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Sudan: Juba and Khartoum
American Voices performs with local traditional, jazz, pop and Hip Hop musicians in Juba and in Khartoum
American Voices performs with local traditional, jazz, pop and Hip Hop musicians in Juba and in Khartoum
American Voices first invitation to Sudan drew enthusiastic crowds at concerts and workshops in Juba and Khartoum. In a ‘Musical Bridges’ program designed to bring American Voices Michael Parks Masterson and John Ferguson together with local pop, jazz and traditional musicians, we prepared and performed numerous radio and television performances and three public concerts, together with over 30 young Sudanese musicians ranging from Juba’s ‘Freedom Boys’ to a Khartoum-based duo rapping in all the national dialects including Darfurian. A classically trained pianist, Executive Director John Ferguson said ‘Normally I turn these kinds of joint performance programs over to my jazz teams, but in the case of Sudan, really wanted to be involved on stage. The most interesting musical challenges were what do play with traditional musicians in Juba when two elements of the band were apparently playing in different tunings and keys. But that challenge dissipated at the performance when, once on stage, the excellent traditional musicians and dancers launched into the joint performance segment with pieces we had never heard before! The ‘Khartoum Hip Hop Challenge’ was actually artistically quite liberating when upon analytical listening, I realized that their complicated sampling contained a loop of only two chords, in the key of E-flat minor of all things. All I needed was the baseball cap and to be thirty years younger to look the part…..It was great to see so many young people from Sudan University at our concert.
Other highlights of the trip were the marathon evening performance in Juba which was apparently the first performance by American artists ever in Juba. Despite the impossibly bumpy unpaved roads and general difficulty of getting everyone in the same room at the same time for rehearsals, this was a great show and a great experience for all involved. We are looking forward to a return visit.
On his last day in Sudan, John Ferguson gave a lecture recital called ‘Variations on America’ for the music department of Sudan University in Khartoum. The program ranged from ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ to minimalist works by Frederic Rzewski and the students lapped up the opportunity to hear virtuosic piano repertoire for the first time as well as discover a world of genres and composers that was completely new to them. We are currently preparing a large donation of several boxes of music scores and educational materials, including jazz methods for these enthusiastic future professional musicians at Sudan and Juba universities.
Sudan is Africa’s largest country. As part of the peace agreement between the Khartoum government and Southern Sudan in 2005, there will be a referendum in 2011 in Southern Sudan to choose independence or to remain an autonomous republic within Sudan. It is a very complicated landscape and political situation. We understand that considering the continued events in Darfur, our visit could be considered controversial. However, upon having been there, American Voices is more convinced than ever before that cultural exchange programs such as ours offer the possibility for greater mutual understanding between peoples. For more on Sudan, please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudan
American Voices returns from India, Afghanistan and Thailand
