TCR

Project 7

Supported by the Commonwealth Foundation

The Commonwealth Bands Together Tuesday Nov 20th – Saturday Nov 24th

By Peter Harvey

Young musician from the M-Lisada Band

When I volunteered to help chaperone some students from the Royal College of Music Junior Department on a trip to Kampala in Uganda coinciding with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference I had no idea what I had let myself in for! When Alison Cox discovered I was going she deputed me to organise a workshop with local brass bands in Uganda. I was given some email addresses and asked to get on with it. There followed a fascinating series of exchanges from which I discovered all about 2 brass bands who existed about 150 miles apart with no knowledge of each other and both with not dissimilar origins and entirely similar problems.

The FDNC Youth Band from Mbale (4 hours to the North-East of Kampala) performing in the People’s Space

The M-Lisada Youth Band from Kampala with acrobats

I received scant information about the M-Lisada band of Kampala apart from a fascinating DVD made by themselves about their lives and the personalities of some of the leaders and members. The other band from Mbale were more forthcoming as their founder and benefactor is an Englishman (Philip Monk) who had been in the Leicestershire Youth Orchestra in his youth and we discovered that we had many mutual friends. Philip had been hooked into Africa by sponsoring and then visiting a young girl in Mountain Uganda. He then read about a small charity that wanted to start a brass band in Mbale. Since he had been a cornet player with Desford Brass amongst others in the UK ‘the rest is history’ as they say. At the moment Philip has 2 bands in Mbale and is teaching at least 100 young Africans, from deprived rural backgrounds, brass playing. He prides himself on having the first full brass band in Africa south of the Saraha who can read music sitting down with music on music stands.

The FDNC Band in Mbale, April 2007 Philip Monk We organised a workshop half way through our week in the Ndere Centre in Ntinda. This was a big thing for the Mbale band as they had a 4hr journey on African roads in 2 buses and had to find suitable accommodation for 2 nights. This all had to be paid for. It was all thought worthwhile as these 60 young musicians, most of whom had never left their village, were to get a chance to perform in a big city and a chance to work with other African and international musicians. The problem of life in Africa reared its ugly head when the hotel the Mbele band had booked for their stay in Kampala let them down at the last moment. They found themselves in a hostel which was patronised by prostitutes who plied their trade there 24/7 – not the best start for the kids’ first visit to a big city or, as for most of them their first journey of more than a few miles from their home villages.

On the day of the workshop the Mbele band arrived early enough to join in a workshop led by Keith Waithe an African music workshop leader from England. There were local musicians plus other musicians from the UK, Ghana, Cameroon, India and Nigeria.

The FDNC band from Mbale joining in an improvisation workshop with Keith Waithe and international musicians

Keith and the other musicians demonstrated many traditional African instruments and had a glorious jamming session with everyone who was there. The Mbele band really enjoyed this interaction with professional musicians and discovering ethnic and other instruments they had probably never seen or heard before.

Listening to a saxophone played by Yebga Likoba from Cameroon

They then watched a demonstration of Indian tabla playing led by an Anglo/Indian(Yogesh Dattani) who was making his first visit to Uganda after being expelled with his family when he was 4 years old during Idi Amin’s administration.

Yogesh Dattani conducting a tabla workshop, including FDNC band members As it was stormy the brass band workshop was held in the Ndere centre theatre which was ideal for the 70 plus musicians assembled on the stage. We first of all got the two bands recognised by their different brightly-coloured uniforms to perform to each other which was fascinating as neither band had met or even heard of one another before. Both their music was very similar (very African) and not that dissimilar in standard.

Bands performing to one other in the Ndere auditorium The Mbele band is bigger and better equipped and is more disciplined as their founder Philip Monk is very hands-on conducting and making most of the musical decisions.

The M- Lisada band have a young boy who conducts them and wields a mace when they march but is more a figurehead than a leader as he himself openly admitted. He was thrilled when Simon Wills gave him a conducting lesson later.

Young boy conducting the M-Lisada Band The older boys who teach and are generally in charge operate the band more by committee. It works to a point but in the long term is not going to be satisfactory. The four of us working with the bands – Owen Hubbard, a schoolboy trombone player from Chethams School of Music, Emma Pritchard, a postgraduate student trumpet player from Guildhall School of Music and Drama and two more experienced professionals - Simon Wills and myself. We had debated how to run this workshop as we thought that they would not be able to read music well enough to attempt new music in 2 hours. We were pleasantly surprised to find that they could read quite well (they were all learning) and best of all they could all play by ear so were much more attuned to copying by example and learning by rote. We were able to talk about and demonstrate basic techniques, which they very quickly copied.

Simon Wills coaching M-Lisada band members

We all joined in and talked about our pet subjects i.e. breathing, buzzing using your lips alone to make notes (yes – raspberry noises if you like)!, lip flexibilities and introducing phrasing and dynamics to make their performance more interesting to potential employers. I played them the first line of ‘God Save the Queen’ (as she had just arrived in Kampala that day) and they all to a man played it back to me. I tried other tunes and even a tune with a deliberate wrong note in it and they still played it back to me. This is something we all agreed that if we had tried with students of any music school or college in the UK would have probably been very embarrassing as most UK music students seem totally tied to the written music. Pressure from music exams and playing in bands and orchestras means that this aspect of musicianship is sadly neglected and undeveloped highlighting a serious deficiency in our teaching methods and exam requirements.

All-in-all it was very satisfying working with these eager receptive young musicians whose lives were undistracted by computer games, TV in general, pop music and all the distractions of modern Western life. Everyone found it an amazing experience. We learnt infinitely far more from them than they learnt from us which I think is the right ratio when one teaches. There was an interesting moment when the Mbale band wanted to play some pieces that they were playing in concert that night and the following day in the Peoples Space in downtown Kampala. Out came the music stands and the well-thumbed sheets of music and they were off. The M-Lisada band who were sitting amongst them instead of sitting listening each craned over to see the music and joined in. Real magic!!!

Peter Harvey (at the back on the right) Emma Pritchard (back, centre) and Simon Wills (back left) with the M-Lisada Youth Band

Follow-up on Thursday 22nd November Mbele Band Following the workshop I watched the Mbele band perform at the People’s Space the next day. Bands had to book time slots to play on the stage at this exhibition park where there were trade and cultural stands mainly representing Ugandan cultural enterprise. The band were there at 8.30 in the morning and left late in the evening to travel back to Male having played many times on the stage even appearing on Ugandan TV – Result!!

M-Lisada Band We were able to visit the M-Lisada band twice in the remaining time we had in Kampala All four of us were so moved by the experience of the workshop that we wanted to learn more about them and continue the work we had started. The first time was more like a State Visit with us being shown around

their domain, office, sleeping quarters, and the tree under which they practice in the shade.

M-Lisada office sleeping quarters We were given a full 30-min concert, which included some marches, and their native music, which accompanied dancers and an acrobatic troupe – all part of the ‘Band’. The acrobatics were performed by the youngest members, consisting mainly of rather dangerous-looking human pyramids, which terrified us let alone them.

human pyramid dance troupe After these official welcoming ceremonies we were able to present the band members with some new cymbals and a bass trombone which we had brought over from the UK. (There was also a collection of instruments donated by friends in the UK waiting to be processed at Entebbe Airport).

Peter Harvey - and a new trombone for the band! They presented us with greeting cards and necklaces made by the band members as part of a cottage industry, which they use to help sustain themselves. A 21-year-old (Boscoe) is their leader who is helped by 2 or 3 18-year-old assistants. They earn money from playing at weddings, funerals, and all sorts of functions which helps them buy food and pay for such things as communication via the internet café, rent of accommodation and their tiny office. There wasn’t time do any work with them but it was interesting to see them in their own environment, which was breath-snatchingly squalid, and to think of ways in which we could possibly help them.

Rehearsal in the shade The four of us managed another trip to the shanty town to work with the Mlisada band on our one free day. Even though there were exciting trips to the source of the Nile and a chance to get out of the city we were all to a man eager to go back and work with the band again. Having had the State Visit treatment the first time we insisted that if we came back we wanted to do intensive work with the band so that we could reinforce what we had talked about in the workshop and hope to sow the seeds for an ongoing enthusiasm to improve. As it was a weekend we had the facilities of the primitive school classrooms and were able to split into groups and work on the players’ technique. After that we worked all together under their tree. We suggested they try a different formation for band playing which meant sitting (or standing) in a semi circle pointing inwards to the conductor rather than pointing out as they usually did. This we hoped would make it easier for them to listen to each other and therefore play better in tune, phrase together more and sound generally like a proper brass band rather than a group of individuals playing for themselves. We got them to play one of their pieces and we then suggested ways of making the piece sound more musical. We managed to get them playing softly and in tune despite their awful instruments, half of which do not work properly. What we managed to do with them in a couple of hours was truly amazing.

Bombardone

What I found most humbling was the general acceptance of their lot and the general cheerfulness and good humour of these people in the presence of sheer masses of people living cheek by jowl with almost non-existent sanitation and drainage with disease and malnutrition a constant companion.

listening to the new trombone Peter Harvey with band members Conclusions and what to do next This was a real life changing experience for us four. Not one of us - young or old - was left unmoved by the experience. I shall never forget watching Owen Hubbard working with the band something he had never done before in his life. He was nervous to start with but by the end of the week he had become a different person and growing in confidence every day. The mutual benefits, for both the African Children and young UK students, are a winning formula and must be repeated. Emma Pritchard is already making plans to go for an extended visit when she finishes her course at the Guildhall. The meeting of Philip Monk and the Mlisada band is by far the best thing that happened because of the workshop. Philip and his charities are the best way for us in the UK to communicate and channel instruments and financial help to the bands and he is the best person to tell us what both bands need. With his enthusiasm there will probably be an Ugandan Brass Band Festival in a couple of years time. I am desperate to go again soon and take my wife who is a singing teacher who should find lots to do. Dear Alison and Martin Just a little note to thank you for changing my life (and everyone else’s on the trip for that matter). Now that the dust has settled I now realise what you enabled us to achieve in such a short time and best of all that what we did was not just an ego trip but in a small way we have started things happening which are unstoppable. I am desperate to get back there. Philip Monk from the Mbele Band, who came here to pick up some instruments that had been donated by local friends for the project, told me that

he has become an uncle to the M-Lisada Band as he has been to see them in their slum home and seen how they manage to survive and what they need to improve the standard of the band with things such as music stands, music and chairs to sit on. Philip is willing to help us make things happen. He has also seen that through Simon Yiga there is funding for some of the M-Lisada kids to take Associated Board Exams. He is going to try and tie in his own band to this as he realises that being able to read music is a potential passport to success for these bands as it gives them a better a chance to finance themselves and a chance for individuals to broaden their horizons.

Young musician with new cymbals

Project Leader – Peter Harvey Assisted by Simon Wills, Emma Pritchard and Owen Hubbard

Documentation by Peter Harvey and Alison Cox

Photographs by Peter Harvey, Margaret Moore and Martin Wess

With special thanks to Simon Yiga and Philip Monk

We are also grateful to the British Council for enabling the bands to perform in the People’s Space on Thursday 22nd November