Uganda: Ssewa in Sweden to promote janzi instrument

Ssewa told Music In Africa that he would stage shows and conduct workshops on his recently invented 22-string janzi instrument.

“I am excited about this opportunity,” he said. “My workshop will generally be about Ugandan traditional instruments, but the core purpose of my tour is to introduce and promote this instrument. I will be speaking about the inspiration behind janzi, the challenges I experienced and then conduct demonstrations on the instrument building and repair process.”

The multi-instrumentalist said he would also play the adungu, akogo and endingidi traditional instruments while in Sweden.

“I hope to get more connections with musicians, music schools, universities, local community music groups and ethnomusicologists," Ssewa said. "I hope to grow the market for janzi and other Ugandan instruments. The University of Munich in Germany bought a janzi earlier this year when I was there for a workshop.”

Since 2016, Ssewa has single-handedly promoted the instrument in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Austria, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Czech Republic and the Netherlands.  

He says efforts to collaborate with the Ugandan government to introduce the new instrument in schools have been unsuccessful. But the inventor plans to push forward with the promotion of traditional instruments despite the lack of support.

“I hope to build a factory for making janzi and other traditional instruments. This is because it’s a challenge for many musicians to find the required machinery and accessories for the instruments,” Ssewa says.

“I also want to build a cultural school in Uganda and maybe start a folk festival where we host musicians from Uganda, Africa and rest of the world to showcase and collaborate."

In the meantime, the singer has pleaded with the government to set up developmental strategies to abate the decline in development of Uganda’s traditional music.

“Western culture over Ugandan culture is on a constant rise. We have seen institutions welcome and teach more Western classical music and instruments than our own,” Ssewa said.

Ssewa Ssewa Sweden performance dates:

3.10     Seniorhuset Berghem, Umeå. 
10.10   Seniorhuset Backen, Umeå.
11.10   Kaffe Scen Nordana Theater, Skelleftea.
16.10   Trygghet, Skelleftea.
19.10   Rwd Cross, Skelleftea.
20.10   Landskyrkan Forsamlings garden, Skelleftea.