Topic: Dance Music
Jamaican dancehall music reached Uganda in the 1990s when Shabba Banks was popular. His Dem Bow beat [1] "became the foundation on which all of Ugandan dancehall was to be built," according to Wikipedia. [2]
Banks’ 1990 record began with a surging drum that used a strong XxXx rhythm. It continued while he rasped lyrics, with occasional accents by a synthesizer. [3]
Wespy Machinegun’s 2017 version of "Kumbaya" used the same pattern, but with a more variations. He converted some of the synthesizer accents into sounds of trumpets or a saxophone. Like Jose Mc, [4] he added a flute, which played a melody during the last parts of the text lines.
Machinegun was like Jose in another way: he was a singer who used another person to rap verses. 14 Kayz also sang during the chorus. The one spoke a melodic line, while the other responded "kumbaya." While their interaction resembled call-response, the refrain was more like the flute part, a melodic-rhythmic motif that added to the texture of the undergirding accompaniment to the text.
Their video was influenced by hip hop. It featured images of the two young men singing in different settings, including under a tree, on the balcony of a hotel or large house, on a patio, and with a group of women. They were variously dressed in blue plaid shirts, white hooded sweatshirts, and brown jackets.
The video cut quickly between images of them singing, creating a hall of mirrors effect. The disorientation was increased by baseball caps or hoods and large framed eye-glassed that disguised their identifying features.
The most acute doubling was done in a short sequence of male dancing. In the first footage, two men stood, one behind to other, doing the same movements. The montage cut to a split screen of one of the men facing himself and continuing the steps. Later, the two men were facing each other doing the steps done by the solo male.
The dancing in this Ugandan video did not involve men and women touching each other, like in the jitterbug style shown in Jose’s video. In a recurring scene the two men were talking to a line of women, but one was holding a clipboard and the other a cell phone. The women were moving in place.
The import of the lyrics could only be deduced from the video, especially the shrugs and laughs by the men. They probably were singing in Lungandan, or perhaps in the hip hop variant called Lunga-flow. [5] When Jamaican dancehall first was popular, some tried to imitate the island patois [6] like that used by 14 Kayz in a Facebook posting:
"14kayz omukukunavu thanks all of you my fanz the good love you saw me bigiiiiiiup." [7]
Performers
Vocal Soloist: Wespy Machinegun and 14 Kayz
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: flute, synthesizer
Rhythm Accompaniment: drums
Credits
(C) 2017 Africha Entertainment Limited
Notes on Lyrics
Language: Bantu family
Pronunciation: UM by yah
Verses: own
Basic Form: verse-chorus
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: own
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: Repetitions of ABC, where A was a sung verse, B was a chanted one, and C was a chorus done by both. Framed by an introduction like C, and closed with just the instruments.
Singing Style: one man sang, one chanted the verses; call-response on the chorus.
Notes on Performance
Location: the video took place entirely outdoors, perhaps in a park
Microphones: none were shown
Clothing: the women wore dresses or slacks, with tops that were not revealing
Notes on Movement
When Machinegun and Kayz were performing, they often had their arms outspread from the elbows. The male dancers stood on their left legs and moved their right ones from the hips, with their left legs bent at the knees. Their torsos were bent slightly forward from the hips.
Each of the women moved in her own style. The camera didn’t show their feet, so one can only deduce they were stepping or changing their weight from one foot to the other with bent knees. While they stayed in place, several shifted between diagonals. They moved their torsos in several parts, usually back and forth. Their arms tended to be bent at the elbows. Sometimes they did undulating hand gestures. Some other women rolled their forearms around each other.
Notes on Performers
Wikipedia suggested "Uganda’s pop industry was just beginning to be formed" in the 1990s. [8] It still hasn’t developed a popular press: journalists have yet to describe the dancehall environment or interview artists. Or, if they have done so, they have not begun to exploit the internet by posting their articles.
Both performers had Facebook accounts, but didn’t use them much. Machinegun said he was from the Makindye section of the Ugandan capital city, Kampala, and had graduated from Muteesa 1 Royal University in 2014. [9] 14 Kayz omukukunavu only said his "real name is Mugagga jonathan." [10]
Availability
Album: Bundu. 30 June 2017. MP3.
YouTube: uploaded by Africha Entertainment on 26 April 2017.
End Notes
1. For more on the development of Dem Bow, see Wayne Marshall. "Digital Rhythm: The Loopy Origins of Dembow and the Knotty Dancehall Roots of Reggaeton." Wax Poetics website.
2. Wikipedia. "Music of Uganda."
3. Shabba Ranks [Rexton Rawlston Fernando Gordon]. "Dem Bow." Digital-B. Jamaica. 1990. (Discogs entry for song). Uploaded to YouTube by OldSkoolMusic100 on 12 June 2010.
4. For more on Jose Mc and Juicy Landy, see the post for 5 April 2018.
5. Mwenda Ntarangwi. East African Hip Hop. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2009 edition. 25.
6. Wikipedia.
7. 14 Kayz omukukunavu. Facebook.
8. Wikipedia.
9. "About Machinegun Wespy." Facebook.
10. 14 Kayz.
Sunday, May 13, 2018
Sunday, May 6, 2018
Victor Uwaifo - Kumbaya
Topic: Dance Music - Highlife
Victor Uwaifo recorded a version of "Kumbaya" in the highlife tradition of Kwame Asare, mentioned in the post for 29 April 2018. As Jacob Sam, he had extolled the joys of couples dancing together and promised a woman he would love her after she was gone. Uwaifo’s verses asked a woman to "warm me," "wrap me in your arms," and "kiss me." He return he told her she was his "everything," his "sunshine, moon, and stars," and "the best forever."
Uwaifo’s vocal style was more westernized. Sam had a high-pitched voice and spoke his words on tones of the melody. Uwaifo’s voice was lower, and, while he still spoke, rather than sang, his intonation was more musical.
The two artists used their backup vocalists in similar ways. Uwaifo sang the verse alone, but on the chorus other men sang with him in unison. Sam’s lyrics were in Fanti, so I only know their meaning from translation. Thus, while I heard him sing alone and with men in unison, I don’t know what relationship existed between style and text.
Uwaifo’s instrumentation was more contemporary. Instead of Sam’s acoustic guitars and claves, he used an electric guitar, a drum set, and a hand drum. He added brass accents borrowed from the highlife style of E. T. Mensah, also mentioned in the post for 29 April 2018.
He instrumental deployment was more varied. Sam’s guitar and claves repeated one rhythmic phrase, and, when he wasn’t singing, they did not vary their parts. Uwaifo also used a recurring rhythmic figure, but during the instrumental interludes he let the trumpets and electric guitar take his place and play melody.
The brass did not vary the tune, but Uwaifo introduced some minor notes on the electric guitar. In one case, they sounded like a Hawaiian guitar. Interestingly, he told Morgan Greenstreet he had made his own guitar as an adolescent, but when he tried to play with others he discovered
"It was difficult because I tuned to my own taste, it was like the Hawaiian style, do, re, mi, do, sol, mi, do, whereas theirs was the Spanish style, which is EBGDAE." [1]
A non-western aesthetic [2] defined Uwaifo’s treatment of "kumbaya" in the chorus. After Bach, western music had made the melody paramount, and subordinated instruments to playing chords or variations on chords. [3] Highlife was more modular. If one may borrow a metaphor from weaving, one rhythm instrument supplied the framework like the warp on a loom. The other parts, like the weft, wove through in different patterns to create a twill-like fabric that supported the griots who spoke over it and the individuals who danced to the assembled rhythm.
Uwaifo told John Collins he developed his first rhythmic pattern, Akwete, when he was in art school, and used it from 1965 to 1968. Then, he created the Shadow, which was based on the twist. In 1970s, he began using Edo dances as the basis for his continuo. [4] He created another motif in 1976, when he changed the name of his backup group to the Titibitis and added trumpets. [5] He told Greenstreet the titibiti rhythm "gave me a wider scope." [6]
Uwaifo converted the vocal parts into additional components of his rhythm. The lines in the verse weren’t simply iambic, but, when strongly accented, became a succession of xX sounds. In the chorus Uwaifo combined the long-short-long rhythm of "kumbaya" with the "short short" of "oh oh" and the "short" of "oh" in different permutations that floated above the interlaced sounds of the other rhythm instruments.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: Victor Uwaifo
Vocal Group: male group
Instrumental Soloists: electric guitar, trumpets
Instrumental Accompaniment: electric guitar
Rhythm Accompaniment: drum set, hand-played drum, shaker
Credits
"Composed By, Arranged By - Sir Victor Uwaifo (J.P.; M.O.N.)" [7]
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: KUM-ba-YAH, long-short-long
Verses: his own
Basic Form: verse-chorus
Verse Length: 6 line sestet
Verse Rhyme Pattern: most ended with the words "my love"
Verse Repetition Pattern: AB-A
Line Meter: iambic (xX)
Line Length: generally 8, sometimes 9 or 10 syllables
Line Repetition Pattern: none
Chorus Length: 8 lines
Chorus Line Repetition Pattern: AAAA BC BC
A. long-short-long short-short long-short-long (lines 1-4)
B. long-short-long short long-short-long (lines 5 and 7)
C. long-short-long long-short-long short-short long-short-long (lines 6 and 8)
Chorus Meters: repetitions of "kumbaya," "oh oh" and "oh"
Ending: repeated the last line of chorus
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: his own; occasional minor notes in melody and harmony
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: A-BCDD-BCD- BC where
A is a capella (chorus)
B is instrumental
C is the vocal group (chorus)
D is solo voice joined by group (verse-chorus)
Singing Style: one syllable to one note
Solo-Group Dynamics: men joined him on chorus in unison
Vocal-Orchestral Dynamics: began a capella; after that, the melody alternated between voice, trumpets, and electric guitar
Vocal-Rhythm Dynamics: the actual rhythm instruments varied, but they maintained the same supporting pattern
Notes on Performance
The provenance of this recording of "Kumbaya" was not clear. It was released on a four-song album in 1990, but was not listed by Uwaifo in his on-line discography. Indeed, his list of recordings showed a hiatus from 1985 to 1991. [8] This implied his music company was filling the void with collections of unreleased material.
The use of brass indicated "Kumbaya" was recorded some time after 1976, when he changed the name of his backup group. The fact the record covers displayed on Amazon and YouTube identified his musicians with his earlier band name, the Melody Maestros, may have been a marketing ploy.
Uwaifo could have heard "Kumbaya" when he toured the United States in 1970, [9] and may even been asked politely if he knew the song. He also may have heard it anytime after that when he talked to American or European fans.
Notes on Performers
Uwaifo may have turned from recording for a while. He founded a college of music in Benin in 1990, revived his interest in sculpture, and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1995. [10] For more information on his earlier life, see the post for 29 April 2018.
Availability
Album: Hold Your Romeo. Polydor POLP 241. 1990. [11]
Reissue: Hold Your Romeo. Premier Records. MP3. 2010.
YouTube: uploaded to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises on 24 February 2015.
End Notes
1. Victor Uwaifo. Quoted by Morgan Greenstreet. "Sir Victor Uwaifo, Superstar: In His Own Words." Afro Pop website. 20 March 2017.
2. While African music is seen by many as unique, it may, in fact, be the development of a view of music that was widespread before Bach changed the course of European music.
3. Homophony is the technical term for this type of music.
4. John Collins. Musicmakers of West Africa. Washington: Three Continents Press, 1985. 78.
5. Victor Uwaifo website.
6. Greenstreet.
7. "Victor Uwaifo (J.P. ; M.O.N.) And The Titibitis – Hold Your Romeo." Discogs website notes for album.
8. Victor Uwaifo website.
9. Collins. 74.
10. "Biography." Victor Uwaifo website.
11. Discogs.
Victor Uwaifo recorded a version of "Kumbaya" in the highlife tradition of Kwame Asare, mentioned in the post for 29 April 2018. As Jacob Sam, he had extolled the joys of couples dancing together and promised a woman he would love her after she was gone. Uwaifo’s verses asked a woman to "warm me," "wrap me in your arms," and "kiss me." He return he told her she was his "everything," his "sunshine, moon, and stars," and "the best forever."
Uwaifo’s vocal style was more westernized. Sam had a high-pitched voice and spoke his words on tones of the melody. Uwaifo’s voice was lower, and, while he still spoke, rather than sang, his intonation was more musical.
The two artists used their backup vocalists in similar ways. Uwaifo sang the verse alone, but on the chorus other men sang with him in unison. Sam’s lyrics were in Fanti, so I only know their meaning from translation. Thus, while I heard him sing alone and with men in unison, I don’t know what relationship existed between style and text.
Uwaifo’s instrumentation was more contemporary. Instead of Sam’s acoustic guitars and claves, he used an electric guitar, a drum set, and a hand drum. He added brass accents borrowed from the highlife style of E. T. Mensah, also mentioned in the post for 29 April 2018.
He instrumental deployment was more varied. Sam’s guitar and claves repeated one rhythmic phrase, and, when he wasn’t singing, they did not vary their parts. Uwaifo also used a recurring rhythmic figure, but during the instrumental interludes he let the trumpets and electric guitar take his place and play melody.
The brass did not vary the tune, but Uwaifo introduced some minor notes on the electric guitar. In one case, they sounded like a Hawaiian guitar. Interestingly, he told Morgan Greenstreet he had made his own guitar as an adolescent, but when he tried to play with others he discovered
"It was difficult because I tuned to my own taste, it was like the Hawaiian style, do, re, mi, do, sol, mi, do, whereas theirs was the Spanish style, which is EBGDAE." [1]
A non-western aesthetic [2] defined Uwaifo’s treatment of "kumbaya" in the chorus. After Bach, western music had made the melody paramount, and subordinated instruments to playing chords or variations on chords. [3] Highlife was more modular. If one may borrow a metaphor from weaving, one rhythm instrument supplied the framework like the warp on a loom. The other parts, like the weft, wove through in different patterns to create a twill-like fabric that supported the griots who spoke over it and the individuals who danced to the assembled rhythm.
Uwaifo told John Collins he developed his first rhythmic pattern, Akwete, when he was in art school, and used it from 1965 to 1968. Then, he created the Shadow, which was based on the twist. In 1970s, he began using Edo dances as the basis for his continuo. [4] He created another motif in 1976, when he changed the name of his backup group to the Titibitis and added trumpets. [5] He told Greenstreet the titibiti rhythm "gave me a wider scope." [6]
Uwaifo converted the vocal parts into additional components of his rhythm. The lines in the verse weren’t simply iambic, but, when strongly accented, became a succession of xX sounds. In the chorus Uwaifo combined the long-short-long rhythm of "kumbaya" with the "short short" of "oh oh" and the "short" of "oh" in different permutations that floated above the interlaced sounds of the other rhythm instruments.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: Victor Uwaifo
Vocal Group: male group
Instrumental Soloists: electric guitar, trumpets
Instrumental Accompaniment: electric guitar
Rhythm Accompaniment: drum set, hand-played drum, shaker
Credits
"Composed By, Arranged By - Sir Victor Uwaifo (J.P.; M.O.N.)" [7]
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: KUM-ba-YAH, long-short-long
Verses: his own
Basic Form: verse-chorus
Verse Length: 6 line sestet
Verse Rhyme Pattern: most ended with the words "my love"
Verse Repetition Pattern: AB-A
Line Meter: iambic (xX)
Line Length: generally 8, sometimes 9 or 10 syllables
Line Repetition Pattern: none
Chorus Length: 8 lines
Chorus Line Repetition Pattern: AAAA BC BC
A. long-short-long short-short long-short-long (lines 1-4)
B. long-short-long short long-short-long (lines 5 and 7)
C. long-short-long long-short-long short-short long-short-long (lines 6 and 8)
Chorus Meters: repetitions of "kumbaya," "oh oh" and "oh"
Ending: repeated the last line of chorus
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: his own; occasional minor notes in melody and harmony
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: A-BCDD-BCD- BC where
A is a capella (chorus)
B is instrumental
C is the vocal group (chorus)
D is solo voice joined by group (verse-chorus)
Singing Style: one syllable to one note
Solo-Group Dynamics: men joined him on chorus in unison
Vocal-Orchestral Dynamics: began a capella; after that, the melody alternated between voice, trumpets, and electric guitar
Vocal-Rhythm Dynamics: the actual rhythm instruments varied, but they maintained the same supporting pattern
Notes on Performance
The provenance of this recording of "Kumbaya" was not clear. It was released on a four-song album in 1990, but was not listed by Uwaifo in his on-line discography. Indeed, his list of recordings showed a hiatus from 1985 to 1991. [8] This implied his music company was filling the void with collections of unreleased material.
The use of brass indicated "Kumbaya" was recorded some time after 1976, when he changed the name of his backup group. The fact the record covers displayed on Amazon and YouTube identified his musicians with his earlier band name, the Melody Maestros, may have been a marketing ploy.
Uwaifo could have heard "Kumbaya" when he toured the United States in 1970, [9] and may even been asked politely if he knew the song. He also may have heard it anytime after that when he talked to American or European fans.
Notes on Performers
Uwaifo may have turned from recording for a while. He founded a college of music in Benin in 1990, revived his interest in sculpture, and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1995. [10] For more information on his earlier life, see the post for 29 April 2018.
Availability
Album: Hold Your Romeo. Polydor POLP 241. 1990. [11]
Reissue: Hold Your Romeo. Premier Records. MP3. 2010.
YouTube: uploaded to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises on 24 February 2015.
End Notes
1. Victor Uwaifo. Quoted by Morgan Greenstreet. "Sir Victor Uwaifo, Superstar: In His Own Words." Afro Pop website. 20 March 2017.
2. While African music is seen by many as unique, it may, in fact, be the development of a view of music that was widespread before Bach changed the course of European music.
3. Homophony is the technical term for this type of music.
4. John Collins. Musicmakers of West Africa. Washington: Three Continents Press, 1985. 78.
5. Victor Uwaifo website.
6. Greenstreet.
7. "Victor Uwaifo (J.P. ; M.O.N.) And The Titibitis – Hold Your Romeo." Discogs website notes for album.
8. Victor Uwaifo website.
9. Collins. 74.
10. "Biography." Victor Uwaifo website.
11. Discogs.
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