From Ray Lema with whom she teamed up in 1989 , she met on the music roads , artists such as STING , Johnny Halliday , Les Voix Bulgares , Johnny CLEGG , Manu DIBANGO , Chico CÉSAR , Henri Dikongué , Maxime LE FORESTIER , Tony Allen , and the philharmonic orchestras of Sundvall ( Sweden ), Rio de Janeiro ( Brazil ), Wu Han ( China ) and Brest ( France ), and many others . Altruistic , she warmly accompanied others on stage , with this unique voice that knows how to mold to all genres . Meanwhile , she is no less enterprising in her name , with the single Mulâtresse Solitude that she released lately . In an open interview , Cathy Renoir tells us everything or almost , about her long career .
Hello Cathy , it is a real pleasure for us to have you as our featured guest this month . Your feats speak for themselves , you are a true living memory of world music in Europe , since you have known all the circuits of this genre , and I could only be very happy to have you for this talk on art .
e music , what brings you there ? was it obvious to choose this path ?
Cathy Renoir : I arrived in music somewhat by chance , because I initially wanted , as part of an acting career , to develop my artistic skills for the Actor Studio . I took lessons at the CIM , ( Centre d ' Informations Musicales , school of Jazz and Current Music ) which Angélique Kidjo also attended , and after three months , I was o ered remunerated small jazz and blues concerts . After a year , I met Ray Lema , and started touring internationally .
Do you consider that having your passion as a job is an incredible opportunity ? However , in the exercise of the profession of artist , things are not always easy . Have you ever had doubts about the choice of your career ?
Cathy Renoir : Of course , I was very lucky to be able to work with great artists , whether they were leaders or accompanists .
I was able to travel around the world for more than 25 years . When I was 18 , I went to Senegal via the Sahara Road , and I was an adventurer at heart . But our professions being random , I have taken parallel jobs in recent years as life auxiliary , and today as a facilitator in schools , which allow me to keep my freedom as an artist . Passion helps us to withstand professional hazards and not to let go . It is an art of living .
A meeting that will undoubtedly be decisive for the rest of your career , your encounter with the Congolese virtuoso Ray Lema , with whom you will perform for more than 20 years . How did you meet him and if you had to take stock of this collaboration , what did you learn from Ray Lema that will have greatly influenced the rest of your career ?
I Cathy Renoir : I met Ray , thanks to my friend Bessy Gordon-Roy , who o ered me to audition as a backing vocalist at the time of his album " Nangadeef ". We were taken , and I already knew one of his albums with the song " Sahara " which had touched me deeply . I learned a lot from him , both on Kongo choirs , pygmy polyphonies , as well as on guitars , basses , rhythms , and his original , melodic and percussive piano . Besides being a great composer , he is a researcher , and we often studied sound when we went to his recording studio . The many encounters and mergers that characterize his career have been a source of joy and enthusiasm for all . Having for my part some of my roots in Kongo , it was suddenly the possibility of immersing myself in the languages , the culture , and its oftencommitted texts . Back to the roots ...
You made your debut in the dramatic arts , and logically it seems , you contributed to the production of soundtracks of films in particular " Sama Yoon " soundtrack of the film “ les caprices d ’ un fleuve ”
Flashmag ! Issue 128 April 2022
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