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SEALED NEW COPY. Limited edition copy of 500
Double LP version with printed inner sleeve. Born Bad Records presents the music of Cameroonian musician Francis Bebey,
circa 1982-1984. "The first time I saw a sanza (a type of African
'thumb piano'), it was just sitting there on a piece of furniture in my
family's living room/dining room -- a space that our father also
transformed into a recording studio every day. It seemed more like a box
than a musical instrument: a mysterious instrument, which arrived at
our house, like many things, in a somewhat miraculous way. The sounds it
produced seemed particularly bizarre; to my young musician's ears,
trained in Western classical music, it sounded out of tune. That's
because, like my brothers and sisters, I had been trained on the piano. I
had trouble understanding how anyone could endure these tones and,
honestly, our father's passion for 'unusual sounds' did not interest me.
I was in secondary school at the time (the very late 1970s) and was not
at all oriented toward musical projects. I planned to graduate, and
then become a chef. In the early 1980s, my interest in music picked up. I
was still undecided about my career. I was content to pursue my
'serious' English studies while hanging out at jazz clubs at les Halles
in Paris, where I sometimes joined jam sessions. Next, I put together my
first band with professional musicians; I had hidden my age and lack of
experience from them. France was just beginning to accept 'world
music.' Musicians of every nationality were performing in Paris. It was a
wonderful period. My father asked my brother Toups and me to
accompany him for a few concerts. In particular, we toured Tunisia
together at the time of the 1983 Carthage International Festival. Back
then, my father was renowned across the French-speaking world. Everyone
looked forward to hearing his humorous songs, like 'Agatha' and 'La
condition masculine.' But, behind the scenes, he continued his research
concerning electronic music, the sansa, pygmy polyphony, etc. One day he
put a sansa in my hands, without saying a word. He was sending me a
message: 'Let's see what you can do with it!' That's when I really
discovered something. Exploring the instrument and playing, I
transcended the 'imperfect' aspect of its sound and began to discover
its fascinating potential. Playing the sansa, you enter a world that
enraptures you in a very serene and mesmerizing way. I think its sounds
evoke a rainbow, with rain falling while the sun shines. A very peaceful
feeling. It allows you to make music that truly sounds like life. The
sansa is also the instrument that my father and I shared the most
because I am a pianist and he was a guitarist. I also share this
eminently African instrument with my musician brother, Toups. Our father
loved to tell us one of the legends of the sansa: how it even managed
to dispel the boredom felt by... the Creator himself! This instrument
gives life to the world, to beings and things. I did not participate in
the production of the various records that my father devoted to the
sansa. He did it himself, you might say, in his 'laboratory.' Yet today,
I cannot imagine playing a concert without using a sansa. The piano
remains present so that listeners don't become disoriented and wonder
about the weird sounds invading their ears! However, I find the
eccentric and disturbing side of sansa interesting. And the sansa always
affects the audience: in reality, it excites them. The secrets of this
instrument are surely its beneficial powers and... its magic!" --Patrick Bebey