Live performances are my bread and butter — Bez

By ANOZIE EGOLE

Emmanuel Bezhiwa Idakula, known as Bez in the music industry, is probably the only Nigerian multi-instrumentalist of his generation, singer-songwriter and composer, working in a genre known as "alternative soul", a hybrid of soul, rock, jazz and RnB.
WG caught up with the Nassarawa State-born Glo ambassador recently and got him taking about his music, his recent tour of Rwanda and his upcoming album. Excerpts"
You recently returned from a tour to Rwanda where you played at the Kigali Up Festival concert for Peace. What has the tour impacted on your image as a musician and entertainer?

First of all, let me start off by thanking all the fans in Rwanda who came out for our shows in Gisenyi and Kigali.

The opportunity to visit other African cities always shows you the power of music, its ability to bring us all together. At a point, we try to express our art and live a dream and you never know how far that art can go. I live in Lagos and write my songs here, but I don't know that people in Rwanda could sing along with me too. The folks at Rwandair and Afrogroov made it happen.
They were amazing hosts to us.

How was the trip from beginning to the end?
They were very open to my music, it was nothing short of amazing. As a country, they have been to the brink and back and you can still sense the resilience amongst the people. It's a beautiful country with amazing topography and the folks there are so laid back. Sometimes it reminded me of what Jos used to be like when I was younger. Nigerian music as a whole is very popular there and my own brand of Naija music was very welcome and celebrated.

How would you compare the music scene in Rwanda to what is obtainable here?
The modern music scene is burgeoning in Rwanda, they have had a long love for traditional music and musicians, now the younger musicians are crafting their own brand of music, and infusing it with sounds of hip hop and RnB. I happened to do a show with an amazing American based Rwandan singer called Iyadede, and I am hoping we can make something happen together in the future.

How is your marriage working out?
Fine, January will make it a year, my plans on marriage is to stay happily married. I have been blessed with an amazing wife and it's been a joy building the foundation for what we pray will be a fulfilling life together. One day we will be blessed with children and even grandchildren.

After the success of your 2011 album Super Sun, what next should we expect from Bez?
I have been working on a new album for over a year now, it's been a long process, but rewarding nonetheless. The goal is to capture the growth and evolution of an artiste. Most of the instrumentation on the album is live and so we have recorded here in Lagos, in New York, Houston and we went to my village in Nassarawa to also do some recordings with some traditional musicians.

It was so exciting for me to go home to Karu and be able to reflect some our traditional music in my recordings. In Houston I worked with amazing horn players and percussionists, one of them even plays in Beyonce's band.

The style of my music is not going to change much though there will be sligh more rock edge to it.

I also co-wrote a number of songs on the upcoming album with X3m Music artiste Simi, you have probably heard her new single "Tiff" and Omolara Ayodele. Cobhams Asuquo is at the helm of affairs in the production of the album.

When specifically will you drop the album and where?
In this region, probably second quarter of 2015

Do you think that marriage has slowed you down and come between your making good music?
Not at all, in fact, I would say that marriage has quickened my pace. Music to me is a calling, it's my life's work so I have to move really fast in this space in order for things to work out well. I have been on the road, as you know, live performances are the bread and butter for any artiste. I spent this time introducing a whole new fan base to my music, establishing a base in East Africa. On November 1st, I am scheduled to be in Spain and the U.S. Work and shows have been going on well.

Are there any collaborations on your new album?
Yes there are

What are your plans for Bez the brand?
Very good question. My top goal is to keep churning out amazing music and growing a fan base for my brand of music. I intend to focus on more music videos from this upcoming album. We do have some interest from foreign markets so we are currently following up on those requests. We intend to stay the course and keep the energy high during our live performances and give the fans a show every single time. Its called show business for a reason.