Guitar maestros bring the house down

Not many people dare to hold concerts on Sunday because of a simple reason, Kampala party goers usually party on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But that wasn’t the case for the Qwella Band and its ninth edition of the Qwella Junction.
Qwella Band lined up the best guitarists in the country to come and show case what there skills; Myko Ouma, Ian Busingye, Charmant Mushaga,Kaz Kasozi were on the go.
Kampala Serena Hotel’s Victoria hall was the venue, with the calm Sunday atmosphere Fenon Events set up a brilliant stage and had a ensured that the display screens kept on giving the fans at the back whats was happening at the front.
The fans kept time, as early as 6pm they were tinkling in, Qwella Band kept it simple, each ticket run for Shs 500,000 not the Shs 300,000 that many had to pay to watch Billy Ocean.
Urban TV and former Big Brother contestant Denzel was the emcee of the evening and I might say if there was a completion for being a master of ceremonies he would really have a chance. He kept it simple and let the artistes do their thing.
They all took us back in time with their old tunes, with Mushaga pulling he stings best.
Not even the fact that Charmant had just stepped off a plane from Abidjan dampened his mood, he was fast, furious and a maestro cubed at the concert.
The show would have been an ordinary one if they had not given a special attention to the guitar, from one side of the stage you had Busingye, Charmant, Kaz Kasozi all equipped with electric guitars and then Ouma with the acoustic.
Each one challenged the other with cheers from the crowd. Maurice Kirya who was the guest artiste of the evening came towards the climax, armed with a guitar he did his new single Busalaba to the delight of the fans who were cheering and singing along. 
It was good that he had to do his session solo, like seriously Maurice is a good boy we didn’t want to see being schooled by that ‘mad’ Charmant.
It’s indeed hard to think of the show highlights without mentioning Salome, girl can sing.
Her vocal range is simply immaculate and if that performance was a marketing gig for her May 1 show, she already has a full hall.
So how did these artistes rate?
MO Roots and Kahiri were amazing backups that most of the times took on roles of being cheer leaders as the four bad boys tore each other to pieces.
It was though interesting especially when they had to lend their vocals to some of the masterpieces, i personally prefer seeing this Maureen blow the innocence out of the sax than her singing - yes, she is an amazing vocalist and am befriending her so that she can sing on my wedding, but when she gets on the sax, you clearly get the difference between Mo Roots and Maureen, she's the IT when she blows the sax. It would have been all different if she did a solo somewhere in between the heavy guitar machinery, but anyway, it was the guitar maestros not guitar maestros and a sax.
 Kaz Kasozi, yeah, I've always known this guy is bad, like seriously, last year i followed his seven show trail where he would rock crowds from Sabrinas Pub to Jinja. He brought the funk to the whole maestro show and he's quite a showman, he breaks locks and those things he does with his hands like he just played an interesting note by mistake. He earned his spot on that stage though for people that have seen this guy perform before would tell you Kaz probably gave us about a mere 70% of what he's really capable of.
Ian Busingye, well for this guy, we must appreciate the English for the saying Never judge a book by it's cover. When you see Ian on a muted TV with his guitar, his posture will scream innocence, but when you actually listen to the sound, dude is crazy!! i was told he used to play in church and my question is simple, was that church full of rock stars or?
Charmant, do i even need to repeat myself?
Myko Ouma could have paid the price of being a good boy, he stuck to the acoustic guitar which by the way was producing a beautiful sound though barely loud as the electronic ones, but he had his moments especially on Aluru and Aye.
Sam Bisaso, did many of you people evemn notice this guy, i acrtually doubt you have an idea of how his guitar sounded. This was the guy that played the bass throughout the night, like you don't just pull off that in a show where four of the best Ugandan guitarists are playing, he was consistent and let his sound be heard.
Then that Qwela performance with Kenneth Mugabi of Sikyagenda, I don’t know but is it only me who thinks that Mugabi is immensely talented?
This boy needs a stage like yesterday, he plays at least three instruments and he’s also a great vocalist. He comes in on the second verse that he delivers in Luganda; not that he stills Joe’s music but the way his voice weaves through the heavy instrumentation with words; “etabaza eyaka ekiro,….” Was simply soothing, then they went on to blend – acoustic and bass electronic guitar almost sounding metallic – rock like stuff.
Did Mugabi leave a mark? Hell yes!!
It was meant to close the show but they went on for more than thirty minutes since even when they show ended, we refused to leave.
*All photos by Daniel Ecwalu

Chaka Chaka, Masekela, worried about African music

Talented songstress and Grammy-nominated Amel Larrieux closed the 16th Cape Town International Jazz festival with a heart-wrenching and emotional performance of her old famous and newer songs.
She is a founding member of the Groove Theory duo, mostly known for songs such as Tell Me, Never Enough and Hello It’s Me , among others. However, while performing at the festival, she mostly sang songs from solo projects including Sweet Misery, For Real, Don’t Let Me Down and No One Else; she had such a rich repertoire that kept the crowds at the Manenberg stage on their feet for two hours.
Amel was just one of the international artistes that graced the festival; authentic jazz performers including Basia, Al Jarreau, Courtney Pine and Gerald Clayton also hit the stage.
But before the merrymaking on the final day of the festival, African legends such as Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Hugh Masekela and the Mohotella Queens had put African music under a microscope.
The South African greats said the current crop of African artistes cares more about impressing America and Europe, forgetting their roots. Because of this, originality and culture have been sacrificed.
No wonder, for an industry that has produced artistes such as Mafikizolo, Lira, Zahara and Freshly Ground, among others, none were given the honour to perform on the Kippies main stage. Even the few artiste from the new generation that graced the festival failed to up the ante for fans to want to see them on the main stage next year.
Donald had been the most anticipated young artiste at the festival, owing to his good performance on music channels including Channel O and MTV Base; just last year, he was nominated for the highly-conveted BET Award – Best African act.
He was expected to raise good dust at Manenberg, only for him to hit the stage and glorify Maxwell and friends. Evelyn Kehmuile, a youth attending the festival for the first time, said it was painful getting on a plane from Johannesburg to come see Donald cover Sam Smith. Donald did eventually perform his own hits, but his fans had already migrated to other stages.
Yet the tendency to westernise music is not crushing South Africa alone, but the African music industry at large. Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and Uganda have rappers singing about pimping, using guns on the streets and driving Ferraris many of them have never seen outside a glossy magazine.
On a normal day, differentiating an African song from an American song can be a hard task, since Africans now sing in English, and produce, record and shoot their videos in America. According to broadcast consultant Joel Isabirye, identity is not fixed; it is in a state of flux.
“We cannot say African music has lost identity since there are multiple identities in music and in life,” he said.
He, however, notes that African music has lost authenticity.
“It is no longer unique, because it has borrowed a lot from everywhere due to globalization,” he said.
The only concern here, according to Isabirye, is the fact that African music is not borrowing from sounds of African heritage. It could have been the reason Mohotella Queen’s front lady Hilda Tloubatla, felt the group and its music have been left in the cold especially by the urban youth. The group has performed for the queen of the United Kingdom and former American president George Bush, yet they are not really celebrated in South Africa.
“We don’t have to wait for some French artiste to come and use our sound and then we have to pay through the nose to watch him perform our music,” she said.
American rapper Kanye West, who in 2008 raised his African status after his single Love Lockdown sampled jembe drums commonly used in West Africa, and polyrhythm that is profoundly Ghanian.
Beyoncé borrowed kwaito moves by Tofu Tofu dancers to complete her Girls opening sequence. Both songs were successful and just like Tloubatla was worried, Kanye’s performance in South Africa was costly; fans parted with at least R750 (Shs 180,000) – almost R350 more than what indigenous AKA, HHP, Khuli Chana or Lira would charge. Beyoncé could not even perform in South Africa, because she was too expensive.
Jazz icon Hugh Masekela, who has performed in Kampala before, bemoaned the death of music as an art form, saying “lawyers and accountants have taken over the music industry and made it only about the number of units sold”.
He noted that radio presenters today only play what is preloaded for them by programmers, not what they believe is good music.
“This gave us a chance to be heard and known. Today, record companies are run by technology and if you don’t have money to shoot a video, you are not going to be seen,” he said.
Masekela feels with technology, people are stealing music and before long, anyone can become a sensation such as the wildly popular, but truly artless Korean hit, Gangnam Style, which he calls a sad era for music.

Trip to Mediterranean through 20-in-one meal

 It’s said life is too short and thus, once in a while, you treat yourself to exotic things you indeed can’t afford on a weekly basis.
This was the same idea that ran through my mind when I decided to go for the Mediterranean Night hosted at Sheraton Kampala every Friday.
It’s one of those highly rated weekly nights where people get to travel to almost 20 Mediterranean countries in just a meal.
It’s a fantastic food troll at the Hotel’s Paradise Grill restaurant that usually kicks off at 7pm.
By the time we reach the hotel with a friend, who by the way I have to confess was footing the bill, the serving point had been decorated with different vegan foods, meat, rice pastries and other foods I was generally seeing for the first time.
The night that was premiered about three years back is becoming a big thing and according to Chef Mehmet Demirogullari, one of the brains behind the theme, it is one of the sellout nights always.
He notes the reason for the night was to open Ugandans to a wide range of cuisines and cultures around the Mediterranean region.
As they say, the best way to learn about a culture is through their foods, I couldn’t wait to delve into the outlined dishes.
They are foods like couscous, a traditional Berber dish of semolina which is cooked by steaming, it is a staple food throughout the North African cuisines of Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and Libya and as well as some parts of the middle East.

The experience comes at a tune of shs70,000/= thus it’s not one of those places to come with a girlfriend whose appetite is always on mood swings – that would be a loss.
Mehmet, is there to help when am trying to figure out what I should eat, which over the time I’ve been travelling I got to realize is a good thing. If you can’t choose from the many foods you’re basically looking at for the first time, you take the chef’s recommendation, they are usually spot on.
To cup all things up is the City Blend band who am told are always on location to entertain people around with famous covers both local and international songs.
It could have been a perfect night if the skies didn’t just decide to open up sending all guests to the opposite direction, but it was still worth it – even when I didn’t dig it from my wallet.

Kennedy Kihire’s Watch over me was Uganda’s lone representative

Last month, the forth Luxor Africa Film festival (LAFF) was held in Egypt. The event that attracted over forty African countries was spread onto four days from 16 – 21, where workshops in editing script writing and directing were held.
Lined up under the Short Films are 17 movies of which the 19 minutes Watch Over Me is a Ugandan one directed by Kennedy Kihire.
The sad family story features Christie getting to know that she was adopted during her childhood, she runs away from home feeling that her so-called parents have been lying to her for a long time. While her guardian family starts to look for her, Christie goes into too many troubles.
Kihire is mostly known for films like the award winning Hangout, Swapped, Gotto, Breaking the Mesh, as well as his television directorial debut on NTV’s The Hostel.
Some of the other short movies are “City Drop out” –Rwanda; “Malakia Job”-Sudan; “Warda”- Tunisia; “Moment” -Egypt; “forbidden Fruit”-Morocco; “Motherland”-Senegal; “Matanga”-Congo; “Fish of the Land”-Tanzania.
Sponsored by Qaala Holdings, an African infrastructure developing industry, LAFF is looking at helping African tell their own stories as well as collaborate on projects.
An overwhelmed Kihire noted that it is humbling that his film would get recognition at an international festival. This comes just days after it was confirmed that Boda Boda Theives, another local film will be showcased at the Durban International Film Festival later this year.
Kennedy Kihire graduated with an Arts Degree at Makerere University in English Literature and social Anthropology.
After writing Swapped film script, he was selected as a finalist to participate in the Maisha Annual Film lab 2010 where he became a Production Manager for the film Black Hill and later Guardian Angel and Shop Girl with Akan productions.
He Produced and Directed Swapped in February 2011. In November 2011, he worked as an Assistant Director of Everyday People, Cybervision’s latest feature film.
In early February 2012, he directed Makerere University’s 45 minutes student film Breaking The Meshafter winding up his degree.
He was Assistant Director on the 2011 prize winning short film. He has adapted the Julius Ocwinyo’s novel Fate of The Banished for the screen. In 2013, he has assistant directed a short film The Present.
His just completed production for his latest film New Intensions which boosts of a very artistic cast of Ife Piankhi, Prynce Joel Okuyo, Sinovella Night and John Muganza among others.