‘Quiet Storm’ is Femi Temowo’s debut album and first solo contribution to the UK jazz music scene. He has accomplished music in many aspects from business to creative. FemiTone Records is Femi Temowo’s independent record label, in which he released, ‘Quiet Storm’. He says, "It was a long one! I wouldn't necessarily say it was easy because I released it on my own label, under my own production team. It was a long process, purely because it didn’t have the huge financial issues attached to it, compared to people who are signed to more established labels. I had to get the record made and get stuff done on time and doing it on my own meant that I had to make up my own deadlines, which were easier to break because I was the only one that needed to enforce the deadlines. I found that things lingered longer than they should; some things were a lot easier to deal with being on my own. I didn't have to wait on anyone to decide on how the album was going to be set out and I kind of made all those decisions with Adil Oliver an artistic director who was working with me. So in the long run it was a difficult experience but an enjoyable one for sure." Later, Femi Temowo went to Middlesex University, which is artist Julie Dexter attended. "It was an interesting time because I was trying to get my face around the music scene, and people started to know of me, I found out that being in school and trying to gig at the same time was quite a tricky act to juggle but it worked out in the end." Femi continues, "My lecturers were really understanding of the fact that I wanted to be out playin' but at the same time I wanted to get this degree." Which was a BA in Jazz, he continues, "It was tricky to juggle at first, but I soon got hold of it, it was good as it just got normal to miss two or three days a week, of most weeks from University because I was either out gigin' or socializing with people and stuff. The degree itself was really enjoyable I learned a lot from doin' it and I'm glad I did it."

"Yeah, there were a couple." When asked about collaborations for his album 'Quiet Storm', he speaks more, "There was Zena Edwards on the first tune on the album called 'Wood & Strings', I asked Zena to write some lyrics based on an idea that I had called 'Wood & Strings'. Basically it’s like a poetic anthology, if you like, of string instruments like guitars, harps, basses and sitars, and she came up with some really interesting lyrics, to put over the music I had written. That was the first collaboration. The second collaboration is with a young singer named Anna Omak, not many people know of her just yet but they will do. Although we did not co-write together on the album, for the songs she sings, just having her vocal present on the album makes it feel like collaboration. I mean, it feels like a collaboration with all the musicians who were playing on it, you have, Troy Miller on drums, Michael Olatuja on bass, Rick James on bass, Sam Best on keyboards & piano. So it was all like one big collaboration but the main one was with Zena Edwards the poet."

Talking of Zena Edwards, she has had her debut album out for quite sometime out, entitled 'The Healing Pool'. "I think 'The Healing Pool' is probably available through Zena on my space. I'd say that's the best place because I'm not actually sure where she's been selling it. She's been sellin' a lot on her gigs because I've done gigs with her in the past but I know that you can get in touch with her on my space. Yeah, you can get in touch with her through that and she can tell you how to go about getting a copy." Femi Temowo was raised in London but born in Africa, Nigeria. He tells us about his up bringing. "Yes, but I was born in Nigeria, and I moved to London when I was ten years old. I could hardly speak English and it sounded strange. I came in the summer of 1986, and it was hard, what would have been a summer holiday here. I came in June, so I had like about two months to adjust before school started and I was going straight into the educational system here." He proceeds, "So basically I had to learn as much English as I could in two months. My brothers were all very young at the time and only one really was at the age when we could have a conversation. I had to learn really quickly. I was getting a lot of stick for not speaking English but in about a couple of years it was all-okay, you know, but the language itself was not that hard. I had become quite fed up of how things were for me back in Nigeria, even though I was only ten years old, there was a lot more that I could have done here. So there was a lot more to discover when I moved here."

In London, you have a lot of up coming talents, such as, Julie Dexter, Eska Mtungwazi, Zena Edwards, Rasiyah, Mpho Skeef, Silhouette Brown, Polly Gibbons, Bembe Segue, Vanessa Freeman and more. "In the UK scene? Well obviously the people who I collaborate with often. Soweto Kinch (Alto Sax player) from Birmingham, ummm, Eska Mtungwazi, she's a singer that we all know (laughs). Also, a guitarist from Jade Fox called Dave Okumu; he's one of my favourite guitar players. Also Eric Appapulay (bass), another one is Joe Caleb; he's a guitarist from West London. These are all cats who are my peers but whose sound I love and that inspires me. Also I love the older musicians, you know, Cleveland Watkiss, Jason Rebello." Femi Temowo released 'Quiet Storm' on Femitone Records; here is what he has to say on that subject and if he would release music by any other jazz talents through his own label, "I would love to. I'm going to do some work with the vocalist on my album, Anna Omak. We've been talking for a while about doing some stuff, maybe we can do some stuff on my label at some point in the near future. I work with vocalists a lot for some reason, I guess being a producer as well, that side of me attracts young vocalists who need an outlet for their music. I would love to produce more on the jazz scene, maybe put out a couple of jazz things on my label, but it’s early days yet we’re still trying to stabilize the label itself and the name etc. It won't be for another couple of years." The UK music scene is currently surfacing out to be the most exciting music scene around, "Well, generally speaking, its quite healthy." Expresses Femi on the UK jazz music scene. "We have a lot of young musicians now who are coming out of the jazz music scene, who are definitely born to be formidable players. I think in some other ways it's quite fragmented. I guess it's the same in most genres all over the world, sometimes you find that people get put into pots, even if the label is jazz. People kind of put them into little pots here and there, and build there own little world around themselves. It's fine, people tend to migrate to others who have similar tastes in music, and so they tend to play with them a lot more. The scene is healthy and a lot more of the younger musicians now are breaking down those barriers and breaking down those separations and playing all together, trying to create a healthier scene, were everybody collaborates and integrates with everybody else."




However, as our interview is coming to an end, he tells me more about the changes he'd make on the UK music scene, "I think a good healthy mainstream jazz radio station. Not mainstream in terms of the music it plays but in terms of the audience it reaches. Real jazz that's not just online or on satellite but a radio that has its own actual station, which can be dialled onto on any normal FM stereo. Something that's not going to water down jazz or something that's not going to change its name to Smooth FM in about eight years time." He goes on, "Not something that is going to play jazz that isn't jazz and give wrong impressions, because it broadcasts, jazz music. If someone could be prepared to broadcast it and not be ashamed of it, as much as people want to say jazz is dead, it hasn't been given a chance by the public at large. In this day and age, most people don't get to decide what music they like for themselves, the industry tells them what they should like, and what they should be buying, rather than just putting it out and letting people decide for themselves. So, I think jazz needs a public identity, a radio station that plays Coltrane at three o'clock in the afternoon. That plays Miles, whether it's eleven in the morning or eleven at night. That's going to play all the young and real jazz, coming out of this country, Soweto Kinch, Jade Fox, Imperical, Troy Miller, Eska Mtungwazi, all these people. Someone who is going to play his or her music, in the same way. I think one of the reasons why it's so weak is because people just don't hear it, a good radio station that tells you about jazz and, which jazz events are happenin', that features information about live music. Not just a half an hour radio show on Radio 4. Something that actually belongs to jazz, classic has its broadcast, pop has its broadcast, and even R&B has its broadcast. They all have there own type of station but jazz doesn't seem to have a representative in that sense yet."