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Organ plays Chilli and bonbon in Chililabombwe

by Organ

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1.
Chilli and bonbon, Organ's version part 1 of 3 15:17
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2.
Chilli and bonbon, Organ's version part 2 of 3 24:38
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3.
Chilli and bonbon, Organ's version part 3 of 3 14:07
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about

This is the fifth piece of my on-going collection "Zombie in Zambia", as performed by Organ the organ with self-agency. It was commissioned by the Art Zoyd Studios in Valenciennes (France). I spent two weeks with the amazing Max coder Oudom Southammavong who made all my electronic fantasies come true. Yes, I should mention that "Chilli and bonbon in Chililabombwe" is now for any instrument(s) and live electronics. Note that all the electronic shenanigans are controlled by the instrument itself going through audio descriptors. There's not a single pedal or fader or keyboard involved.

Fun story: when the British were occupying the region that they called North Rhodesia, they used to import second-hand organs from the UK for the local churches they were building. This is how centuries-old British instruments ended up in odd placed in what would later be called Zambia. The organ featured in this recording is called Organ. It refuses to tell its whole story, but here is what we know: it was built for, and installed at some church in Southern England in the late 17th century. At that time, its air pump was manual and required two slaves, sorry, helpers, to function. The legend says they died of exhaustion doing their job for the relentless and merciless organist of that church. More than two centuries later, in the late 1920s, a generous patron of the arts and devoted christian who was also the wealthy yet humble owner of copper mines, imported that (now fully electrical) organ and offered it to his North Rhodesian church. A couple of weeks after it had been installed, it had already disappeared. Of course the British thought it had been stolen. (As if stealing an organ was that easy!) The truth was simpler: Organ the organ had used its self agency to run, or more precisely crawl away and leave a free life in the bush. Since then, together with the souls of the two deceased air pumpers, they have been giving impromptu recitals to whomever crossed their path and asked kindly. I, Brice Catherin, was lucky enough to stumble into Organ during my journey in Zambia. (Read Dr Brice Catherin and Dr Afulodidim Nikefolosi's "Zombie in Zambia", 2022.) I asked it kindly to record a version of "Chilli and bonbon", which, again with the aforementioned souls of the air pumpers, they did. It told me "[they] had great fun".

Bonus: There's a documentary about the making of the original cello version of Chilli and Bonbon in Chillilabombwe that you can watch here: youtu.be/FHHakaWG9l8 .

credits

released November 6, 2022

Recorded on the 25.07.2022 in baLafuni.
Organ: Organ.
Recording, mastering: Brice Catherin.
(Single takes album, no editing.)
Photo: Brice Catherin.

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Brice Catherin Geneva, Switzerland

When he eventually turned 36 and had composed about 80 pieces, had been on stage as a performer and an improvisor, and had started working on his composition PhD, Brice Catherin realised that music was less important than love. Therefore, he decided to dedicate himself to the latter and since then has been producing, in the form of consenting collaborations with his good friends, intermedia items. ... more

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