Pearl Rhythm returns to Kampala this weekend

The festival will feature Ugandan musicians Sammy Kasule and Ziwuuna Band, Suzan Kerunen, Aloysious Migadde, WAKE, Buka Chimey, The Undercover Brothers and Michel Ongaro (Kenya).

The line-up will also showcase new artists that were selected during this year’s Pearl Rhythm Stage Coach music mentorship programme. They include Sandra K, Andereya Baguma and Amaru.

Festival co-founder Suzan Kerunen told Music In Africa that the new artists were taken through a two-month training programme which included live performance techniques and studio production.

“I feel very proud, with a sense of accomplishment, for yet another bunch of talent added unto the Pearl Rhythm family,” she said. "We aim at widening the pool of such sounds in the country to create demand and a platform for Ugandan grass roots sounds.”

Kerunen said it’s important to equip the youth with knowledge about the preservation of art and culture and creativity.

“We feel young people are our future custodians of culture and of Ugandan art. Skilling and equipping them now is the best thing to do if we are to leave a legacy,” she explained.

“Traditional music is hard work and requires a lot of commitment and patience, which the current young musicians do not have. They look at this style like a long route, so they opt for a quick fix by making mainstream music.”

Despite this current situation, Kerunen is optimistic. “I feel the future of the recording industry is very bright. Most artists are now going for live recording and aim to get a clean professional sound, making some of our traditional session musicians and vocalist very useful and important in the industry.”

The festival will also hold a series of workshops based on the following topics: Environmental Conservation, Traditional and Contemporary Dance, Art and Craft Making and Traditional and Contemporary Music.

Traditional musician Giovanni Kiyingi will conduct the Traditional and Contemporary Music workshop. He hopes that the workshop will help in bridging the current inter-generational gap in Ugandan music.

“I will be addressing the relevance of fusing the traditional sounds with the current storm of changes in music,” he said. “I believe this is the only way we can still keep who we are to the next generation. Pearl Rhythm happens to be the only festival in Uganda that solely pays tribute to traditional and world music artists.”

Kerunen was last month selected by Music In Africa to showcase at the 2018 Music In Africa Conference for Collaborations, Exchange and Showcases (ACCES) in Nairobi, Kenya, between 15 and 17 November.

For more details about the ACCES 2018 programme, click here.