices that sell carpets in such a pushy manner lol

I also had a wild intuition about the man on that staff, who seemed to have killed two or three people with a lot of time to spare…

I was able to tour the city by car.

Soon after, I was taken to an electronics shopping district just like Akihabara in Tokyo, where I got a big, super heavy, but more powerful product than the one I brought with me!

For some reason, I felt a certain familiarity with the staff member with the bad physiognomy…. Anyway, I said I wanted to continue looking for CDs, etc., so I split up with them and went off on my own.

The city is kind of moody and fun.

And the music store is full of interesting stuff!

There are several CD stores, all with interesting and hard-to-find selections in Japan. I devoured the trial audios and bought almost all of them!
It’s such a nice place that I might want to live here for a while! (On my first day here).

And Istanbul’s markets are quite interesting, with a truly mixed atmosphere of East and West.

I always go to these places without doing much research, but the layers of culture, or history, are so incredible that it tickles me as a history buff!

Even for a small amount of food or drink, you can feel the warmth of the producer or creator, not an industrial product as in Japan or the West.
To put it concretely, it is an intelligence that does not recognize McDonald’s or Starbucks in its senses.
That is what you will find here.

On the way home after an exciting first day, despite the little happenings that come with traveling.
The illuminated mosque at night is also very fantastic and beautiful.

Admiring Islamic architecture and art once again.

The aesthetics are great here.

Yes, it looks like Kyoto.
In fact, this may be the Kyoto of the world…

After such an emotional first day, the next day, I head to the site in the early afternoon for a DJ job (no pay, though).

In Japan, this box is the size of a Quattro class.

I met the members of BABA ZULA for the first time and found them to be friendly, yet mischievous people.
Before the concert, we had dinner together and were allowed to drink Raki, a famous local drink.

Great! Good sake and good food.

And the live show begins!

The band’s live performance was exquisite, as they have been invited to many festivals around the world.
The band seems to have a lot of fans, and the crowd was excited.

I played DJ before and after the show, but the booth itself was so high up that I did not feel much of a sense of unity with the floor.
Still, it was interesting to note that the atmosphere of the booth was different from the Western sense that I have experienced in my past DJing, and also had a gypsy-like atmosphere that was not so-called “Asian”.
However, I feel that fans of BABA ZULA don’t seem to be interested in four-strikes, and I learned a lot about that as well.

In any case, it was a good experience, and I thanked them for it, and told them that if possible, I would like to be introduced to someone who can play the shakuhachi-like flute named Nei.
Then they told me that they had one person in mind and that they would contact him, and I went back to the hotel alone again.

Finally, tomorrow it’s Senegal, Africa!

Feeling a sense of tension, I listened to a CD I bought yesterday, did some rough sketches for a song, and went to bed for a while.

The next morning, I checked out early and headed for the airport.

I safely check in my luggage, buy cigarettes as souvenirs for Latyr, who is waiting for me in Senegal, and head for the gate.
I still have about 15 minutes to go, but I have to hurry. What? There is no one here….
I checked the situation at the gate and found that they had already closed the cabin door and were about to take off…

No, no, no! No, of course not!
There’s still 10 minutes left!
I begged them to let me go, but they said “no”.

I mean, I checked my luggage, so what’s going to happen to it?
I asked him, but he told me to ask the airline.

That’s super crazy!!!

I start sweating profusely and disgustingly…
A truly unexpected situation…

I went to the Turkish Airlines office and explained the situation in English, but everyone was relatively cool and not helpful at all.
The receptionist said, “Anyway, we understand the situation, and we will tell the airport in Senegal to secure your luggage only…”

“So what am I supposed to do?” I asked, “The next flight to Dakar is in three days from Istanbul.”

Ehhhh…

That’s not good…
I would like to contact Latyr first, but he said currently the quickest way to get to Dakar is to go to Casablanca, Morocco first, and if I can buy a ticket to Dakar there, I could be there tomorrow.

You said you might be able to make it.
You don’t know that for sure…

But anyway, that flight to Casablanca is leaving soon.
He asked me, “Do you want to buy it?” I didn’t even have time to think about it, so I bought it and boarded the plane.
I decided at that moment that it would be too bad if my baggage was lost on the way to Africa.

So, a few hours later…

Arrived Casablanca, Morocco

Casablanca, which I had no intention of going to at all.

Actually, it has been about 11 years since my first visit in 2000.

And my experience in Morocco was and still is a troublesome one, especially in the city of Tangier, which is full of the worst vibrations in the world, as if it were a world pool, and I have a bad impression of it…
The music is great in every city, with a full-blown sense of antiquity, but at the same time, I have the impression that there are too many people who see us only as easy targets.

However, the only cities that made a good impression were Casablanca and Chefchaouen.

I saw the movie Casablanca only recently, but back in 2000, the city was very exotic and moody, like the setting of a movie.

The cheap hotel I happened to be staying at at the time had a two-story music bar downstairs, with live music on the first floor, and two old men playing a stringed instrument called an oud on the second floor. The sound on the first floor was quite interesting, but the conversation with the old men on the second floor was particularly impressive.

Our English was not very good (I was also inexperienced in English), and in a sense, I think we were speaking only with our feelings, but anyway, the old man said, “I really respect you Japanese. At the time of that World War II, the Japanese were the only ones who fought against the Westerners…”
That comment may have been the beginning of the awakening of the patriotism that had been dormant inside me.

I had always thought of Japan as a defeated nation, and even after that, as a nation that was only economically clever and had nothing but ugliness and arrogance. I had never expected to be told such a thing in Morocco, the land of the Far West, and I was happy to hear such praise for my grandfather and ancestors. My own grandfather had never spoken proudly about the war until then, and it was clear that the only aspect of the war that had been presented in education and in the media was that of a perpetrator in Asia due to a losing war, and my father himself called himself a right-winger, but I thought that was just a bluff in a sense.

And we shared drinks and hugged each other here in Casablanca with tears in our eyes.

Such are the memories of Casablanca.

Unexpectedly revisited…

Anyway, I managed to buy a ticket to Senegal tomorrow at the airport and decided to stay in the city for the night.

I took a cab from the airport to the city. The cab driver spoke fluent English and was very easy to talk to.
Intuitively, I decided to ask him for a cab to the airport tomorrow, so I asked him for his contact information.

The lodging was chosen reasonably, but it was not bad.

It was in a good mood for a place I took on short notice.
Moreover, the beauty of Islamic architecture, which I had felt in Turkey as well, deeply affected me again after the passage of 10 years.

At first, I contact Latyr again, explain the situation, and tell him that I will arrive tomorrow.
I feel a little calmer knowing that we will finally be able to get there somehow.

Since I was there, I decided to do a little sightseeing, so I walked around looking for a bar I visited in 2000, although my memory was completely fuzzy.

I wonder what has happened in the past 10 years…
The exotic and moody cityscape that I felt then has become something like Hawaii…
In other words, the sense of America has clearly increased…
It makes me sad…

I found a place that I thought might be here, but there was no trace …
The old man was probably gone by now…
It was dusk.
The evening adhan (call to prayer) sounded more familiar than before.

I have changed in the past 10 years.
The world also has changed.
What has changed us both greatly is that abominable 9.11 travesty.

Many Muslims were suddenly treated as terrorists one day.

Westernization. Propaganda.

At that time, I went alone to the Yoyogi Uehara mosque (Tokyo Camii) to see what I could do to stop the bombing of Afghanistan and consulted with the imam (Islamic cleric) there.

As a result, I also learned that the same Muslims in different areas are not that linked after all.

But now, once again, I feel something big in the world.

Returning to the inn, I had a light meal in the neighborhood and lost myself in my thoughts.

It seems to have made sense to come here.

The next day, that cab driver picked me up before heading to the airport.
I asked him if he would drive me around the city for a certain amount of money. Of course, he said yes.

He picked me up at my hotel and drove me to the airport, where I interviewed him with a video camera borrowed from human rights activist Kenji Chiyomaru.

For about an hour he talked about Islamic society, religion, culture, music, political system, etc… It was very interesting to hear what he, a Moroccan, had seen while working in Saudi Arabia and other countries as a migrant worker.
It was also included in this DVD released in November of that year.

We arrived at the airport, shook hands stiffly, said “Assalame alaikum” (Peace be upon you.), and parted ways.

A sense of being guided by something big came over me, and something was clearly different from yesterday.

This time, I didn’t miss it, got on the plane, and a few hours later…

Finally arrived in Dakar, Senegal.

First of all, I was just worried if my baggage was supposed to have arrived earlier…
Anyway, I inquired at the airline counter.

There it is!

First, a relief…

Now the next challenge is to meet with Latyr safely…

I’ve always found that at foreign airports, when you walk out of customs into the lobby, the touts are loud, and that’s where you get a sense of the country’s national character. I have to admit that they are the darkest-skinned people I have ever seen, and I can see their white eyes staring at me in unison, but they don’t seem so gruff. It’s not so gruff, but rather quiet, although you can sense the odd look.

Anyway, I look for Latyr, but I can’t find him.

Don’t let anxiety show on my face (because if I do, something will definitely come to me) and I put on the air that I am not a wanderer and that I have friends, and I try to keep my composure.

Then a stranger man said,
“I am a messenger from Latyr. Get in the car.”

To be honest, I have no proof at all. It was totally dark outside. Naturally, I didn’t know what was right or left.
And I had only learned the local Wolof language, “Jajifte” (meaning “thank you”) in Kichijoji, and I had no idea what to expect.
This is a former French colony. English is basically not spoken here.

With 99% of such uneasiness, I get into the car as instructed by the man with a poker face.
I have to believe in him.

Looking out the window at the totally black outside, with a driver who barely understood English, and in silence, exotic, or rather high speed African music played from the car stereo.
The music eased my anxiety somewhat.

Twenty to thirty minutes later, when I was dropped off at a regular private house, Latyr appeared!

What a joy!
And I was finally relieved when he, fluent in Japanese, said to me, “Welcome to Africa!

Without time to calm down, he took me straight to the dubious entertainment district, and after a pint of beer, he said, “There’s a reggae party tonight, come with me.”
That’s the only way to go.

When we went there, we found a semi-open-air restaurant-like place with a rather massive (huge) sound system playing reggae music, and a party of about 150 to 200 people in total was going on.

I still have my stuff in the car, and it would be the end of the line if I lost Latir. Anyway, the phrase “AFRICA!!!!”, a must-kill phrase in reggae music is a phrase that resonates with me to a great extent!

Yes, this is Africa!
At last we are here. This is Africa!

Just as we were starting to have some fun, the sound suddenly stopped.
The cause was dust and sand, which apparently interfered with the PC used by the DJs…

Such a thing would be impossible in Japan, but when I looked at the ground, sure enough, it was sand.

Dakar.
I don’t know much about cars, but the image I have of the Dakar Rally is that of a desert.
Yes, this is a desert city.

Soon after, Latyr says it’s time to go back to Gorée Island, where his parents live.

We get back into the car and head for the harbor.
After a long wait in the dark harbor, a ferry with a capacity of about 50 passengers arrives, and we board with his friends.

The morning sun feels good as dawn breaks.

Then, after about 20 minutes, we arrived at the island.

It’s kind of peaceful…

There is not a single car here.
It is like Taketomi Island in Okinawa.

It’s beautiful.
And it is very quiet.

So. This is where it starts.
This is the beginning.

画像に alt 属性が指定されていません。ファイル名: JUZU-アー写0708.jpg

J.A.K.A.M. (JUZU a.k.a. MOOCHY / NXS /CROSSPOINT)
http://www.nxs.jp/
soundcloud / Bandcamp / Twitter / Facebook

Born in Tokyo, he started playing in bands and DJing at the same time when he was 15. As a DJ, his innovative and original style has taken the world by storm, and his activities have quickly expanded from huge festivals to underground parties both in Japan and abroad. In 2003, he went on a recording tour with local musicians in Cuba. In 2003, he went on a recording tour with local musicians in Cuba, and since then he has been recording all over the world, and started his own label, Crosspoint, as a new guideline for world music.
In addition to music production, he also produces video works, picture books and art books, and organized the outdoor festival “Jomon and Rebirth” in 2012. In 2017, he released HIGHTIME Inc. with DJ Tasaka, and in 2018, he released ZERO with MACKA-CHIN of NitroMicrophoneUnderground and MaL of PART2 STYLE. In 2018, he also started the unit ZEN RYDAZ with MACKA-CHIN of NitroMicrophoneUnderground and MaL of PART2STYLE.
In the same year, his music under the name of J.A.K.A.M. was released in analog form on the French label HardFist, which led to a live performance at the huge 30,000-person Nuits Sonores Festival, followed by a DJ tour of Europe and Israel. In 2019, the production of MYSTICS, a unit with Marcus Henriksson and Kuniyuki of the internationally popular Minilogue/Son Kite, began, and this year, 2021, the long-awaited album will be released. His original vision is spreading all over the world, crossing all genres.
He has been behind the decks at home and abroad with:
Acid Arab (FR) / Adam Ffreeland (UK) / Alex Patterson (The Orb, UK) Andy Baz (Background Records, Germany) / Asaf Sammuel (islael) / Dego (4Hero, UK) / Fabio (UK) / Francois K (NY) / Fred P(NY) / Foolish Felix (UK) / Grooverider (UK) / I.G.Culture (People, UK) / Jeff Mills (Chicago) / Joe Claussell (NY) Nick the Record (UK) / Moodyman (Detroit) / Panasea (Germany) PHOTEK (UK) / Storm(MetalHeadz, UK) / Suv (Fullcycle, UK) / Q-Bert & Inbisibl Skratch Piklz, Mix Master Mike with D-Styles, Yogafrog and Shortcut (US) / Theo Parrish(Detroit) / Terre Thaemlitz (US/JPN) / Tom Wieland (Vienna) /DJ KRUSH (JP) / Flying Lotus(US)/ / Boredoms (JP) / FAUST (Germany) / Dennis Bovell(UK) / Dillinger Escape Plan (NY) / Juno Reacter (UK) /Lee Perry (Jamaica) / LKJ (UK) / Lake Trout (US) / Mad Proffesor (UK) / Mala (UK) / Marcus Henriksson(SW) / Meat Beat Manifesto (UK) / Merzbow , MMW (US)/ Yakaza Ensemble(Turkey) etc. His style keeps evolving and defies categorization.