Court Composer-Performers of the Songs Featured in This Book

The versions of court songs that appear in this book were performed or composed by Albert Muwanga Ssempeke (ca. 1930–2006), Ludoviiko Sserwanga (ca. 1932–2013), Ssaalongo Kiwanuka Matovu Deziderio (1924–2015), Ssaalongo Paulo Kabwama (1923–2020), Albert Ssempeke Bisaso (b. 1979), Ssaalongo Ssennoga Majwala (b. 1953), Semeo Ssemambo Ssebuwufu (ca. 1959–2015), and Mukasa Kafeero (b. 1971). Ssempeke, Sserwanga, Deziderio, Kabwama, and Ssebuwufu had long-standing connections to the Kiganda court music institution and served as resident musicians in the kingdom’s main court in Mmengo during the reigns of King Daudi Ccwa II (r. 1897–1939) and Muteesa II. They remained faithful to the kingship throughout its dissolution between 1966 and 1993 and returned to the Mmengo court to perform there occasionally after the kingship’s restoration in 1993. Majwala and Bisaso performed in the Mmengo court only after the restoration. Although Kafeero never served as a resident musician in the main court, he lived and performed at the Wamala royal court in the late 1970s and 1980s. In the following paragraphs, I present brief biographies of these musicians along with the titles of the songs they contributed to this book.

A musical historian and custodian of knowledge on various aspects of Kiganda royal court history, Mukasa Kafeero performed four of the songs discussed in part 2: “The Handsome Catch a Slight Squint” (“Empujjo Zikwata Balungi”); “Fair-Skinned” (“Kabirinnage”); “As He Plucked Them” (“Bwe Yazimaanya”); and “Householder” (“Nnannyinimu”). Kafeero learned a lot about royal court life during the 1970s. At the time, he was living in the Wamala royal court of King Ssuuna II (r. ca. 1824–1854), where he was raised by his grandmother. During that time Kafeero became acquainted with every department of the Wamala court, learning many songs in the court music repertoire. By living in the court and listening to narrations of royal histories, he became familiar with the lives and reigns of Kings Kamaanya (r. ca. 1794–1824) and his son Ssuuna II.1Kafeero interview, July 28, 2005. The sparse, conversational nature of the performances of the four songs he presented during our interview in 2005 reflects some of the ways that important information has been passed down via oral performance historically in Buganda. These performances particularly provide insight into the improvisational, even haphazard, method by which Baganda composer-performers bring new songs to life and re-create preexisting ones.

A talented xylophonist, Semeo Ssemambo Ssebuwufu was particularly unique among the musicians I interviewed for this book because he was the only one who had served as a court page (omusiige) within the royal court in Mmengo. Ssebuwufu shared that his family nominated him for a court page position when he was a little boy, during the administration of King Muteesa II. Ssebuwufu’s father, the court music performer Yowaana Maswanku Kalyagonja, submitted the names of Ssebuwufu and his younger brother Musisi for the position of page from their primary clan, the Elephant (Njovu) Clan. The musicians’ paternal uncle Antanansi Nnakuzaabasajja, also a court musician, helped considerably with their appointment process. Nnakuzaabasajja served as the head of the Players of Seventeen to Twenty-Two Slab Xylophones (Abaakadinda). Playing this instrument was one of the duties of the Elephant Clan. Ssebuwufu and his brother played the xylophone at the Mmengo court until the national government bombed it in 1966 and were among the few court pages and residents who survived the event. When I interviewed Ssebuwufu for this project in 2009 and 2013, he was performing Kiganda court music at social events and working as an instrument-making instructor at Kyambogo University, where he taught for four decades until his retirement in 2012.2Ssebuwufu interview, June 4, 2013. Ssebuwufu contributed the following songs to this study: “Gganga Had a Narrow Escape” (“Gganga Alula”) or “They Chopped Off His Fingers” (“Baamutemako Engalo”), “Mawanda Loves His Men” (“Mawanda Ayagala Abasajja Be”), and “Baamunaanika Hill” (“Akosozi Baamunaanika”).

Although it was not unusual for siblings to serve in the royal court at the same time, Albert Muwanga Ssempeke and Ludoviiko Sserwanga were the only two sibling court performers who simultaneously lived into the reign of King Ronald Mutebi II (r. 1993–present) and the beginning of the twenty-first century. For this project Ssempeke performed four songs: “I Would Have Given You a Large Haplochromis” (“Nandikuwadde Enkejje Entulumba”), “The Flutists’ Legal Case” (“Omusango gw’Abalere”), “The Little Lion” (“Akawologoma”), and “Let Me Plod with a Stick Close to Kibuuka” (“Ka Nsimbe Omuggo awali Kibuuka”). Sserwanga also performed four songs: “They Show Each Other Stumps” (“Balagana Enkonge”), “Baamunaanika Hill” (“Akosozi Baamunaanika”), “We Love the Supreme Man Exceedingly” (“Ssaabasajja Tumwagala Nnyo”), and “Ssematimba and Kikwabanga” (“Ssematimba ne Kikwabanga”).

Son of the famed court musician Albert Muwanga Ssempeke and nephew of Ludoviiko Sserwanga, both discussed earlier, Albert Ssempeke Bisaso took after his father and uncle, working as an on-demand performer at social and political events inside and outside the court. He explained that because of his father’s busy performance career, Bisaso was primarily raised by his maternal grandparents. He first began playing Kiganda musical instruments when he was around nine years old. His choice to pursue Kiganda court music performance was a conscious decision through which he intended to preserve the work and legacy of his father. Bisaso’s father taught him much of what he learned during his early years, but later he learned from other relatives, his paternal uncle Sserwanga and his brothers.6Bisaso interview, September 14, 2003.

Like most of the other court composer-performers presented in the preceding sections, Ssaalongo Kiwanuka Matovu Deziderio was introduced to and subsequently became fascinated with Kiganda music at an early age. His uncle Matyansi Kibirige Baazibumbira introduced him to the tube fiddle (endingidi), and from then on he was determined to master the instrument. Around 1937, Deziderio began performing at weddings after learning various songs from his uncle. These types of performances enabled him to meet King Muteesa II later in his youth. Deziderio and Muteesa II met at a wedding in Kabasanda, where the former had attended the event to sing and play the tube fiddle (endingidi). The two were the same age, and Muteesa II—whose father, King Daudi Ccwa II, was the king of Buganda—was a mere prince. Muteesa II attended this event as an honored guest, to which he had traveled with accompanying attendants in his father’s car. After listening to Deziderio’s skillful performance on the tube fiddle, the prince called him over and asked if he wished to be a performer in his father’s court. Deziderio, who could not believe his good fortune, quickly agreed to see what the job was like. However, he loved playing at weddings and knew that the court administration barely allowed resident musicians to perform extensively outside the court, so he decided to continue as a wedding performer for the next few years. Eventually in 1950, by then a young man, he took a position at the Mmengo royal court. His primary role as a tube fiddle player and singer was within Abadongo ba Kabaka, one of the court ensembles mentioned earlier. Deziderio performed at the Mmengo court until the 1966 attack.8Deziderio interview, July 15, 2005. I interviewed him between 2005 and 2006, during which time he performed the four songs he contributed to this book: “Federalism” (“Federo”), “The King Is a Lion” (“Kabaka Mpologoma”), “Poland” (“Polanda”), and “Unadvisable Kayemba” (“Kayemba Nantabuulirirwa”).

The musical career of Ssaalongo Paulo Kabwama began with the tube fiddle (endingidi), which he first played in 1939 while performing court songs. Kabwama’s father, Kayondo, a court musician who served King Daudi Ccwa II and his heir, King Sir Edward Muteesa II, paved the way for the young musician to join the court. Although a magnificent artist in his own right, Kabwama served as only a part-time performer in the royal court, meaning that he did not live there full-time, unlike the musical pages. He was not satisfied with mastering only one instrument, so he made it his goal to study with skilled musicians who played instruments that were new to him. Once he discovered that someone played his instrument extraordinarily well, he would observe, imitate, follow, and meet religiously with him to learn his skill. Like many of his contemporaries, he learned through participation, imitation, and absorption, among other indigenous learning styles.9For a detailed discussion of these styles, see Wiggins 2005, 74. Although Kabwama did not talk very often or openly with his parents about his interest in Kiganda instruments, his drive and talent were so pronounced that they were able to recognize it, and soon enough his parents began to connect him with other players.10Kabwama interview, July 20, 2005. I recorded Kabwama’s interview in 2005, during which time he performed the song “He Has a Lot on His Mind” (“Alina Bingi By’Alowooza”) for this project.

Ssaalongo Ssennoga Majwala first encountered Kiganda music during his childhood, through playing his father’s drum. Later he became an expert on the various types of Kiganda drums (baakisimba or embuutu, empuunyi, engalabi, and nankasa or namunjoloba). In addition, he learned how to play other Kiganda musical instruments such as gourd shakers (ensaasi), xylophones (amadinda and akadinda), animal horn (eŋŋombe), bowl lyre (endongo), and bow harp (ennanga). Although Majwala never performed in the court before the 1966 political crisis discussed earlier, he played these instruments at many occasions involving royals both inside and outside the Mmengo court following the restoration of Buganda’s kingship in 1993. Over the course of his professional career, he learned a significant portion of the court music repertoire from some of the aforementioned musicians.11Majwala interview, September 22, 2003. He also maintained an active research career and served as a music lecturer at Kyambogo University until 2018. Majwala continues to work with the Uganda National Examination Board and teach part-time at Kyambogo, where he judges arts festivals and events. I initially interviewed Majwala and recorded the two songs he performed for this project in 2003: an alternate version of “The Battle of Nsinsi” (“Olutalo olw’e Nsinsi”) and “The Pebble Is Breaking Me” (“Akayinja Kammenya”). In subsequent years I attended and documented various public events at which Majwala performed these songs.