The Ottawa Citizen
Preview Section
April 1997

Popo goes home again through his music

The Mighty Popo
When: 9 p.m, Saturday
Where: Zaphod Beeblebro, 27 York St.
Tickets: $7 at the door

Ten years ago, Jacques Murigande arrived in Ottawa as a political refugee from the strife-torn African country of Burundi. He was the fourth of five children born to Rwandan refugees.

Today, at age 30, he's the Mighty Popo, a Canadian citizen, blues singer harmonica player and guitarist who's played and recorded with nearly a dozen local bands, toured Europe with an international New Orleans act, and will release his first CD, Tamba, at Zaphod Beeblebrox on Saturday.

A familiar face in Ottawa's blues and reggae communities, Murigande knows his life would have been different had he stayed in Africa.

"When I was 15, 1 almost enrolled to fight for Mandela," he says. "There was nothing for young people back home except fighting. I was lucky to come here. I don't know if I would be alive or not."

Murigande tackled a new set of problems in Canada. He had traveled halfway around the world and landed in Ottawa with $20 in his pocket, no contacts, no luggage (it was lost in transit) and a rudimentary understanding of English, though he spoke French. Settling into an apartment with three roommates, he studied English, took a six-month electronics course and soon landed a job.

Murigande was eager to check out the blues scene. At home, he had taught himself to play harmonica and tinker on acoustic guitar, though never one with a full set of strings.

"I got into blues back home," he says. "It's very much like the music that I heard from my grandparents, the traditional Rwandese music. That's probably why I got tuned into it. Delta blues is close to what we hear, a lot of quarter notes and singing the same riff you play on guitar."

He discovered the Rainbow Bistro and the Downstairs Club, where he met people such as Larry "The Bird" Mootham and guitarist Vince Halfhide. Todd Watson, a friend Murigande met at a club in Manotick, bought the young musician extra harmonicas and his first electric guitar.

"It was like a musical family," he says. "Everyone I met was so nice. I had so many friends within the first year, just through music and playing. I couldn't believe my eyes. It seemed like I was here for years."

To his great appreciation, local musicians rallied around Murigande two years ago to play benefit concerts to raise money to help him accomplish a long dreamed-of goal: bringing his parents, a brother, sister and nephew to Canada.

His family found Murigande had immersed himself in the Ottawa music scene, appearing on stage with numerous blues and reggae bands, including The Bird, Hammerheads, the Al Miller Band, Connection Band and Raggamuffin. He also met New Orleans musician Andy J. Forest, toured Europe as his guitar player and even travelled to New Orleans to record with him.

With the new CD, his first solo recording, Murigande tapped into his African roots. Between the blues numbers, there are songs in Swahili and music based on the traditional tunes Murigande heard as a child. Murigande's mother provided the lyrics to one song, Agasaza, based on a Rwandese dance beat

Murigande now realizes he had overlooked his African heritage.
"It's been with me, but I've kind of been denying it," he says. "Over here I started having respect for it. The more I grew musically, the more respect I had for African music. It's like, when you grow up with something, you take it for granted; you don't realize how rich it is."

Recorded live at Ross Murray's Sound of One Hand Studio, the disc features a band made up of some of Ottawa's most respected players, including guitarist Halfhide, bassist Nigel Troop, drummer Dave Hubenig, saxophonist Brian Magner, percus-sionists Horace Hogan and Robert Graves, and Don Cummings on organ. Pianist Guy Del Villano, multi-instrumentalist Peter Kiesewalter and singer Francine Laroche also make appearances.

Because Murigande is still learning to read and write music, the African-based material posed a challenge for the band.
"To do this album, I really have to thank the musicians," Murigande says. "Some of those African beats, they don't necessarily go four-four I just know the melody I don't necessarily know how to put it into numbers and explain it to them."

How Murigande became known as The Mighty Popo is the stuff of urban legend. "The Bird" Mootham is responsible for one version that's made the rounds of club audiences. It says Murigande was swallowed alive by a hippopotamus when he was 5.

Not true, says Murigande with a laugh, though even he is not exactly sure of the origin of the name. "The Mighty" part came courtesy of The Bird, who often introduces players as "mighty." It stuck to Popo, which is fitting when you consider the struggle Murigande faced in finding a home in a new country and working to bring his family here. He writes about it in the CD's first song, Got to be Strong a bluesy track with a hint of reggae.

"I know a lot of people write about reality but my reality being what it is
- the conflict back home and survival here. I just have to remind myself to be strong."

Lynn Saxberg is a freelance writer