Back from dahab... and nobody home

Well guess this is my destiny... both flatmates dashing off to lisabon, and leaving me here alone with our three-legged cat... thanks mates!

Well all i was able to do was to dash off myself too... and so i went to dahab... boy... what a lovely place to be... much nicer than portugal now (hihi) sun, beach, fish food...lovely

Girls - i hope you are enjoying your time...

I will be waiting here inside the appartment for you as i dont dare open the door with mr. three-leg outside.

Did you ask about Ayo? Our new favorite singer

Ayo  was born near Cologne on 14 September 1980, the product of a union between a Nigerian father who had come to Germany to study in the 1970s and a Romanian mother who grew up in a gypsy community.

And her rich cultural background stuck with her, leaving her partial to diversity and distrustful of purists and cliques.

Her rather unusual name can be translated as "joy" in Yoruba. 

To fully understand her music, we need to go back in time and take a look at her somewhat tumultuous life, which was marked by several moments of bad – and good – luck. Just a wee child, she left for Nigeria, a country that still inhabits her spirit and always will.

Her mother turned to drugs. A second bombshell. She was barely 6 years old and had to go live with her father, sister and two brothers. But she never lost contact with her mother, whom she describes as "a strong woman, despite all her shortcomings." It was during this period, in the mid 80s, when she took to playing the violin for a short time, before turning to the piano between the ages of 10 and 14. It wasn't long before she taught herself to play guitar. "I needed an instrument I could be at one with…It's more direct, more aggressive, and I mean that in a good way. But I've recently started composing songs for the piano again. I wrote "Neva Been," which is on the album."

She was trying to find her calling…and ended up in London, where part of her Nigerian family was living. She was 21 at the time.

That was how Ayo, an official resident of Germany, went to live between Paris and New York, two capitals that accurately sum up her musical identity.  In the States, she held several sessions that lasted a few months and produced her first album. And in Paris, where she periodically set up house near Les Halles, she felt "at home." It was there that, in less than two years, news of her talent started to spread among experienced amateurs.

Word got around fast, and she held initial solo concerts with her guitar, opened for Omar, the British "soul brother" and improvised alongside Cody Chesnutt, whom she jammed with on the stage of the Elysée-Montmartre. And she dreamed of doing the same with Stevie Wonder.

TShe cries, laughs and moves us with her simplicity. To accompany her, producer Jay Newland put together a group of musicians who are in tune with her goals. They are open-minded and, with a note on a B3 organ or a harmonica beat, with a stroke of slide guitar or a stream of percussion, they melodiously enter this unusual world, which is studded with a few words in Pidgin, the street language of Lagos, and unveils recollections of gypsy life. It's her way of paying tribute to her father, her "reference," and her mother, her "muse ." Two other influences helped her set the tone of this album, which very well could have been recorded some 35 years ago. Firstly, there's mentor Donny Hathaway, "a singer who goes beyond words to really make you understand what he's singing. He held such a powerful emotional force! Such a deep spirit that it still makes me cry…It was written over thirty years ago, but it still rings true." This is surely why she wants to hear nothing of new soul: " it doesn't mean anything...And anyway, I prefer music from the sixties and seventies." Her other reference is Jimmy Cliff. " It has to do with my dad's vinyls. Whenever I hear "The Harder They Come," I think about him and his life ." The Jamaican musician taught her the art of story-telling, the desire to share stories and spin tales without compromising her aesthetic demands...Because more than anything else, that's what Ayo speaks about with her music. She strives to naturally and sincerely share her stories and touch others, boosted solely by her life experience and her dreams. "Even if you've gone through the hardest time, it's important to remember how to enjoy life - don't lose track of what motivates you and keeps you going. You can survive on the outside and cry on the inside."

 

Another appointment!

Ellen,
On Sunday the 18th we will be guided through Lisbon and suburbs by a good friend of mine and his lovely 7 years old daughter

Count Down

In ten days the two most gorgeous, outstanding, amazing dazzling girls will be landing in one of the most beautiful European cities.

Me, myself and Ellen are going for some deserved vacations in my home town, I am so excited!! :D

So, Frau Ellen, on the 17th we have a welcome party at a friends house, we should take with us a drink and something to eat, its your chance to show those Portuguese how good is the German food :D.

I am still trying to arrange an agenda for us, with all the social activities, so, you can put your best mood cause you are going to interact with the deep Portuguese fun culture (and I am not talking about leaving you alone in my place, locked in a dark room listening to Portuguese music, although it might seem like a nice idea!)

Ellen, i trust that you have already bought the Lonely Planet for Portugal... because, I am have no idea where to take you... I mean it!!

I am really looking forward to it!!

Oohh BABYYYYYYYY

(oo) What you want
(oo) Baby, I got
(oo) What you need
(oo) Do you know I got it?
(oo) All I'm askin'
(oo) Is for a little respect when you come home (just a little bit)
Hey baby (just a little bit) when you get home
(just a little bit) mister (just a little bit)

I ain't gonna do you wrong while you're gone
Ain't gonna do you wrong (oo) 'cause I don't wanna (oo)
All I'm askin' (oo)
Is for a little respect when you come home (just a little bit)
Baby (just a little bit) when you get home (just a little bit)
Yeah (just a little bit)

I'm about to give you all of my money
And all I'm askin' in return, honey
Is to give me my profits
When you get home (just a, just a, just a, just a)
Yeah baby (just a, just a, just a, just a)
When you get home (just a little bit)
Yeah (just a little bit)

------ instrumental break ------

Ooo, your kisses (oo)
Sweeter than honey (oo)
And guess what? (oo)
So is my money (oo)
All I want you to do (oo) for me
Is give it to me when you get home (re, re, re ,re)
Yeah baby (re, re, re ,re)
Whip it to me (respect, just a little bit)
When you get home, now (just a little bit)

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to me
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Take care, TCB

Oh (sock it to me, sock it to me,
sock it to me, sock it to me)
A little respect (sock it to me, sock it to me,
sock it to me, sock it to me)
Whoa, babe (just a little bit)
A little respect (just a little bit)
I get tired (just a little bit)
Keep on tryin' (just a little bit)
You're runnin' out of foolin' (just a little bit)
And I ain't lyin' (just a little bit)
(re, re, re, re) 'spect
When you come home (re, re, re ,re)
Or you might walk in (respect, just a little bit)
And find out I'm gone (just a little bit)
I got to have (just a little bit)
A little respect (just a little bit)


Nadia, plenchekuh, this one is for you!