"Die Musik von Dazaa Dazaa & the Springwater findet ihre Wurzeln in der frühen Rockmusik der 60er und 70er, beeinflusst durch Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin und Deep Purple. Ebenso im Roots-Reggae von Peter Tosh oder Bob Marley.
Dazaa Dazaa verbindet Rock, Reggae und Blues mit traditionellen nigerianischen Igbo-Elementen, die genial miteinander verschmolzen werden.
Die Songs leben von der spielerischen Virtuosität der einzelnen Musiker.
Ausgedehnte Instrumentalteile mit großen Spannungsbögen; zwischen klar strukturierten Gitarren-Hooks und wilden Improvisationen ist kein Platz für computer-gestylte Hits, die auf Dauer nur langweilen. Es sind ursprüngliche Songs voller Spielfreude, voller Freiheit und Liebe zum Rock und Groove - nicht in Popmusik-Regeln gepresst.
Das erste Album ist ein Rock-Album, mal sehen was das zweite wird..."
"The Music of Dazaa Dazaa & the Springwater has its roots in the early rock music of the sixties and seventies, influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, as well by the roots-reggae of Peter Tosh and Bob Marley.
Dazaa Dazaa combines rock, reggae and blues with traditional Nigerian Igbo musical elements, creating an ingenious fusion. The songs are enlivened by the playful virtuosity of each musician. With long sustaining instrumental parts and long musical arcs; between clearly structured guitar hooks and wild improvisations: this music has nothing to do with computer-styled hits, that quickly become boring. These are original songs that are bursting with the enjoyment of playing music, and are full of freedom, and the love of rock and groove.
The first album is a rock album, let’s see what the second will be..."
Dazaa Dazaa... from Europe with love for budding talents By Andrew Iro Okungbowa
DAZAA Dazaa may not strike a familiar cord for many Nigeria audience but not so for the global audience, especially in Europe (Germany) where he is known for his artistic and creative exploits, which over the years, have won him and his group as well as Nigeria - his country of birth, many international accolades.
In his over eight years of sojourn in foreign land, the Enugwuabo Ufuma, Anambra State born artiste is known for his blend of musical creation though with universal appeal but heavily lazed with Nigerian flavour. He sings most times in his native Igbo dialect.
Based in Berlin, Dazaa Dazaa has in the last five years maintained a compelling presence and potent force in the promotion of Nigeria at the ITB Berlin, a yearly travel and tourism exposition where he and his cultural troupe put on captivating performances drawing people to the Nigerian stand whenever Nigeria marks its day at the fair.
The list of honour for the UNESCO Cultural Ambassador includes a 2004 acclaim he got for himself and Africa in Turkey; A UNICEF tolerance award of excellence world peace; a UNESCO award in Uzbekistan in 2005; and a 2004 award in Kazakhstan at a world international cultural concert.
A multi-talented artiste, Dazaa Dazaa's areas of creative enterprise span music, poetry - traditional folklore, stage design and technical work. Aside singing and dancing, he also drums and makes costumes. With a Diploma in General Arts, he studied Events and Projects Management; Public Relations and Administration and also the German language.
Recently, Dazaa Dazaa was at the Rutam House, the Lagos office of The Guardian, where he unveiled his new love. With his trade-mark deadlock, spotted a white T - Shirt and jeans trousers, the artist looked his usual ebullient and good natured self.
Since arriving in the country late last year, he has been busy with children in his Enugwuabo Ufuma community through his Dazaa Foundation, an organization, which he says is devoted to identifying budding talents and helping to groom such talents.
Having made a success of his sojourn in Europe rising to the top as a Nigerian musical ambassador, he says his commitment now is to use his fame, wealth and connections to nurture Nigerian youths, and create the enabling environment for them to realize their dreams.
This certainly is a tall ambition and this Dazaa Dazaa knows too well hence he has evolved a wholistic programme since 2007, which extends to the parents and then the youths. He sees parents as not encouraging their children to identify and build up their latent talent besides sending them to school.
His is a classic example as his parents vehemently opposed his choice of career then. "When I started my music, my parents were my biggest problem not that they didn't love music but because they were not really aware of what music entails or what it embodies,'' he recalls.
Knowing the stigma and opposition that he had to contend with all these years before climbing to the top, the Berlin-based artiste says now is the time to liberate the children from the stronghold of their parents.
"The greatest thing that I have to do is to go back to those things that were big problems to me, especially parental bondage and the inability to have motivators.
"Fighting the negative impressions that our people have about the talents that are natural to their children. I want to set the pace, those things that I know that the people didn't make easy for me, I now want to use my time and connections and power to make it easy for the youths'' he enthuses.
Already, he has launched what he calls attack on the parents, which is geared at what he describes as 'liberating them' so that they become positive influence in grooming the potential of their children. His mother that was once against his musical career is now in the forefront of this liberation struggle since she has seen the light after visiting the son in Berlin and feasting on his successes.
"Right now my mother is joining me with my other family members on the campaign talking to other families, talking to parents, telling them of the future that abounds in talent,'' he says insisting that this is very important as "these are the things you don't go to school to learn, you don't pay any money but you only need a motivator. And that is what I am doing, passing it on to these kids, motivating them, liberating them and educating their parents.''
Besides educating the parents, Dazaa Dazaa says, "right now I have started a programme, which is almost two years old based on talent hunt. We started with football but right now we have expanded it to other categories of sports. We are launching a very wonderful attack on liberation of our children from parental bondage as a result we are planning a carnival (Ayaya Carnival 2010) based on the promotion of talents through natural endowment.''
He reveals how he has invested huge resources in the purchase of sports and musical equipment for use by the children. "These are the things that I want to do, that is why am spending a longer time in the country. You know what it takes to bring a new idea into the system and grow it to fruition. Our people always need that person who is the originator of the idea to tell the people what it is all about and why it is so,'' he says.
Bringing the project to the public domain is a problem that he is contending with now. "My greatest problem is awareness and this is why I need the press both electronic and print to help drum this project to the ears of our parents because that is where the problem lies.''
Besides, Dazaa Dazaa is also not happy with the indoctrination of the children by some religious organizations and the hold that they have on them. He narrates the sad experience he had last year with most of the children who were hitherto part of the project but later abstaining from it as a result of intervention and threats from religious bodies.
Two years on, Dazaa Dazaa informs that the foundation has enjoyed some level of stability as it now has an office with a secretary and a working committee also put in place to overseer the work in his absence. Next year, he intends to move the project to the next level by introducing the musical aspect. "I started officially in January 2007 and by next year we would start the music venture because music and sports are two different things.''
The whole project, he says, is informed by his vision to have a sports and music academy in the country. "My target is to have a sports and music academy anywhere in Nigeria. The biggest picture is that I want to live and see liberated souls playing the real Nigerian music.''
The vibes you also get from Dazaa Dazaa is that of his frustration with the present level of Nigeria musical industry. He sees the present tradition as the promotion of the 'nothing culture' or revolution,' hence he advocates a return to the authentic Nigerian musical ethos.
"The likes of Osita Osadebe, Victor Uwaifor, Fela Anikulapo, Sunny Ade, these are the people who have given Nigeria music a definite identity right from day one,'' he says insisting that his musical academy would be devoted to such principle.
"We, living abroad, are promoting the raw Nigerian culture and then coming home to see Nigerians imitating the West and the Europe then how do you compete? There is no Nigerian music on the international scene. If people like Fela, Osadebe can start locally and made it internationally why can't these kids continue on this line?'' he asked.
This is one journey that he knows is going to be difficult however, he speaks of his readiness to go the full hull. "The journey of one thousand years starts with a pace. I know that it is going to be done. Revolution starts with one person but with good idea. These kids are our tomorrow.
"These kids learn from watching, they learn from conviction. I was one of the wasted materials in the village and they saw me going through the moon to the better side of the world and now I am going back to tell them that even from the dungeon, even from the junk house, there is going to be one of the best stars on earth.''
He also believes that his absence from home would not stall the project as he has faith in the structure that has been put in place. For instance, he reveals that the chief co-coordinator is his primary school teacher who knows and believes in him.
The children too, he says, know him too well and are committed to the project because they believe in him. "The kids know me from day one, they grew up to hear the name Dazaa Dazaa and see me Dazaa Dazaa and they have copied a lot of things from me, which I notice each time that I come home. This foundation that I have started now and with the kind of thing that I am bringing to them they strongly believe in me and nobody wants to deviates from it and this is how it works.''
Already the community is beginning to reap the impact of this project, as the children from his Enugwuabo Ufuma were among the best children selected last year to represent the local government council. The council officials were baffled by their excellent and creative performance and never knew about the Dazaa Foundation until they were told of it and are now looking forward to meeting with Dazaa Dazaa.
"If you are doing things with a positive mind, God who gave you the idea will make sure that you continue to push it with the identity that you have created. And even the children themselves will continue in the idea because they won't want to loose it,'' he says of the instant success of the project.
Speaking of his career, Dazaa Dazaa whose first love was football then a new recruit of First Bank Football Club until it was disbanded, says going to Berlin opened a new vista for him. "My going to Berlin is the greatest liberation that I got in my life as I was given the opportunity to do and say things the way I have them in my mind.
"This made me to proudly present Nigeria through my idea by showcasing the cultural aspect of Nigeria and then the modern aspect of Nigeria culture through our music. I am using our local songs and local languages to make wonderful songs.
"I am an Igbo but I speak English, I speak German, I speak the broken English then I am using all these languages in making rock, classical, pop, blues and high life music. This has taken me to the different corners of the world. I have been to Europe, Asia, Africa is my home.''
His first album 'Don't Loose control' was released in Nigeria in 2004 and since 2004 he has been working on his second album, which hopefully would be released on the international scene by summer of this year.
To help the Nigerian musical scene get to the international level, Dazaa Dazaa reveals his plan to use his connections in Europe to have some of them remix their music in Europe. He believes that the Nigerian musical scene is only passing through a phase and that with time the present 'nothing culture' would disappear while the original and authentic Nigerian music would return again.
COME May 27 this year, the long and tortuous journey of Dazaa Aniama, otherwise known as Dazaa Dazaa, to the musical community would birth its first fruit, as his debut album hits the musical scene in Berlin, his base.
After so many years of trying to establish a foot hood on the Nigeria musical scene without the desire result, Dazaa Dazaa decided to beat the arduous path to Europe where he ended up in Berlin over a decade ago.
Determined to make a success of his life in his new environment, he decided to pick up the piece of his musical career again. Gradually, Dazaa Dazaa made the rounds of the industry announcing his presence and seeking for a place to roost.
He speaks of his experience thus: ‘‘Here in Europe I touched the first button of the console, the first time ever in my life. And at home I was just looking through the window to see it. Here I realised so many things, the secret between one page of a paper and the next page is very, very great.
‘‘The things I see here in Berlin in one small room are more than what our radio and TV stations have at home. For me to seat in a console room containing over 100 channels was the day I said to myself that I will realise my destiny here.’’
Over the years, his brand of music, which is the infusion of Nigeria (African) cultural and traditional musical elements into high life, rock, reggae and the likes, began to draw attention and win him accolades in Berlin and across Europe.
He has always been a regular feature in the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) presentations during the yearly international travel and tourism trade exhibition (ITB Berlin) where alongside others he treat a captivated audience to authentic Nigerian cultural and musical display.
Despite coming this far, Dazaa Dazaa has always harboured one wish. ‘‘Musically, it has been a life time wish for me to have an album, which people can buy on the road,’’ he says. And finally, the realisation of that ambition is just few weeks ago.
In a sense, Dazaa Dazaa could heave a sigh of relief of some sort as he has already released online the album. This happened in January, he says happily, stressing that people can actually download and buy the copies online – I - phone, I - pad and all the internet gadgets.
‘‘All things be equal the album release is being planned for May this year and we are already planning an album release party here in Berlin for May 27. We want to presently it officially to all our friends,’’ says gingerly of the last ditch effort to make his dream comes to.
‘‘My producer has already outlined all the people that would be involved, the marketer, the distributors, promoters and others, he reveals while adding that one of the largest media groups in Berlin is partnering with them on promoting the album.
‘‘I am glad that one of the widest media networks that we have in Berlin – DW – has agreed to help us with the promotion so that the whole world can hear us and the little idea that we are trying to propagate.’’
According to him, his music is based largely on the propagation of Nigeria culture – the promotion of cultural identity, as he reveals that in Europe the people are delighted when they see people, particularly Africans still displaying their cultural identify as their cultural elements have almost gone extinct.
‘‘My music in Dutch, English, Igbo and Pidgin English,’’ he says of the album, which has about 13 tracks with the title track being ‘come to me, we are one.’ Other titles are Nake man, Love is, Oga, My life with women, Throw me out, Oligwu and Oyinme
‘‘It is a reflection of the music brand we are trying to propagate, here they brand my music as falling into the world music class because it is a blend of rock, high life reggae, blues and classical. They are all are African oriented,’’ he says of his album.
Getting to this stage of fusing all these elements into he reveals, took about three years. ‘‘It took me about three years to experiment using our local folk songs into rock, our masquerade songs into rock, pop, blues, classical and so on.’’
Furthermore, he recalls: ‘‘In 2005 when I went to Uzbekistan with my band in one of the festivals called world music festival, they rewarded me as one of the performers and entertainers and this has spurred me into working hard and following the pattern that I have carved for myself knowing that people love what I am doing.’’
Also, Dazaa Dazaa speaks of his nationalistic zeal, which is easily noticeable from his brand of music, stage costumes and dedication to the Nigeria cause. ‘‘I am very nationalistic and committed to Nigeria art and culture as well as the world culture as I would always like to incorporate the world culture in whatever I do.’’
On this project, he informs that he is very fortunate to work with one of the best producers around, Marcus Waibel of WW – Studios and a producer with DW media in Berlin.
According to him, they met over six years ago and ever since have been working on the album project and getting to know each other well enough. ‘‘We have together for about six years working on this project and trying to know each other better,’’ says Dazaa Dazaa.
Almost waxing philosophical, Dazaa Dazaa believes that his time has come to shine hence the album is coming out at this moment. He also foresees a bright prospect for the album and his musical career. ‘‘I hope that my album will sell very well and then the second one and other things that we would do in the future would come very easy.’’
His manager, Mahide (otherwise known in the musical circle as Ahoi), he informs, is another wonderful person whom he got to know during a musical concert some years ago. Since exchanging notes, they both struck a relationship, which has lasted this long.
As of the time of our encounter some weeks ago in Berlin, the Manager was the US and Spain for world music exhibition, where hopefully, she can strike some deals for her act.
Apart from the album launch concert, Dazaa Dazaa already has his work cut out for him. ‘‘We already have plans for me to feature in some musical concerts. I am going to play in the world known blue festival in Prague. I might be going in August to Uzbekistan for a solo world music festival on the real culture of the people.’’
He is not alone in the propagation of world music, as he has a ban known as Dazaa and the spring water band. Interestingly, the band is made also of people from mixed backgrounds. Hear him: ‘‘My guitarist is from Asia, the drummer is from Berlin while my bassist is from Zambia and I am from Nigeria.’’
This combination, he says is informed by his wish to unity the world through music, as he says that we are all one. This idea is well laid out in the ‘we are one and come to me tracks in his soon to be released album.
‘‘My wish is that we should live as an umbrella, which has so many colours, so many things coming together under one foundation and this will give us a very good strength and make a wonderful pillar that can hold this world without division,’’ he concludes.
However, his strongest wish now is to find a credible outfit in Nigeria that can release, distribute and promote his album once the Berlin release is under his belt. Not only in Nigeria does he wish to be hard but also within the entire African continent and the world stage.
Author of this article: By Andrew Iro Okungbowa
DAZAA DAZAAs Engagement als Künstler
bei
United Buddy Bears
Mehr als 1.7 Mio € sind bisher durch Buddy Bär-Aktivitäten für Kinder in Not zu Gunsten von UNICEF sowie lokalen Kinderhilfsorganisationen zusammen gekommen.
Am 4. Dezember 2004 wurde der Kreis der "United Buddy Bears" in der 12 Mio. Metropole Istanbul eröffnet.
