Enock Kimbowa
14 December 2007
Ever since her glory days of Obangaina when she used to reduce Afrigo Band's legendary vocalist Joanita Kawalya to a back-up vocalist, there has been a sense of "undefined-ness" about Rachael Magoola's music career.
That will probably last until you see her in concert, armed with hits off her latest album Songs from the Source of the Nile.
The former Afrigo vocalist and dancer is working her way back into the limelight.
The kick-off was at the Treaty Centre in Hounslow, London where the multi-lingual songstress started her UK tour, doing what only Mariam Ndagire has been brave enough to do; she went solo in a concert that lasted more than two hours and still left people asking where she will be performing next.
She presented herself in a different world music packaging that showcased music from across the country, and beyond.
The starting point was Busoga with her greatest hit yet, Obangaina. She then went across to western Uganda with Ekizino - a song whose title, she admitted, causes a stir of shyness amongst her Baganda fans - as she started on her new material.
With traditional dance routines to match, Magoola's Ugandan Music concert goes as far as Mombasa, 'via Nairobi' as she does the Nikei Nairobi classic along side her own Swahili hits.
Her London tour is enhanced by London-based producer Kaz Kasozi who does her sound engineering as well play the guitar. The output of traditional sounding music with no traditional instrument in sight is simply unbelievable. The five-piece band (with Kasozi as the only Ugandan and two whites) is a sheer piece of professionalism for the entire production.
The folksy sound of Magoola's music is now set to be her new identity as Obangaina graduates to classic status. She now takes it beyond her own Lusoga to perform music that even calls for introduction.
She takes the skill comparable to that of Joanita Kawalya, Betty Mpologoma and Mariam Ndagire and gives it a different traditional feel that is bound to give her a unique characteristic in Ugandan music.
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