The concert took place at the US Ambassador’s residence on Tuesday.
The courtyard of the residence of the Ambassador of the United States of America (USA) in Yaounde vibrated on Tuesday, April 3, 2013, with American musical rhythms produced in a live concert by the American group, Matuto. Music lovers and guests from the diplomatic corps, government and the civil society, among others, joined several US Embassy staff led by Ambassador Robert P. Jackson to watch the group of five young talented artists from New York dish out tones from their repertoire.
The concert by the group of four males and one female had much of American blues, jazz, folk and other American rural traditions in store for the audience. With its leader and lead singer, Clay Ross, at the guitar, Rob Curto playing the accordion, Richie Barshay on the drums, Michael Lavalle at the bass guitar and the lone female, Mazz Swift, swinging the violin, the ambiance was electrifying. Among other tones that brought the audience to their feet, “The way I love you” seemed to have touched the music lovers even more. “Why must I love you when you don’t love me the way I love you?” sang Clay Ross, the prolific lead singer who in 2006 was named Ambassador of Jazz for the United States.
Later in the performance, Matuto was joined on stage by a group from the Yaounde-based school of music, “Arbre à Musique”. Both groups thrilled the crowd with a local “Bolobo” rhythm written by Arbre à Musique’s President, Raymond Albert Pende. It was the product of collaboration between both groups before the concert. Cameroon is the fourth lap in a five-nation tour undertaken by Matuto.
Matuto is a New York-based group that draws its inspiration from American rural traditions and it is considered one of the most popular Roots Music groups in the US. It was invited to Cameroon by the US State Department under its American Music Abroad concept that uses the universal language of music to organise meetings and develop better understanding among populations. Matuto is one of twelve groups currently representing American music by organising public concerts, interactive performances and workshops with different publics in over 40 countries.
