Music is my life’s work so I have to move really fast

-Bez

Nigerian multi-talented artiste, Emmanuel Bezhiwa Idakula also known as Bez, in this interview with ADA DIKE, speaks on his career and sundry issues.

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Bez

It was a memorable encounter recently at the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON) Centre, Onikan, Lagos, when cool and calm multitalented musician and headliner of the Jazz Night at this year’s MUSON Festival, Bez, opened up on how he has fared in music industry.

After the release of his debut album ‘Super Sun’, Bez is widely known as one of the young artistes in the world whose performances and works distinguish them among others in Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Born on November 10, 1983 in Jos, Nigeria, the Nassarawa State-born musician whose genre of music is known as ‘Alternative Soul’ - a combination of Jazz, soul, rock and Rhythm and Blues (RnB), has a single ‘’That Stupid Song’’ which was debuted on BET’s 106 and Park to massive reviews.

Information also revealed that he is the first African act to world premiere and be featured on the US and International network.

Currently signed to C.A.M.P, the Glo ambassador revealed that he would soon release a new album.

In his words: “I have been working on a new album for over a year now and it has 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, but there will be slight 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,” he emphasized.

He earlier scheduled to drop his next album in October 2015; but postponed it and said it would be released in the second quarter of 2015.

He also said he did some collaboration in his new album.

Commenting on how he felt headlining the MUSON Festival’s Jazz Night, he said it is an honour. The singer further said it was a kind of homecoming for him, after dropping out from piano lessons at the MUSON School of Music.

“I had been here before, being tutored by Tunde Sosan for piano and it’s good to be back. It’s a great pleasure to support MUSON Festival.”

The Jazz saxophonist shares his future plans: “My 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 on course and keep the energy high during our live performances and give the fans a show every single time.”

 He got married early this year, on January 4, 2014 to Bolatito Ladoja, the daughter of former Governor of Oyo State, Rasheed Ladoja.

Bez revealed that he is happy to be blessed with an amazing wife, adding that it’s been a joy building the foundation for what they pray would be a fulfilling life together. “One day, we will be blessed with children and grandchildren.”

On whether marriage has affected his career as a musician, the multi-talented instrumentalist said: “Marriage has quickened my pace.”

According to him, music 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. I am scheduled to be in Spain by first week of November and the U.S. Work and shows have been going on well,” Bez said.