FIRE TONGUE
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FIRE TONGUE

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Band R&B Funk

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Discography

BRING PEACE 2002 /DISCOGRAPH

WAYO BRING WAR 2006/ NOCTURNE

BRING ARGUMENTS 2008/ NOCTURNE

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Bio

Ok Firetongue was born in Cameroon , and has played guitar, keyboard and accordion since he was 6 years old. His first sources of inspiration came from churches, where his father preached the Good Book. When he was only 13, a jazz-guitar teacher in Yaoundé took him on as an accompanist, playing in cabarets, bars, embassies, etc. He worked with him for a year, then founded his own group, with Solo, a one-armed guitarist, a bassist and a rhythm box. They decided to hit the high-road to adventure and headed for Nigeria, in search of new musical sources. That's how he became acquainted with a nation that was into reggae, high-life, traditional music, funk, rock and afrobeat. His music became a fusion of his clean and saturated guitar blues, based on rock and roots energy, with all of these other movements. He created a new style that soon became highly popular. People listened and danced to his music in cities and villages all over country. Then he discovered Fela Kuti. From then on Firetongue, already enriched by the spiritual inheritance from his father and his personal experiences, decided to add a cultural meaning to his music to stress the message in his compositions. Nigeria was a much larger country, a space more suited to his kind of musical expression. He met musicians from Rex Lossen, Étienne T-Boy, Geraldo Pino, etc. He became the opening act for Femi Kuti at the Shell Club in December 1995. He lined up concerts for his group in clubs and luxury hotels, in villages for the employees of Elf, Total, Texaco, Schlumberger, etc. as well as on off-shore oil rigs and in love-hotels… In 1997, during his in-house contract at the Airport Hotel in Port Harcourt, with Desmond OSARAWI and GERALDO PINO he organized Fela Kuti's last two concerts at the Civic Center and the Airport Hotel. The concert at the Civic Center lined up Fela Kuti, Egypt 80’s, Sean Kuti, Geraldo Pino, Étienne T-Boy, and Firetongue, with his band Phils Entertainment. Fela Kuti's death brought to an end his stay in Nigeria. In 1998, back in Cameroon, he played at the Fako Club. That's where Patrick Lambert, an impresario, offered to bring him to play in France. Firetongue then created the T-Boys with Étienne (Gold record in Africa), Lewis, Édoube and Osuagwu. When the got to Paris, they played that same evening at the New Morning Club, then at the Divan du Monde, at the Flèche d’Or, in the Fresnes penitentiary, etc. A maxi-vinyl of T-Boys, Bring Peace, came out in 2002 at Straight Up, and was distributed by Discographe. Firetongue wrote, composed and arranged 4 of the 7 numbers. The record was licensed to the USA, to Japan and South Africa. Then Firetongue left the group for a solo career. In 1999, he did the arrangements for the performer Kaapi for the publisher Saravah, produced by Pschent/Universal. Then he met the sound and mastering engineer from Translab, Michel Roche, a.k.a. Chief Cook, with whom he made the album WAYO BRING WAR licensed to Nocturne, which is due for release in April 2006. Firetongue wrote socially-committed lyrics for the album, and composed haunting melodies with his magical guitar and keyboard. He created a new sound born of the fusion of afrobeat and new amplified techniques: «… Afro meets Modern Touch, in a Blues Mood… » Michel Roche, a.k.a. Chief Cook, supplied his talents as a programmer and executive producer. If Fela Kuti's music was like fireworks, Firetongue's is more like a river. It is impregnated with a deep fluidity that gives afrobeat a new dimension, bringing modernity and sophistication to the ongoing struggle for dignity in Africa. Firetongue voice is as deep and modern as his music: the power that it conveys makes him a truly outstanding performer.