Press Article

2007 February 10   "Concord is on a musical high"
Publication: Good Weekend, Saturday Argus
Byline: Evan Milton

Soweto-born bassist extraordinaire Concord Nkabinde has toured the world with Johnny Clegg, played with artists ranging from Abdullah Ibrahim to Roy Ayers and has worked as a producer for the acclaimed "Joyous Celebration" series. Now he plays as a headline artist at the Spier Summer Season's "Salute To South Africa's Superstars" on a bill with South African music icons Hugh Masekela and Arno Carstens.

How does Nkabinde feel now, being the leader in the spotlight, rather than a trusted sideman? "It's a serious learning curve, and it hasn't been that easy. The responsibility lies on my shoulders now - whether things go right or wrong, I am answerable. Now I think more about the audiences, and more about conceptualising a show, and what I am going to say. It's fun, but it's a challenge. I don’t just like to entertain people, I like to give them something to think about. There are issues of the day that I should be addressing and, as artists, we worry about whether or not people feel what we are trying to put across."

For 2007, Nkabinde will be focusing on his solo projects and his new album, "This Is My World" (2006). "I officially left the Johnny Clegg band for that reason," he says. "I miss it, both the music and the travelling, but I knew that it was time to focus on, and invest in myself. Whenever there is spare time, though, I will be working with Gloria Bosman and Neo Muyanga”. In fact, Bosman is singing with Nkabinde at the Spier set.
Also in the band are Xoli Nkosi and Nqubeko Mbatha on keyboards - "two really young but really hot guys" - both fellow graduates with Nkabinde of KwaZulu-Natal's jazz courses, Nkosi at KZN's university and Mbatha at the province's technikon. Journeymen Brandon Ross and David Klaasen complete the line-up, playing saxophone and drums respectively.

Nkabinde exhibits and intriguing mix of untrammelled excitement and a kinds of elder-statesmanlike sageness about his music and his place in the music world.
"One of the biggest lessons is that once the songs are out there, they assume their own life. People relate to your songs based on where they are. You can't force people to hear the message that you had in mind when a song first came up. "You might write a song that is coming from a happy experience, but when you perform it, someone says: 'This song is so sad for me.'”
He pauses, then adds, " People should be allowed to experience what they experience - and when they tell you what the songs mean to them, it becomes a two way thing."

But Nkabinde is more than just a composer and performer of music. Amongst Johannesburg's recording fraternity, more than one musician who hopes to release their work independently speaks of "doing it like Concord did". They are referring to Drocnoc Music, the independent record label that Nkabinde established in 2003 to release his debut album, "The Time, The Season". He still runs the business-side of his own affairs - releasing, marketing and distributing his own music.
"I am not the first person to release and album independently. The problem is that when we embark on the journey to release music independently it is very difficult to carry through. A lot of people start, but once they realise that you've got to look and distribution and marketing and publicity - and all these things cost you money - then they think in terms of signing a deal so that someone else can do it all.

Another of Nkabinde's driving passions comes into play. "This year I want to do more gigs," he says, "but I'm not so fond of being a hit-and-run performer. I want to set workshops up with music schools and community groups - not just about the music, but also about the business side, because there is such a need for this information to be available." Every week a fellow music-maker will ask about practicalities like how to go about getting a barcode for an album, or where they can press their CDs.

The main plan for 2007, though, is to play more live gigs. "That's been the downside to the independent route," he admits. "I have focused so much on the business and admin side of things that I have not played so much, but that's about to change." Nkabinde lets on that he has plans to pursue collaborative projects and hints that he means "not just locally, but also internationally". His international CV already includes live and recording work with Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music, David Gilmour's "On An Island"), Colin Vearncombe, better known to local audiences as Black, Brazil's Sergio Dias, Finland's Eero Koivistoinen and Puerto Rican "master percussionist" Efrain Toro.
Locally he plans to pursue his work with Chinese singer Lili Feng, a long-standing relationship that began in 2000 with “Beyond The Rainbow", combining traditional Chinese and South African sounds.
Also, although there is no rehearsed collaboration for the Spier set, he has worked with Carstens before and says, "I think he’s an amazing songwriter and it was an honour to play on his albums”.

He is anxious about the Spier gig. “You prepare well, and you have the music and the great musicians, but it is only when you play the first song that you realise what type of audience you have. I guess I always get anxious in that sense. I am confident in the musicians I am working with, and we have prepared what people will enjoy, but you want to make an impact, to try and develop and build a relationship with the audience. For me it is crucial that after the concert, people have either something to think about, or something to talk about."