Mato nanji biography for kids
Mato Nanji
Blues from the Great Plains
Originally published in Italian on Axe magazine #Buy the full article in PDF format using PayPal (€ )
When we think about the Blues, we rarely connect this musical style with the people that first inhabited America. Yet, the rhythms of the Native Americans come to light in New Orleans music, the famous Blues singer and guitar player Charlie Patton, “Father of the Delta Blues”, was of Choctaw heritage, like Howlin’ Wolf; Scrapper Blackwell, Champion Jack Duprée, Ben Harper and the champion of the electric guitar Jimi Hendrix, all had Cherokee heritage. If we broaden our view to other musical styles, we find other Native Americans, as Buffy Sainte Marie, Tori Amos and Rita Coolidge (Cree), Robbie Robertson (Mohawk), Link Wray (Shawnee), Willy DeVille (Pequot), Jesse Ed Davies (Kiowa), Oscar Pettiford (Choctaw-Cherokee), just to mention the better known ones.
The Native Americans who better captured the fantasy of European origin people are those known as Sioux, a coalition of tribes which ruled the central plains from the Platte River to the Canadian border. To this people singer and guitar player Mato Nanji (Standing Bear) belongs. He founded his band The Indigenous toward the second half of the s and started to be known in , through intense touring. Mato Nanji was born and grew up in the Indian Reservation of Yankton, in South Dakota and received his musical education from his father, member of the band The Vanishing Americans and respected spiritual guide and spokesperson of his people. Through his father’s records, Mato got to know the Blues and was influenced mainly by Stevie Ray Vaughan. The original band consisted in his sister Wandbi on drums, his brother Pte on bass and their cousin Horse on percussion. They soon had great success and their first album, “Thing We Do” (Pachyderm Records, ), was elected best Blues album of the year; they also won the Native American Music Award as best Blues and P I've known Mato Nanji since the late s. Indigenous had released "Things We Do" and they were playing the Sioux Empire Fair with another young blues guitar slinger named Jonny Lang. I've followed Indigenous' career ever since in part because they are South Dakota natives and part because I just love the music. I got a chance to talk to Mato before their recent concert at the Hard Rock in Sioux City to revisit the past, talk about songwriting, future plans for recording with some of his Experience Hendrix mates and even the relaunch of Indigenous starting this November as Mato takes a fantastic New Mexico blues band that you've heard on the Blues Fix at 6 called the Plateros, and morphs them into the new Indigenous. The Plateros singer/guitarist Levi Platero is someone I've been referring to as "Mato Jr." since I first heard them nearly five years ago. The young band will learn a lot touring with Mato and if the videos I've seen of the four playing together is any indication, the band won't miss a beat. And for those of you wondering what will become of Mato's current bandmates in Indigenous, it sounds like they'll be just fine. Fellow guitarist Derek Post is on the verge of signing a management contract with a national company and plans to record and tour, possibly with drummer Kurt Olson. Meanwhile, keyboardist/drummer Charles Sanders will be touring the world on a cruise ship as part of a band. In other words, all these talented individuals will continue to do what they do. Now we just have to be patient while we wait for Mato and Indigenous to bring the new incarnation of South Dakota's baddest blues band back to the area for another show. Below are the interview, plus two videos from the show in Sioux City. The title track from Indigenous' l After much time invested in practicing and building a following, they began touring extensively across the country. In , they released their award winning debut album Things We Do. The title track’s video, directed by Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals), won the American Indian Film Festival Award and was shown at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. Indigenous’ music caught the attention of blues icon B.B. King and the young band was invited to play on his annual B.B. King’s Blues Tour in Sadly, Mr. Zephier would pass away before seeing his children receive this great honor. Indigenous is one of a select group of Native American bands to break into mainstream music—and not thanks to the esoteric sounds of the flute or the tribal beats of hide-covered drums, as its members’ heritage might suggest, but thanks to the blues. Led by guitarist Mato Nanji, the group’s sound boasts hard-driving rock riffs, slide guitars, pedal steel and electric percussion. Reflecting back on my own reservation upbringing, I remember that there seemed to be only two types of Indians—those who left reservation, and those who did not. And when I first began to learn the story of Indigenous, I wondered how it was that an Indian band could leave reservation and do the things Indigenous does. “Well, I didn’t really leave,” says Nanji, from his South Dakota home. “I’m still here. A lot of people feel this is the reservation right here.” “For me, this is all Indian land. Indian country. I feel like when you condemn yourself into one little area, that’s not really who we are. That’s just something other people have made up and I don’t feel that way. I feel that this is my country and that’s just the way it is and that’s how it will always be. This is all our land and you can go wherever you want. It’s always gonna be our home and you have to respect that and believe it.” The band got its start on the Yankton Indian reservation in South Dakota, a little town of about people. A younger, more naive Nanji didn’t realize then how difficult his musical journey would be. “I guess I never really thought about [the reservation] being any different than anywhere else, because when you’re young, you’re just doing what you’re doing.” What he was doing was playing music—the drums, specifically. “My mom would set up cans for me to beat and stuff,” he says. But then, hidden deep in the bowels of their basement, he stumbled up his father’s guitars and record collection. “My father had all the great m
Mato Nanji of Indigenous Talks About Becoming A Mentor, Life on the Road, the Experience Hendrix Tour and the &#;New&#; Indigenous
Born and raised on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, Indigenous front man Mato Nanji (Ma-TOE NON-gee) dedicates his latest release Time Is Coming (on Blues Bureau International) to the indigenous youth and all young people on the indigenous reservations.
Mato Nanji’s father, the late Greg Zephier, Sr., was a well-known and highly respected spiritual advisor and spokesperson for the International Indian Treaty Council. In addition to this leadership role, he was an accomplished musician and a member of the musical group, The Vanishing Americans. Formed by Greg and his brothers in the ‘60’s, The Vanishing Americans toured nationally and shared bills with such legends as Bonnie Raitt. Besides being heavily influenced by the music his father and uncles were making, Mato was exposed to Greg’s vast collection of blues records by legendary artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and B.B. King. Consequently, Mato embraced and began utilizing his own musical talent at a young age. With the experience, love and wisdom of their father to guide them, Mato, his brother, sister and cousin formed the band Indigenous while in their late teens.
With momentum gaining, Indigenous’ sophomore release, Circle, was produced and arranged by Stevie Ray Vaughan’s longtime friend and collaborator, the late Doyle Bramhall, Sr. Three more cds; Fistful of Dirt (), Ind “Just Great Blues” from Native American Guitarist Mato Nanji of Indigenous