Cameroon blues singer fuses American with African styles

Hanoi (VNA) - Blues singer Roland Tchakounte will take Hanoi audiences
on a musical journey with his mixture of American and African styles, when
he performs on Dec. 6 as part of the city's ongoing European Music Festival.

Born in Cameroon , his musical training took him through percussion to
guitar, piano and harmonica. His first steps on stage, as a bass player and
singer, took place within Cameroonian band specialising in covering
African-American songs.

Tchakounte wet on to record two LPs in Cameroon before leaving for
France . There, he got hooked on the blues after listening to John Lee
Hooker's Crawling Kingsnake and began to pursue his new dream: to become a
blues man.

Unlike some aspiring blues players, so keen on mimicking their idols that
they lose their own identity in the process, Tchakounte has succeeded in
creating a perfect fusion between his African roots and his blues
influences, with a unique ability to sing a blues repertoire in his native
dialect.

In 1999, he released his first European album, Bred Bouh Shuha Blues.

Travelling now to Vietnam , Tchakounte will perform in a trio with
guitarist Mick Ravassat and percussionist Mathias Bernheim. The trio's
performance takes place on Dec. 6 at the Youth Theatre at 8pm.

Also part of the European Music Festival, Austrian harpist Monika Stadler
will take the Youth Theatre stage on Dec. 7.

Stadler began studying the harp at the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz
when she was 13 years old. At 15, she went to the Music Grammer School
in Linz . From 1982 to 1990, she studied concert harp at the Academy of
Music and the Performing Arts in Vienna .

While a student, she became a member of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and
participated in a number of productions at the Vienna State Opera. After
graduating with honours in 1990, she received a scholarship to study jazz at
the Bruckner Conservatory during 1991-92.

From there, she went on to the US 's Berklee College of Music in Boston
. She won the second prize at the Lyon & Healy Jazz & Pop Harpfest in
Chicago in 1993 and 1994.-Enditem