“It means ‘my daddy,’” says Zakiya Hooker about the blues. “I have somewhat changed my view on what blues is. I think blues is many things to many people. Whatever helps them express how they feel, what they think, how to say I love you or how to say I’m leaving you, is what blues is to them.” If anyone has the life experience to justify a claim about what the blues is it would be Zakiya Hooker.

With a father as influential as John Lee Hooker, Zakiya has had a firsthand insight into the celebrated musical genre known as ‘the blues.’ “I think most people know what it is about,” she continues. “It is whatever gets you through the dark nights. It could be traditional blues, jazz, R&B, country western or whatever satisfies your needs. But at the end of the day we have to remember where all of this music came from: the cotton fields of slavery.”

Zakiya speaks with the excitement of being at the forefront of a musical movement and the wisdom of understanding what that music means in her heart. Her father was one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century; a man who recorded over 100 albums and whose unique rambling style allowed him to push a musical genre outside of its original boundaries.

Up until 1991 Zakiya had worked in jury services and found it was not always economically viable to follow in her father’s footsteps and live out her life through her passion for music. “I always dedicated myself fully to the music. I just had to do another job to be able to help pay the bills. Music is always number one. My official date of retirement will be early next year and then I will be totally free.”

It is refreshing to see that Zakiya has led a respectable, hardworking life, never choosing to rely on her father’s name to make anything of herself. Zakiya has always been one to live honestly, suffering triumph and tragedy along the way. Her life is synonymous with the emotionally infused music of the blues. Whilst bringing up her three children on her own after a failed marriage, in 1988 one of her sons, Maurice, was handed a lengthy jail sentence. Three years later her youngest son, John, was killed in a car crash.

In spite of a life filled with adversity, Zakiya has always been able to see the positive in past events. “I would not have wanted to be dealt any other hand,” she explains. “Look where this one has brought me. I don’t think my life has been any more difficult than a lot of other people. I don’t think we overcome tragedy. We learn to live with it and continue to build our lives. The human spirit overcomes tragedy and therefore our bodies follow.”

Zakiya seems to have an incredible grasp of life itself. She emanates joy and is inspirational with the words she uses. “I love life and I will always try to live it to the fullest,” she continues. “I am able to carry on because I use others to help me be strong. I give of myself, and as I give I become stronger. I use the God-like qualities that have been endowed upon us to stay strong and carry on. I also understand that along with the sun there will also be the rain, so I always keep my raincoat with me.”

Her interpretation of the blues and of life is interesting and provocative. Of her own music Zakiya is equally philosophical: “I love my music. I am a very outgoing person who gets off on being around people when I am in the performance part, the social part or the work-related part of my life. There is also the part of me that can tend to make me somewhat of a hermit. I love spending time by myself working on my beads, working in the garden or just listening to a good book.”

John Lee Hooker’s place in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame is more than deserved. He was one of the last surviving pioneers of the blues until his death in 2001. Zakiya has been doing a number of good things to preserve her father’s legacy, doing so in a tasteful manner so as not to tarnish his name.

Zakiya has previously spoken of the ‘pure love’ that her father had for music. “When I said my father had a pure love I meant two things. My father could not read or write so therefore his music came from a place from within him. He had nothing but his feelings to shape his music. But also my father loved his music with an honest and pure love, the kind he had for his kids. That music had a place and no one could occupy that space but music.”

When asked whether or not she could see this same pure love in the twenty first century, Zakiya offered some insightful words: “I do see pure love of the music in our world. Pop culture does not cloud the music scene. Pop culture is just a derivative of the old pure music that the forefathers passed on to them to evolve it and keep step with the world.”

Zakiya offers a unique insight into her father’s life and times whilst presenting her own interpretation of life and what it means to her on a personal level. Her life experiences have influenced her thought, not dictated it.

Those thinking that Zakiya only began singing later on in life are mistaken. Singing is something she has always done, but it has taken on different forms at different times in her life. “I have always loved singing,” she points out “It has always been the right thing for me to do. I had been in the thick of working and raising three boys by myself. That did not leave a lot of time for other things.”

Her breakthrough in terms of realizing her dreams and ambitions came in the form of finding her lifelong partner. Through meeting her now husband, she met a man who would become her partner, her producer and her mentor, and this has helped to shape the artist that Zakiya is today. The pair own a recording studio together and have co-written a number of songs.

“I met my husband, Ollan Christopher Bell, in 1987,” Zakiya reminisces. “He began to help me with my career and the rest is history. Ollan has over 35 years in the business. He is a vocal coach and acting coach so I had all I needed wrapped up in one handsome package. He put his career on hold to help me achieve my dreams.”

Although her father is the reason and the inspiration behind her musical presence, Zakiya is revered as an artist in her own right, and not just as the daughter of a legend. Currently in the process of moving house, Zakiya explains what she has been doing recently: “Aside from the upcoming relocation, I am in the process of completing my third CD. My husband, Ollan, is in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where it is being produced. I have done the vocals and now all that is left is to finish the music. I am using the band “Funking Around” as the musicians. If you remember, they are the band that played at CoCo’s and also backed me for the music festival.”

The music festival she speaks of is the Samui Music Festival that was held from September 23 to October 2 of 2005. Part of the festival was a John Lee Hooker tribute that featured such acts as Jerry Lee Lewis, the Blues Brothers and Canned Heat. “I loved playing at the festival,” says Zakiya. “It was one of the best I have done. I always enjoy my time in Thailand. It is truly a paradise on earth. The people are truly wonderful. I decided to do the festival, very simply, because I love performing. It is a God given gift to be able to do this. As I said before, I love Thailand. I have spent a lot of time in Thailand. It seems to call me and I come. It is an enchanted place.”

A lifetime of loves lost and loves gained have taught Zakiya a lot about self love. “I am my most favorite person because I know me better than anyone else,” she says. “I am very secure in my life at this time. The old adage was true, ‘life begins at 50,’ not just for me but for most women. When we get a certain age we begin to realize ‘hey, I am a special person. There is only one person in this world like me.’ We begin to love ourselves in spite of all the little flaws we have that society points out are bad. So yes, I am secure and happy in my life.”

One interesting aspect of Zakiya’s life that speaks volumes about her personality is that she rechristened herself with the name ‘Zakiya’ in the late seventies. Her original name was Vera Lee Hooker. ‘Zakiya’ is the Swahili word for ‘intelligence’ and the Hebrew world for ‘pure, exonerated.’

“I re-christened myself to form the connection with my heritage as an African-American in another country that has become where I live,” she says. “I am proud of my heritage and of being a black woman. There is power in that fact. My name has meaning because my love for life is truly pure. As a young woman I was taught another very important lesson: common sense. When you apply common sense in your decisions and approach to life, intelligent decisions follow in whatever you do or say.”

Of what she values most in life, Zakiya, unsurprisingly, is thankful to God, from whom she says all her blessings flow. She also says she values her husband, children, grandchildren, family and friends. “I value the gift of life itself,” she remarks.

Zakiya is thoughtful and motivational. She recites some of her father’s own words to explain her hopes for the future: “As my father used to say, ‘The best thing in life is peace of mind.’ I have achieved my peace of mind. If I can hold onto that and continue to be blessed with good health and good spirit, I will have what I need for the future.”

Techno’ tags: Zakiya, Hooker, Blues, Music