Talvi: What do you think of the generic 'world music' term that has been used to describe music like that performed at the WOMAD festival? Ogada: Each country is so different. India is very different from Africa, which is very different from South America ... it would be nice to hear that 'this is music from East African people,' not just world music. We can have jazz, blues, rock 'n' roll, country, but the rest of the world is all lumped together ... I think the differences need to be brought up, so that the audiences understand what they're looking at, and they can actually do some research before they come. From what I understand, you've traveled extensively and lived in three continents. How is it that you've come to travel so widely? When I was young, I was still with my parents, my father was in the first wave-- straight after independence--of the young people who were sent out to study and bring back the knowledge to Kenya to help construct the future. And so we traveled with my parents. The other two continents? I worked that out on my own. Music has taken me there. What is it about London that holds you there? London has always been a central point for traveling, for trade. It's a central point from which to base yourself to reach continental Europe, Australia, Japan, Africa and America, with an infrastructure that supports contemporary music marketing. Can you tell me a little bit about your primary instrument, the nyatiti? How far back does it date? This particular type of lyre is from down the Nile Valley. My people are Nubian, and we've migrated from upper Egypt into Kenya in the last two thousand years. You find the instrument along and around the river Nile. It's maybe 5,000 years old; its pictures are seen on the hieroglyphs. In what particular ways have you adapted or modified your instrument for your own musical sensibilities and musical style? As soon as you fit a microphone, you've done something [to modify the nyatiti]. I've done a few things with tuning mechanisms, and changing how the instrument is actually held while playing. I've always added some techniques of harmonics, and broken a few traditional rules and finger positions. You seem to place a great deal of emphasis interacting with your audience, not only during your performances, but afterward. Performing here at WOMAD, you spent the better part of the half-hour after your performance meeting with dozens of appreciative fans. Why is that so important to you? It's important because in my culture, the musician is not separated. There is no big stage that you appear on and then disappear. You have to acknowledge people's dislikes and likes. They may decide that the lyrics you've sung are wrong, historically or factually, and will tell you so. You may have to stop the song and sing that particular verse again. It's quite important, the audience is very important. It's a great interaction. The audience also helps with the music, with the rhythms, more polyrhythms, the audience also supplies the harmonies. It's very important. There's no separation. It's not entertainment. It is a social happening. Ogada's debut album, En Mana Kuoyo, was released in 1993. Ogada hopes to release two albums in 1999, including one on Real World and another on the Amiata label. Silja J.A. Talvi is a freelance journalist based in Seattle, Washington. Her articles, essays, photographs and reviews have appeared in such publications as SPIN Online, High Times, SOMA, The Rocket, The New Internationalist, American Visions, San Jose Mercury News, In These Times and many others. Photo: Cliff Furnald © 1999, RootsWorld