Egyptian Singer, Meet Burundi Bassist. Play Among Yourselves!
Late one night, Dina el-Wadi, a singer and musician from Cairo, arrived in Kampala, Uganda. She'd come for a gathering of musicians who live in countries along the Nile River.
She went to bed and woke up to pure enchantment: "I found a very beautiful woman singing in the morning in a very, very, very magical way. So I said, 'Oh, who is this girl that's going to sing with us?'"
It was Selamnesh Zemene from Ethiopia. Dina was fascinated. The two singers began comparing traditional musical modes and vocal techniques, and right away created a song together.
They called the song "In Wonderland."
A Nile Project concert in Al Azhar Park, Cairo, Egypt, 31 January, 2013.
That's a great title, because the Nile Project creates its own wonderland.
"We started about 3 1/2 years ago to bring musicians from the 11 Nile basin countries to collaborate on music that merges many of their traditions and styles and instruments," says Egyptian ethnomusicologist Mina Girgis, co-founder and president of the Nile Project. "So we have musicians from Uganda, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and from Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. And we are using this music to inspire a larger conversation about water and about all the challenges we face in the Nile basin."
If not for this initiative, the musicians would likely never meet.
"I didn't have any chance in Egypt to collaborate with African musicians," says Dina el-Wadi. "Usually we participate with European and American musicians. So for me, it was the first time to get in touch with the real scene now in East Africa. I start to love so much the African identity, because usually we are near to the Arab culture more than the African culture in Egypt. So as I love the Oriental stuff, I really love the African stuff now."
Steven Sogo, a bass player from Burundi, agrees.
"In Africa, we don't listen to each other," he says. "In my country, you will listen easily to American music, to some African music like Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa. That's it. So when I met these guys, and for the first time I heard Egyptian music I said, 'Wow.' And then after a year, I practiced this music, but I didn't feel good, because even though you've learned this, you have to feel it. Now actually I can say that I'm very lucky, I can feel it and I can enjoy this music and understand. So the Nile project for me has been like a school."
Performing in the Nile Project is a challenge. "No one leader here," says Dina el-Wadi. "We create together. So to be chorus sometimes, to be lead singer sometimes, to be a musician on one track [and] to be just listener. There was a lot of challenge. Artists have to negotiate different languages, different musical systems, singing lead on one song and being in the chorus on the next."
When they all come on stage together — 13 of the musicians are currently touring the U.S. — you'd never know.
Picture a stage full of musicians and singers surrounded by instruments both familiar and strange. In the center, a robed African woman plays a large, deep-toned lyre called inanga. Egyptian ethnomusicologist Mina Girgis is co-founder and president of the Nile Project. He says the inanga is a kind of invitation to a musical journey along the Nile.
"We start the show with Sophie Nzayisenga from Rwanda playing the inanga," says Mina Girgis. (That's a deep-toned lyre.) "And every musician comes on stage to join her. No one leaves the stage during the entire show. It's one band. So we have individuals playing many instruments. There are many dialogues that happen on stage. The songs kind of weave traditions. And some would sound Egyptian. Some would sound Ethiopian, but many are sounding like a collaborations among these different styles."
The hope is that the collaboration will not only to greater understanding but to better stewardship of the river itself.
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Transcript
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
An unusual ensemble of 13 African musicians is touring the United States right now. The group is called the Nile Project. It brings together musicians from seven countries along the Nile River Basin. Their shows are joyous, even raucous. Banning Eyre recently caught up with some of the musicians.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BANNING EYRE, BYLINE: Picture a stage full of musicians and singers surrounded by instruments, both familiar and strange. In the center, a woman plays a large, deep-toned lyre called inanga - the opening of the Nile Project concert. The project's cofounder and president, Mina Girgis, says the inanga is a kind of invitation to a musical journey along the Nile.
MINA GIRGIS: We start the show with Sophie Nzayisenga from Rwanda playing the inanga, and every musician comes on stage to join her.
EYRE: For all the spectacle unfolding onstage, Girgis says this is about more than music and dance.
GIRGIS: The Nile Project is an initiative we started about three and half years ago. So we have musicians from Uganda, from Kenya, from Burundi, from Rwanda and from Ethiopia, from Sudan and from Egypt. And we are using this music to inspire a larger conversation about water and about all the challenges that we face in the Nile Basin.
EYRE: For thousands of years, the Nile River has connected diverse cultures and peoples. But in recent times, these cultures have tended to remain isolated from one another. So the goal here is for cultural contact to raise awareness in these countries so that together, they'll take better care of the Nile.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG)
DINA EL WEDIDI: (Singing in foreign language).
My name Dina el Wedidi. I'm from Cairo. I didn't have any chance in Egypt to collaborate with Africans musicians. Usually we participate with European and American musicians.
EYRE: But the Nile project has enlarged her sense of what it means to be Egyptian and African.
EL WEDIDI: I started to love so much the African identity.
EYRE: Performing in the Nile Project is a challenge. Artists have to negotiate different languages and music systems, singing lead on one song and being in the chorus on the next. One reason it works is because of the intense personal bonds created among the musicians. El Wedidi recalls her first encounter with the collective.
EL WEDIDI: I came very late so I didn't meet the musicians, and I woke up in the morning, and I found a very beautiful woman singing. So I was like, oh, who is this girl? Is that going to sing with us?
EYRE: It was Selamnesh Zemene from Ethiopia, and El Wedidi was fascinated. The two singers began comparing traditional musical modes and vocal techniques, and right away, they created a song together.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IN WONDERLAND")
SELAMNESH ZEMENE AND DINA EL WEDIDI: (Singing in foreign language).
EYRE: Nile Project musicians from sub-Saharan Africa also share in this experience of discovery. Steven Sogo is a traditional maestro from Burundi and a charismatic star of the Nile Project's stage show.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG)
STEVEN SOGO: (Singing in foreign language).
I'm playing ikembe. It looks like a thumb piano.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG)
SOGO: (Singing in foreign language).
In Africa we have this problem where we don't listen to each other. In my country we listen easily to American music. So when I met these guys, for the first time I heard Egyptian music. I was like, wow. So the Nile Project for me has been like a school.
EYRE: To see the Nile Project on stage is to sense what is possible when people from different cultures actually listen to one another. But making beautiful music is one thing. Confronting environmental issues along one of the world's longest rivers is quite another. The Nile Project has a tough road ahead, but these musicians are making a stand, singing as one to conjure a better future for all. For NPR News, I'm Banning Eyre. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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