Words: Paul Bradshaw
Photo: Kate Garner

On the eve of the release of his second album, ‘Music’, classically trained instrumentalist and UK soul supa, Omar, takes time out from recording with Don-e to tussle with grooves, known and unknown.

Blindfold test
Despite denting the national charts last year with the huge selling ‘There’s Nothing Like This’ Omar remains an elusive, almost cult, figure. His musical education encompassed stints at one of Europe’s most prestigious conservatories – the Cheltenham School of Music – and at London’s Guildhall where he studied classical percussion. Rather than pursue a career in the classical arena, Omar decided to chase his own dream. The raw, special arrangements of his Kongo Dance debut are carried over into his ‘Music’ album. There’s the addition of strings on some tracks and a sensual duet with Carleen Anderson but mostly Omar conjures up that percussive, highly individual sound that sidesteps contemporary dance beat formulas. His Latinesque ‘Your Loss My Gain’ single is currently booming on the capital’s black music stations but Omar remains as uncertain of his own achievements as he did when people used to tell him, ‘The music’s OK but you should get another singer.’ Most interview with Omar are scheduled to take place at Kongo Dance records – the home of the Black Music Association – in north west London. However, this time a meet was arranged at Talkin’ Loud records who license his music from the militant Harlesden indie. Omar’s accent shifts easily between London and Jamaica, he is receptive and modest, and the “blindfold test” dropped him in at the deep end.

DANDE LENOL Baaba Maal
Youssou N’Dour?
This is Baaba Maal
I was waiting for the drums and the bass to come in, I was just hoping they would do it. First there was that drum roll and I was wondering whether that was it, then the bass comes in with a nice little line and yeah, that really goes with what he was doing. I like the kora as well. I went to the Gambia last year and went out a couple of times and saw bands playing. Just checking out the rhythms they are definitely linked with the Brasilian stuff, it’s got that feeling but you can’t write it down. It just draws me in. That track could almost be jazz as the drums come in. The dividing line between all of it is so thin, it’s ridiculous.

That track is produced by Simon Booth, who used to be in Working Week, and is from Baaba’s forthcoming LP. They recorded the vocal, kora and guitar in Senegal. They added the bass and the pipes – which are played by an Irish musician, Davy Spillane – in London.

Ahh, so they’re Celtic. How they’ve added those elements really compliments the whole thing. Listening to it, I thought they had done it all together, one time, with all the musicians playing. Sounds nice, wicked.

When Baaba heard the final mix he said, “If I hadn’t been told the flute playing was Irish I’d have thought he was African.” Like I said earlier, it’s a thin diving line. In rock music today you can hear the Celtic influences. Rock and roll, blues and African, it’s all linked.

POT POURRI – SAMBA REGGAE Margareth Menezes
I’ve got this tune at home somewhere. I preferred that version to this. There’s something about this I hate…this sounds like a heavy metal guitar is going to come in any minute. It overcrowds the percussion and all the riddums I like to hear when they play this kinda music.

The version you’ve got is probably by the same woman, Margareth Menezes. This track is a samba reggae medley but it includes ‘Eligibo’, which was a big hit in Brasil. She’s done a couple of versions of ‘Eligibo’.
I went to Brasil in ’86. It’s the weirdest thing but I on went there for two weeks. Even so everybody’s picked up on it as if I lived there for two years. It was an experience to go there but the trip was just a coincidence. At that time I was listening to Bunny Brunel, a Lee Ritenour album called ‘Rio’, I’d just taped ‘The Girl From Ipenema’, and when I arrived there found everyone listening to the same kind of music, it fits in with whatever other styles there are. There’s something that permeates all kinds of music, through reggae and Latin music, it’s all African in the basic sense…in a root sense.

SEVEN POWERS Bahia Black
There’s nothing I can really say about it. Stop, stop, stop… We went to one of the samba schools in Rio when we were out there, they were rehearsing for the carnival. They had about 30 guys playing drums just like this record and it was so loud! Ridiculous, it blew my face off. Yeah, it’s that basic rhythm thing. When I was learning music, I thought you have to play it that way, exactly like that, ‘cause it’s written down. But you have these Brasilian guys playing these rhythms and there’s no way you can write it down. There’s a way it drops. You’re not going to play this stuff to me all day are you? (laughs). It all this stuff new?
Yes. That was Grupo Olodum from Salvador, Babia, with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. It was produced by Bill Laswell. No man, that was safe.

TIRED DE LICK WEED IN A BUSH Jacob Miller
Ahh, I just bought this last week. Why are you playing this to me? Basically because you turned on e of your own tunes into a new version of Jacob Miller’s reggae classic ‘Tenement Yard’.
Seen! When I did the ‘Tenement Yard’ thing, that was through my brother. When I did ‘Get To Know You Better’, he said: “No, no, no…I want you to sing this.” I’d never heard it before. It was only recently that I bought Jacob Miller’s Greatest Hits, and heard the original for the first time. I like how he sings, really distinct, it might have been him that made other reggae singers use that kind of vibrato. When I was small, I used to take the piss out of the way he stretches the words out. It’s just the way he does it, it drops.
He was an original. Unfortunately he was killed in a car crash.
That makes a change, most of them get shot.

TAURUS WOMAN Subterraneans
Is this High Vibes?
Yeah, it’s Max Beesley.
Max has a good understanding of the music, he’s a serious percussionist. We went to music college together in Manchester. I shouldn’t comment on this ‘cause I’m biased, he’s my mate. Carleen’s vocals…yeah, and Marco’s production has a definite Young Disciples sound.

WHAT’S GOIN’ ON Donny Hathaway
Every time I think of doing a gig in a small venue I always think of this. I have no idea why. I’ve no idea what it looks like, here it’s Ronnie Scotts or the Jazz Café, but this was always the small gig. Why did you choose that?
Because lyrically it’s a Marvin Gaye classic; because Donny Hathaway is still totally underrated and because of the return of the seventies sound.
Hah, killed nuff birds with one stone! It’s just all there. The sound is there, everybody is playing, it’s live, it’s a wicked tune. Musically, it’s rare to get that these days. The Rhodes has got a warm sound. I was speaking to Don-e about the Rhodes, just how………