5.0 out of 5 stars
Ugandans sing & dance to educate, care, outreach & comfort others, August 5, 2007
This review is from: Singing for Life: Songs of Hope, Healing and HIV/AIDS in Uganda (Audio CD)
Playing Time - 67:04 -- Uganda's traditional music sounds are used to deal with a very serious contemporary issue. Some of the groups featured include Vilimina Nakiranda and the Bakuseka Majja Group, Kibaale Village Embaire Ensemble, Jumbo Theatre Group, Embaire Ensemble, MUDINET Dance Group, TASGA Dance Group, Kanihiro Group, and others. It isn't until page 29 of the 36-page CD booklet that the issue of HIV/AIDS in Uganda is put into perspective. Of the nearly 40 million people infected with the HIV virus worldwide, about two-thirds live in sub-Saharan Africa. Uganda's countrywide response to the pandemic has resulted in a remarkable, constant decline in overall infection rates. While many factors have contributed to the decline, the liner notes written by this album's producer/recorder George Barz notes that music has been one critical factor. Singing and dancing their response to AIDS, Ugandans have found a unique way to educate, care, outreach and comfort others. Thus, the 14 field recordings on this album exhibit the strong attitudes of thoughtfulness, consideration, attention and protection of others. Listening to this album becomes a pivotal educational experience that increases our awareness of the global issue and the need for compassion to others.
Barz is an associate professor of ethnomusicology and anthropology at Vanderbilt University. As he traveled the rural Uganda countryside, he found dramatizations and dance in various settings. The diversity of instruments is interesting. There are flutes, panpipes, string tube fiddles, harps, lyres, drums, plucked thumb pianos, and xylophones. The instruments accompany singing, dancing, clapping and ululating (high-pitched vocal cries). If there is one thing missing in the liner notes, it's some info about Barz's recording gear, travels, dates and field collection techniques to make this album. The important thing to remember, however, is that Ugandans are musically creating better-informed communities and more attention on the need for health education. They are truly "Singing for Life." Best of all, proceeds from the sale of this CD support the social service networks of two non-governmental agencies in Uganda. Meeting Point provides shelter, education, home care and vocational training. Integrated Development and AIDS Concern (IDAAC) supports educational and health-care outreach efforts. (Joe Ross, Roseburg, OR.)
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