The Kars

“Benny A. Kalanzi and John M. Sendaula are two of Uganda’s foremost Composer-Musicians who, like Bartok and Kodaly in Hungary, have made it their life’s work to collect and write down their country’s traditional music. Both artists are joined by Margaret Mugalula and perform the brilliant feat of singing and playing a large variety of native instruments.” So says the sleeve notes, but in fact the guitar appears more often than any other instrument, and several tracks are evidently influenced by the East African acoustic styles of the 1950s and ‘60s. There’s a piano on several tracks as well. But this is African music for the international concert stage and even when they’re using traditional instruments, the effect is much more light and polite than anything you’ll hear on field recordings. A few tracks (notably the lament for John. F. Kennedy) are dull and ill-conceived, so this is by no means an essential LP to track down, or to pay an inflated collector’s price for, but at its best the Kars’ music is attractive and interesting enough to make this album worth picking up.


The Kars: Mazina - African Songs of Yesterday and Today - Apollo Sound ASF 6001 (1969) “Benny A. Kalanzi and John M. Sendaula are two of Uganda’s foremost Composer-Musicians who, like Bartok and Kodaly in Hungary, have made it their life’s work to collect and write down their country’s traditional music. Both artists are joined by Margaret Mugalula and perform the brilliant feat of singing and playing a large variety of native instruments.” So says the sleeve notes, but in fact the guitar appears more often than any other instrument, and several tracks are evidently influenced by the East African acoustic styles of the 1950s and ‘60s. There’s a piano on several tracks as well. But this is African music for the international concert stage and even when they’re using traditional instruments, the effect is much more light and polite than anything you’ll hear on field recordings. A few tracks (notably the lament for John. F. Kennedy) are dull and ill-conceived, so this is by no means an essential LP to track down, or to pay an inflated collector’s price for, but at its best the Kars’ music is attractive and interesting enough to make this album worth picking up.

Side A Nze Mbalamusa September Muno Muno Omwa Tundu J.F.Kennedy Salaam Nyikira Nnuo Sikutendera Bulaya Tulamuse Abagenyi	Side B Mirina Wuyo Nankya! Oh Josephine, Why Let Me Down O Mama Geni Kachachali-Sematimba Obuvubuka Bulungi Abagenyi Abagalwa Mweraba Kasadde-Kampeko
back to rare LPs index