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 New York (New York), USA - Ugandan musician
Samite will be presenting his latest CD,
Embalasasa, on Thursday, May 18 at 7:30pm. the concert
will be held at Makor,
35 West 67th Street,
New York, NY.
212-601-1000. The tickets are $15/$18.
Embalasasa,
Samite's new CD on Triloka Records was released in March 2006.
“On the title song, I call my grandpa to come with his walking cane and kill the
modern
Embalasasa, AIDS, a deadly disease transmitted through the most
beautiful, vibrant and natural act,” explains
Samite. The album’s songs draw
upon Ugandan folklore, geography, and struggle to express words of allegory,
healing, and hope. In addition to AIDS, his curative songs address war,
intolerance, the death of a loved one, and survival.
Samite is a survivor.
Samite was born and raised in Uganda, where his grandfather taught him to play
the traditional flute. A teacher in Kampala put a western flute in
Samite’s
hands putting him on the path to become one of the most highly acclaimed
flutists in East Africa before moving on to the kalimba (thumb piano). In 1982
Samite fled to Kenya as a political refugee after his brother was killed for his
political views. He spent a period in a Kenyan refugee camp and traveling around
Africa before making his way to Ithaca, New York, where he currently resides.
Delivering his mellifluous vocals in his mother tongue, Luganda,
Samite
mesmerized audiences playing on the kalimba, marimba, litungu (seven-stringed
Kenyan instrument) and various flutes. The kalimba functions as a soothing
heartbeat that transcends language and cuts straight to the core. But
Samite has
picked up many other elements along the path. He music has ranged from the songs
of the musicians entertaining the King in his Mengo palace near Kampala—where
Samite would stop every afternoon on his way home from school to eavesdrop—to
traditional Ugandan music, as well as Motown, Barry White, and the Beatles.
Samite has had much success in radio throughout the country reaching #2 in the
CMJ Music World Chart within the first month of his 2003 release,
Tunula Eno.
Samite has also appeared live on the nationally syndicated radio program Echoes,
and he recorded a live performance for the Ngoma Channel on XM Satellite Radio
in Washington, DC.
Samite’s live performance on the nationally syndicated show E-Town has
broadcast on over 120 stations as will his broadcast for the nationally
syndicated radio show World Vision Radio.
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