The American public can only follow suit , because those who have the power to decide have put in the resources and decided that this is the way it ' s going to be .
You played with Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo ' s hard rock band , Mass Mental . How do you make the transition from your work with Vanessa Williams to metal , for example ? e language of music may be universal , but how do you move so easily from one style to another ?
I met Robert Trujillo on my way to do a commercial on our favorite instrument . We hit it o , and that ' s how the group Mass Mental came into being , of which I ' m a founding member . We ' ve remained good friends and understood each other musically , very quickly , despite our di erent backgrounds . It ' s easy for me to play several genres ; the musical language is the same ; and above all , we mustn ' t forget that black music is the mother of rock and all the others . If you know the history of music in the United States , you can ' t ignore the contribution of artists like Chuck Berry , Rosetta Tharpe , or Little Richard to the development of rock and pop . So , being an African myself who understands the breadcrumb trail of music , it ' s easy for me to adapt to any genre .
Today , with a career spanning over 30 years and not about to end any time soon , how do you feel ? If you had to do it all over again , what would you change ?
I don ' t think I ' d change a thing . It ' s a path I ' d never have hoped for , and it ' s a beautiful adventure , which is an adventure precisely because of its unprecedented facts . There are times when , when I read fragments of my biography , I recognize that the guy they ' re talking about did quite a bit .
LOS ANGELES , CA - NOVEMBER 22 : Armand Sabal-Lecco and Robert Trujillo perform live at the premiere of " Jaco " at e eater at e Ace Hotel on November 22 , 2015 in Los Angeles , California . ( Photo by Emma McIntyre / Getty Images )
36 Flashmag ! Issue 147 January 2024