Afro-Asian Music Connection Helps AIDS Awareness

"The defining moment for USA-born Thai folk-rock musician Todd Lavell Tongdee, in terms of relating to the AIDS deaths of African musicians to his own crusade back home in Thailand, was when he played with Nigerian Afro-rock star Femi Kuti and his Positive Force Band at an international concert in Beijing, China."

In an interview with IPS Health News, Todd Lavell Tongdee talks about the impact that Nigerian musician and anti-military activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti had on him.

"Fela, as he was popularly known to his fans, used his music to take on the Nigerian military regime. On Aug. 2, 1997, he died of AIDS-related reasons and heart failure at the age of 58. Fela's social promiscuity and hyper- sexual relationships with women, mainly his retinue of dancers were written about extensively in the local press."

Fela's son, Femi, has since dedicated himself to the cause of creating awareness of HIV/AIDS.

"Femi's message is so powerful and it was a good blending of African and Asian music in Beijing, with this awareness about HIV/ AIDS. I was really inspired and moved and could relate to what I was doing with my music in Thailand," says Tongdee.

"Todd was one of the pioneers of the 'Artists for AIDS' concerts in the early 1990s when HIV/AIDS was in epidemic proportions in Thailand, with 1991 alone seeing 143,000 new HIV cases - on record as Thailand's worst year."

In contrast to Nigeria where the deaths of musicians from AIDS is know, in Thailand, it is silenced because of the stigma, says Tongdee. "That only creates ignorance among young Thai musicians. Like Fela and Osibisa's Kiki, many musicians here lead very high- risk behaviour and they need to be made aware of the dangers."

"In my concerts I speak openly about sex and I encourage my audience, too, to get involved. Many Thais are confused on whether they are gay, lesbian or bisexual," says Tongdee.

Tongdee has also included the HIV Band in some of his live performance shows. "The HIV Band was set up in 1994 at the Phrabath Namphu Buddhist temple in Lopburi province, about 115 kilometres north of Bangkok, by seven AIDS patients who wrote their own songs and performed in Western-styled rock."

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