Leif Totusek Interview
Seattle claims Leif Totusek as his home, but that is the end of it because he is a truly international artist.
by Staff of the The Arthead Cultural Outreach
Q. Leif, what are you up to in 2024?
Right now I am recording my original songs with my band “Freestyle Candela” that I have been writing for years at my studio, Candela Avenue Studios and will be released for the public soon. I am also performing with West African band Boka Kouyate “Djeliyah Band”. Yes, sharing the stage with these grand musicians Boka Kouyate, Naby Camara and the band is a great pleasure. Also my band “Sahara Sounds.” Gnawa musicians Aziz Moro and Kalid Tazarni are a treasure from Morocco and hit the North African vibe sweet with them too. It's like when I hit with my band back in London in the 1980’s “Orquesta Chakchouka” we played the Rai,Chaabi guitar vibe. Also since my dear friend drummer Larry Vincent Jones passed away recently (we performed jazz for 30 years together) from my band 1-2-3. I have 2 new jazz trios. Leif Totusek “Triunity” that features grand jazz bassist Phil Sparks and Greg Cambell. Greg has studied a lot of traditional Ghana percussion and plays deep bebop so I hook up with his rhythm very well because of my African music background. Also my new trio called “Seatown Mardi Gras Band” that has Phil Sparks on bass and New Orleans drummer Jamael Nance. We hit some funky tunes with this trio. Also I’m still working with vocalist - artist - athlete Sam Pierce and our repertoire keeps growing . He’s still cherpin’ the sweet soulful songs.
Q, Tell me about your band Leif Totusek “Freestyle Candela”
Oh yeah, I created “Freestyle Candela” way back in 1982 when I was performing in Seattle with FAME Gospel Choir with bassist Brian Mills “Warlock”. I started the band with “Warlock” African style guitar and jazz mix. I compose the bass , the guitar, the vocals , the Lyrics, the High-hat. the bass drum, the snare, the horn lines. Then later, I hired bassest Arne Livingston as I was in Seattle waiting for my musician visa from London to go back to London to play guitar for Mose se “Fan Fan” in a Zairian band called “Somo Somo”. I also was playing for an African Band, based in Seattle called “Afri-sound”. Also with soul singer Sam Pierce “Pierce Arrows” When I was in London, I called “Freestyle Candela” “Seattle Jazz” a mix African guitar and jazz music. I hired one of London’s best percussionists from Sierra Leone, Mamdi Kamara. We hit at The Jazz Cafe, Watermans Art Center, Riverside Studios and other places as “Seattle Jazz Trio”. At that time in the 1980's I was also hitting with this great band called “Orquesta Chakchouka” Jazz, Algerian, South African, funk group. We played Glasgow - Edinborough Scotland Jazz Festivals, The amazing Dingwalls club, Bass Clef and a few pubs. I also was hitting with Eddie Edem “Highlife International” every Friday night at The Tabernacle in Powis Sq opening for numerous African bands like Dudu Pukwana, Somo Somo, Orchestra Jazira … and many others. That’s where I met “Fan Fan” and joined his band and toured all over England and Scotland . Then 8 years later I moved to Boston.
Q. What were you doing in Boston?
I set up camp in Boston and changed my band name to “Freestyle”. One of my first gigs I played was at The Middle East Cafe. I hired Jessica Lurie, Arne Livingston still focusing on African jazz guitar mix. After that gig a gentleman introduced himself to me. He said he was Mark Sandman. He said he was very impressed with my band. I would record my guitar at his studio in Cambridge. He was always working on something new. “Freestyle” performed a lot of University’s, Adams House at Harvard University, RISD, Williams College, Zoots in Portland Maine, and many other clubs and festivals on The East Coast. Also I joined Ibrahima Camara “World Beat Band” and toured the east coast with him and his band for many years at “The Channel,” Cumberland, Maine Festival, Orpheum Theater and a lot of places. I also joined a Haitian rasin band called “Batwel Rada” we played at Cornell University, MIT, Harvard University, Ryles, Middle East Cafe, Strand Theater in Dorchester and numerous places. Later I would record for another Haitian Band called “Tjovi Ginen” and perform at Boston’s House of Blues and in NYC at The Lions Den and on the Cape for many years.
Q I heard after That you returned to Seattle in 1996 and based “Freestyle” there?
Yes. I move back to Seattle and now started calling my band “Freestyle Candela”
We hit Bumbershoot, The Art Bar, Ok Hotel, Weathered Wall and many festivals and clubs in the NW, and still going forward today. One day I was reading the paper to see who was hitting in Seattle and I saw that Tabu Ley Rocheauro was playing at the Kilimanjaro Club in Pioneer sq. I didn't believe it so I went to that club that night and there they were. One of Zaire’s biggest bands performing Soukous. On their break I came up to them and started speaking to them in thier langauge, Lingala. I said “Sango nini, Ngai Leifo, Ngai musician avek groupe “Somo Somo” they put me on stage that night to jam with them. Next Time they came back they were performing at Jazz Alley in Seattle. They invited me to come sit in and play guitar with them again. They were based in LA at this time. I had my “Freestyle Candela” CD release party at the Art Bar and I flew up Tabu Ley vocalist Wawali Bonana to sing Lingala with my band. We also played together that week at The OK Hotel, Folklife, and The Show box opening for the new front bar. Later Wawali moved his whole band called “Yoka Enzenza” to Seattle and I would play Soukous guitar for them at the Firehouse and other clubs. I am a freelance guitarist. I play for a lot of bands. Yet Freestyle Candela is my heart and soul and my work for many many years. In 1999 WOMAD called me to perform with Uganda musician Geoffry Oriyema. I did that and then traveled to tour with his band in France, based in Paris. I came back to Seattle after that, and Folklife asked me to perform with Ethiopian singer Ali Birra. We played at The Seattle Opera House and some other stages at Seattle’s Folklife. I also toured with blues guitarist Alice Stuart for years in the mid 2000’s. I am excited to perform this year 2024 and bring my band Leif Totusek “Freestyle Candela” to Harlem, NYC to hit at the shrine World music venue on May 24.
by Staff of The Arthead Cultural Outreach
Thank you Mr Totusek for sharing your time and and explaining your long career.
ACO The Arthead Cultural Outreach.