Music of Kampala

This week I was fortunate enough to be able to meet with Joe Kaharimbanyi who is a member of the Ugandan band Qwela. Qwela’s music is often described as afrofusion. Joe mentioned that his influences range from Rukiga music (the Bakiga are a group from Southwestern Uganda and Rwanda), Blues, Jazz and Reggae. This diverse range of influences can be seen in their instrumentation and choice of language. Their ensemble consists of typical ‘western’ instruments such as guitars, a drum kit, saxophone and keyboard/piano alongside traditional Ugandan instruments, particularly drums.

When I asked Joe about the bands selection of instruments and language he said that they intentionally try to use instruments and languages from different regions in Uganda. Their goal in representing different cultures from around the country in their music is to try and connect with a wider audience. This aligns with the Ndere Troupe’s goal (mentioned in a previous post) of promoting unity across cultures by presenting dances and music from diverse cultures.

Here is a song from Qwela’s album Afrotopia:

Qwela – Tendeko

 

On Wednesday night, I made it down to the National Theater for the opening performance for and event called DOADOA. DOADOA refers to itself as the ‘East African Performing Arts Market.’ Their goal is to provide networking and educational opportunities in order to develop the performing arts community in East Africa. Unfortunately the rest of the DOADOA events were taking place in Jinja. Although Jinja isn’t too far from Kampala, I wasn’t able to make it over there. However, I was able to learn a bit more by perusing their program.

The opening performance was by Annet Nandujja. She performs music and dance that is in the style of traditional music from the Baganda people of central Uganda. She sang entirely in Luganda which is the language of the Baganda. Kampala was also historically the center of the Buganda kingdom (from which Uganda got its name). As such, it is the most widely spoken of Uganda’s languages spoken in Kampala. In my conversation with Sylvia Nannyonga-Tamusuza, she identified the use of Luganda as one of the defining characteristics of the music created in Kampala.

Although I couldn’t understand the lyrics (I have been trying to pick up a bit of Luganda while I am here but haven’t gotten very far yet), the person sitting next to me mentioned that one of the reasons she really liked Nandujja was that she is a great storyteller. This emphasis on storytelling is a component of her music that she pulls from traditional Kiganda music.

Her band consisted of an endigidi (tube fiddle), amadinda (xylophone), and the Kiganda set of drums. The Kiganda set is a group of drums that is typically used in the Kiganda music. This set of drums includes the engalabi (tall, cylindrical drum), nankasa (high pitch), embutu (middle pitch) and empuni (low pitch). She also performs with a group of dancers called The Planets. They also derive their dances from tradition Kiganda dances.

On Saturday night, I went to a restaurant called Casablanca near where I am staying. There was a distinct contrast in the types of music played there. When I first arrived the were playing a fairly typical American and European pop. However, every 20 to 30 minutes a performer would come out to play live drums accompanied by several dancers. She would play without taking a rest for about 10 minutes and then the recorded music would resume.

This week I also started learning how to play the adungu which is also known as the bow harp. The adungu originated in Northern Uganda mostly among the Alur and Acholi. It is now one of Uganda’s traditional instruments that is played in many different cultures throughout the country. The adungu seems to be one of the traditional instruments most commonly incorporated into contemporary music (I have mentioned it in previous posts as being featured in different bands).

Along with most forms of traditional music, the adungu was originally tuned in a pentatonic scale. However, along with the influence of colonialism it is now tuned to a diatonic major scale. Most adungus have 7 or more strings. The one that I have has 12 strings with the first 8 tuned to a major scale and the next 4 repeat the 5^th, 4^th, 3^rd, and 2^nd of the scale an octave lower. The adungu also comes in several different sizes ranging from the solo adungu (which has the highest pitch) to the bass adungu. I will be continuing to take lessons for the rest of my time here so I should have an update on my progress in my next post.

This week I continued my work at the International School of Uganda (ISU). Surprisingly enough I was able to teach a lesson on ‘The Grid’ to the Grade 9 class I am helping with! We also did a listening activity and listened to ‘It’s Gonna Rain’ by Steve Reich, ‘Kanon Pokajanen’ by Arvo Pärt and ‘Itz Not Rite’ by DJ Rashad.

On Thursday, I got to see the International Schools Music Festival which took place at ISU. In the morning, the junior school (elementary school) students from 9 international schools from the Kampala area, went to different music workshops. In the afternoon, all the different schools gathered together for a the performances. The performance began with a song by a Ugandan a cappella group called Sauti ya Afrika. After Sauti ya Afrika’s introduction, each international school performed a piece that they had prepared for the festival.

After the individual performances, the students from all of the schools collectively performed ‘Street Songs’ by Carl Orff. This was the result of the workshops they had participated in during the morning sessions. The ensemble included choir, recorders, xylophones and traditional drums.

I started off Saturday by taking a matatu from Kololo (where I am staying) into downtown Kampala. I spent some time just walking around and observing the city. While Kololo is still part of the city, it is a slightly more residential area. The downtown area however is a slightly overwhelming environment. While walking around I encountered the sights, sounds and smells of heavy traffic amidst tightly packed buildings seemingly filled to the brim with shops.

After walking around for a while and grabbing a bite to eat, I made my way over to the Old Taxi Park to find a matatu that could take me to Kansanga, where I was heading to see a concert in the evening.  The book I have been reading this week, Abyssinian Chronicles by Moses Isegawa, describes the taxi park and its relation to Kampala in the following two passages:

“The seething, kidney shaped bowl functioning as the taxi park had originally been a volcanic hill. During the last active phase two things happened: the hill shattered, creating this valley and the surrounding valleys were transformed into the seven round-topped hills at the core of the city of Kampala” (Isegawa 83).

“The volcanic fire dormant below and the solar fire blazing from above, the relentless surge of vehicles and all the souls on parade here, turned this vessel of cobwebbed fantasies, this cocoon of termite ridden ambitions, this lapper of blood and chewer of flesh, into the most fascinating spot in the whole city” (Isegawa 84).

These two passages are set during the early period of Idi Amin’s dictatorship in the early to mid 1970s. While things have changed significantly since then, the image of a “relentless surge of vehicles” still rings true. Unfortunately upon arriving, I found out that the Old Taxi Park doesn’t have matatus that go toward Kansanga. One of the difficult things about transportation in Kampala is that there isn’t a method of public transit that is easy to navigate. I was eventually able to make my way over to Usafi Market where the matatus towards Kansanga depart from.

Once in Kansanga I went to the International University of East Africa for a dance performance titled ‘Come Together.’ This was a collaboration between the Makerere University Department of Performing Arts and the Norwegian College of Dance. One of the most interesting aspects of this performance was that it was primarily composed of Beatles songs. The majority of which were covers. Most of the songs were played from recordings but a few were live covers by Ugandan musicians from Makerere University. These live covers were my favorite parts of the performance and featured a guitarist, a traditional drummer, a cajón player, a vocalist and two dancers. The rest of the dances combined contemporary and modern dance with some traditional Ugandan elements.

On Sunday, I went to a festival in Kampala called Blankets & Wine at the grounds of the Uganda Museum. The first artist to play was Suzan Kerunen. She is from the Alur tribe in the West Nile area in the north of Uganda. Most of her lyrics were in Alur with a little bit of English here and there. The band incorporated Ugandan instruments such as the adungu (type of harp), endingidi (single string fiddle) and drums alongside guitar, bass, keyboard and a drum kit. Here is a video of her performing one of her songs a few years ago:

The next band to perform was called Janzi Band. They used similar instrumentation but sang primarily in Luganda and English and incorporated a bit Kiswahili. They had a definite reggae influence and played covers of several reggae songs in addition to their original material. Eric Wainaina followed their performance. He is a musician from Kenya who has gained a lot of popularity throughout East Africa. He sang primarily in English and Kiswahili. The final performance was by a Ugandan duo named Radio & Weasel. They aligned more with my view of typical Ugandan pop music and I could hear a dancehall influence in their songs. Their lyrics were predominantly in Luganda and English.

This combination of varied instrumentation and languages is definitely one of the characteristics of the music of Kampala that has stood out to me the most. As I continue my journey, I will attempt to further explore these diverse elements.