Ssewa Ssewa: Nva K'la (ARC Music/Southbound/digital outlets)

 |   |  <1 min read

Ssewa Ssewa: Nva K'la (ARC Music/Southbound/digital outlets)

This smart 33-year old Ugandan multi-instrumentalist and singer has invented his own instrument, the 15-string harp-like Janzi which is non-metallic so he can pass through airport security without much hassle.

That's just one reason he's smart.

Another is the evidence on this multi-lingual album where his seductively low vocal rides across gently bubbling rhythms, mesmerising guitar figures which repeat and pull you in, and pointed Janzi solos which have an almost pointillistic precision.

With xylophone in the mix alongside those tickling guitars and Janzi, this is a shimmering, emotionally engaging 13-song collection . . . and the inevitable reggae song.

If you are aware of the broad swathe of music out of northern Africa this sits somewhere along a line between the slower and seductive sounds of King Sunny Ade, Ali Farka Toure and the soukous style out of Zaire.

.

You can hear this album on Spotify here.


Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   World Music from Elsewhere articles index

WOMAD ARTIST 2015: Barbarito Torres of the Buena Vista Social Club

WOMAD ARTIST 2015: Barbarito Torres of the Buena Vista Social Club

Anyone who has tried to translate between different languages knows the difficulties: it's not just vocabulary but nuance, idioms, inflection and humour which can get lost somewhere along the... > Read more

Various: The Rough Guide to Africa Blues (Elite)

Various: The Rough Guide to Africa Blues (Elite)

Many decades ago now Paul Oliver wrote his then-definitive and still useful The Story of the Blues (Penguin, 1969). My recollection was that at the time there was also a tie-in double album which... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Dennis Bovell: Mek It Run (Pressure Sounds)

Dennis Bovell: Mek It Run (Pressure Sounds)

For a very long time from the mid Seventies bassist/producer Dennis Bovell was the go-to guy when British artists wanted an authentic deep dub sound. His work with poet Linton Kewsi Johnson has... > Read more

THE SACRED TRIANGLE; BOWIE, IGGY AND LOU 1971-1973 (Sexy Intellectual/Triton DVD)

THE SACRED TRIANGLE; BOWIE, IGGY AND LOU 1971-1973 (Sexy Intellectual/Triton DVD)

It's hard to believe but in the same year as the Velvet Underground's debut album came out, David Bowie's new single was The Laughing Gnome, a gimmick song and another desperate step in trying to... > Read more