Sounds that define African music

Everyone has had their say about Qwela’s concert, Rhythm and Life, that took place a week ago. August 20 was indeed a big night for this band. Although the Victoria Hall (Serena Hotel) was not filled to capacity, the turn up was good. It was clear that they were out to prove they are a band to reckon with, and they did not disappoint. One of the pleasant surprises was that there were essentially, no curtain raisers. They did not waste time serving us starters but got right into the meat with a short dance and a song thereafter (Mama Tokaba) sung by Anita Asiimwe, and then a lot more songs before we saw the other artistes who were on the line-up. Nice treat.

Most of the songs were led by the girls, and this is where you have to give it to Joseph Kahirimbanyi. He is the leader but if you did not know this, you might not have guessed it. He was happy to let the girls lead song after song and let fellow instrumentalists shine.

Hardwork pays

Even though Kahirimbanyi plays the guitar and sings really well, he is not keen to hog the limelight. You could say he is comfortable in his skin and that he knows how a band should work – together, and not as individuals. Also, he has come a long way from (Ye le le), one of his first songs that was sung in churches and fellowships as a praise song and that caught on pretty fast. Listening to him sing (Kidepo and Okello) that Friday, showed that he has grown musically. A song does not always have to be exciting and loud to get people on the dance floor. A song must also mesmerise, educate and make one reflect or ponder. Qwela I believe has got the right balance. Indeed Kahirimbanyi has worked hard to reach the level he is at now.

Asiimwe too is a testimony of hard work. Anyone remember her auditioning for Idols East Africa a few years back? The voice we heard then is not the same we heard on the 20th. It is stronger, more confident, and rounder. It is clear that she has practised and those lessons by the voice coach she said she used have paid off well. A mix of folk songs, traditional dances and western influenced music, the concert provided a variety. Perhaps the most touching song for me was the song Okello, a song of a boy abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army.

The slow pace of the song, the deep lyrics, the use of the tube fiddle, the bwola and larakaraka dance and most especially the pictures on the large screen of young Okellos with guns and shells, in Gulu, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and other parts of the world made this song the most poignant of the night. Silence reigned as the band sang and no doubt a tear or two fell somewhere. The mood brightened later with songs such as Tana Tana and Bbe.

An interlude that saw Benon Mugumya sing Hope and Maurice Kirya do a few songs off his most recent album Misubaawa such as Boda, Boda and Misubaawa that got the crowd singing along was a clever touch. Two things: Benon and Maurice can sing – there is no doubt about it. In fact I thought that they sounded better live, than on their albums. Secondly, Maurice is the most unappreciated singer of his time. Enough said. We must not forget the instrumentalists such as Michael Ouma who just brings a breath of fresh air to guitar playing (likely influenced by Carlos Santana). Emma Anikuru on the trumpet and Brian Magenyi on the saxophone were good. Ricco Del Monte on the conga was immersed in his playing and Ian Businge knows how to rock a guitar!

The not so good
Most, if not all, concerts worldwide are not perfect and the Rhythm and Life concert was no exception to this. For starters, the show begun at late. Having huffed and puffed and panted to make my way there, I was relieved that when I arrived at 7.10p.m., the show had not yet started but was disappointed that it begun at about 8p.m. Here’s a tip for artistes and musicians. If you want to make both the early birds and the late worms happy, make sure to have something start at the time stated (in this case Qwela could have shown us a documentary of the band’s members speaking, rehearsing or whatever else) and then come onto stage a little later when you feel the crowd is sizeable.

Like my neighbour that night said, it is hard to find a group of two people or more who can sing and it all sounds like one voice. Asiimwe, Nakato and Tamba have nailed that well. The singing was almost flawless. Not so the dancing. While individually the dancers knew the steps well, together, it seemed a little uncoordinated. One person was always a second or two, or three behind the other. And even though the traditional dancers did a good job with the Kiganda dance, they did not do so with the bwola or entogoro dance.

Perhaps because most of the singers are from the western part of the country, a good number of songs were also from there. The band must be applauded for reinventing folk songs and doing traditional dances, but it would be nice if they added more songs from various regions to make them appeal to a wider audience. There were also a few hiccups when they switched from the band to another artiste and back. It was not as smooth. Certain sound glitches like feedback (a cardinal sin according to a production manager I know) tend to spoil the party a little. All that however did not spoil the show. It was indeed one of a kind. My only regret was that because of the nature of my job, I got a free ticket. I should have paid the Shs50,000 for it. It would have been worth it.

At least my friend Angelina Twinomujuni whom I had gone to watch the show with thought so too as she said at the end of it all, “Forget about lousy curtain raisers and long boring interludes. Qwela’s performance was power packed from beginning to end. In spite of slight glitches in the sound, which went basically unnoticed by most of the fans; the melodic sounds were a combination of different African rhythms made with great professional finesse. This group combines intellectual musical prowess, with the knowledge of Uganda’s political history and African culture. Qwela represents all my hopes and dreams as an African. This band makes me feel proudly African.”