Alois Kinast, vice mayor of Augartenstadt, welcomes the audience and Otto Lechner

Two months after returning from their concert tour, the Windhund performed at Aktionsradius Augarten, sharing some memories and experiences of their adventures and explorations of East African music cultures.

Anna Kuthan opening the night at Augarten.

A charming welcome and brief explanations on the stations of the tour were given by Anna Kuthan. Anna co-organised the Windhund’s trip to East Africa and – with her organisational talent, profound knowledge of Kiswahili, a local network of like-minded musicians and artists, and her capacity to find solutions for unusual problems – provided invaluable support throughout the trip. Anna has now moved to Austria, with her fiancé Dismas to follow soon. Good to have you here!

Well-prepared improvisation regarding the presentation of images and – as usually – outstanding music improvisation provided a vivid and colourful programme, as many visitors confirmed. Part of it was an exhibition of Hermine Ritter’s art works, entitled “Afrikaspuren” and inspired by or created in East Africa. If you haven’t seen them yet, go to http://www.hermineritter.at/aktuelles.html!

With everyone having returned to their lives in Austria (and with Anna Kuthan having returned to Austria to start a new life), this was a wonderful occassion to look back upon the experiences and acquaintances we have made in Zanzibar, Bagamoyo, Dar es Salaam and Nairobi.

Listen to an acoustic postcard in two parts, compiled by Anna Soucek:

part one: Zanzibar (mp3, 14′27”) teil 1 end mp3

part two: Bagamoyo, Dar es Salaam, Nairobi (mp3, 16′20”) teil 2 end mp3

Anne Bennent’s raving interpretation of Arthur Rimbaud’s “Drunken Boat”, accompanied by Karl Ritter on the guitar, was followed by two sets of Windhund’s improvisation – as good as it gets.

Karl Ritter presented a double CD of recordings from the tour. You can purchase it via his website http://www.ritter-produktion.at/ or on karl.ritter@kabsi.at, for only 15 Euro.

And finally here comes a little list of thank-you’s to everyone who helped to make the evening as marvellous as it was: to the Windhund Anne Bennent, Melissa Coleman, Otto Lechner and Karl Ritter; to Hermine Ritter, Robert Zielasko, Felix and Anton Bennent; to the Kuthanis for organisational and emotional contribution; to our hosts from Aktionsradius Augarten for the invitaton, technical support and hospitality (thanks Irmi for your patience in getting the technical stuff together…) and to the wonderful audience, who observed every minute of the evening with sincere excitement.

By the way: following the successful evening at Aktionsradius Augarten, we are convinced that there will be a continuation of the project. Watch this blog for further information or announcements! It ain’t over till it’s over.

After a rest and a walk through the city center, the Windhund gathered at Nairobi’s branch of the German cultural organisation Goethe institute for the soundcheck. As soon as the doors were opened, a crowd of people came flocking in, filling the auditorium up to the last seat.

The Windhund were introduced by the Goethe Institute’s head, Johannes Hossfeld, and warmly welcomed by Christian Hasenbichler, Austrian Ambassador to Kenya.

The following concert was just magnificent – not only for the musicians. “It was a trip which I didn’t want to end!”, said one of the nearly 300 listeners attending the Windhund concert at the Goethe Institute in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. And indeed, the last concert of the tour turned out to be the highlight of the performances in East Africa: with a highly interested audience, fine acoustic conditions in an enclosed concert room, a high quality cello for Melissa and the Windhund with three weeks of East African music experiences behind them, the concert was a perfect end to their tour.

Thanks a lot to the hosts and the truly wonderful audience!

Here’s an excerpt of the performance, with Otto Lechner (accordion, voice), Melissa Coleman (cello) and Karl Ritter (guitar): nairobi_otto (mp3, 8 minutes)

According to Tanzanians and to travellers alike, Bagamoyo is completely different than Zanzibar and other places in the country, a place hard to describe for the burdens of history and the hardship of contemporary life create quite a special atmosphere. In the late 18th century Bagamoyo was established as a hub for trading ivory and slaves, with people from the hinterland being transported to Bagamoyo and from here to their destinations further on. In the 19th century the Germans chose Bagamoyo to be the capital of their colony, Deutsch-Ostafrika, a plan which was dismissed after some years. The remnants of the administrative buildings, a school, a post office and the “Boma” headquarter are nowadays material ruins of a colonial utopia.

It may sound paradox that in this environment one of Tanzania’s most prestigious art schools including a renowned concert and theater hall are situated. TaSUBa theatre hosts weekly events, including film screenings and concerts (http://tasubatheatre.weebly.com), numerous cultural events, but never before it was played by an Austrian band.

The Windhund’s concert on Tuesday, 13th July, was well prepared and accompanied by an excellent sound engineer named Justin – thanks again! Even though attendance was poor at the very beginning, more and more people kept flocking in, making this one of the most rewarding Windhund appearances of the tour.

Concert excerpt: bagamoyo_instrumental (mp3, 1′35”)

The Windhund (Karl Ritter, Melissa Coleman and Otto Lechner) on stage...

... joined by the Zumari horn musicians Siga and Sekembuke from Tanzania

One of the finest passages was Anne Bennent’s recital of the poem “She”, written by the Zanzibar based artist Dismas Sekibaha. Listen in:

bagamoyo_recital (mp3, 4 minutes)

From 5th to 8th July, the Windhund musicians are giving workshops at the Dhow Countries Music Academy in Zanzibar – and today, on the second day, we welcomed Bi Kidude, a legend of Taarab music in Zanzibar and the rest of the world.

The session started off with a traditional song, which Windhund had the chance to learn at yesterday’s workshop kick off. Bi Kidude, who had just returned from a concert trip to Poland, joined in with her unique, strong voice.

Here’s the recording of the beginning of the session:

Windhund workshop with Bi Kidude (mp3, 1′18”)

Later on, the Windhund as well as the workshop participants improvised with two accordions, guitar, cello, two violins and voices, finishing with a Bosnian tune that Otto presented yesterday. Bi Kidude’s presence and participation were a great benefit to the morning session. To be continued on 15th July in Dar es Salaam, at a joint concert by Windhund, Bi Kidude and her trio, organised by CCBRT.

Bi Kidude and Otto Lechner in perfect harmony

Ruins of Mtoni Palace

Princess Salme was a daughter of the Sultan of Zanzibar and Oman, who resided in Mtoni Palace in Zanzibar. She fell in love with a German tradesman and followed him to Hamburg, abandoning her life at court, converting to Christianity and taking on the name Emily Ruete. Later she wrote an autobiography entitled “Memoirs of an Arabian Princess from Zanzibar” – a precious insight into a woman’s life at the Sultan’s court.

The remnants of Mtoni Palace give an idea of this live – however the ruins need some restauration work and archeological research to gain more knowledge and preserve the edifice for the future.

Windhund carry their instruments to Mtoni Palace

Windhund and the Zumari horn players Sekembuke & Siga from Zanzibar were invited to play a concert in this unique setting, incorporating references to Princess Salme by Anne Bennent’s recital of passages from the Memoirs. Proceeds of the evening went to the restauration and preservation of the Palace.

Audience at Mtoni Palace, 4th July 2010

The concert, well-attended by some 70 guests, started right after the Muezzin’s evening prayer with an improvisation by Karl Ritter (guitar), Otto Lechner (accordion) and Melissa Coleman (cello). Actress Anne Bennent read from the Memoirs in english language.

Anne Bennent

The second half of the concert – after a traditional coffee ceremony with cardamom flavoured coffee served with various sweets – started with a captivating cello solo by Melissa Coleman and continued with Anne’s beautiful performance of Arthur Rimbaud’s poem ‘The Drunken Boat’, accompanied by Karl Ritter on the guitar. Otto Lechner came in with an accordion solo, touching, sensitive and a wee bit sentimental too.

Sekembuke, Siga, Karl Ritter, Otto Lechner, Melissa Coleman (from left)

mtoni_excerpt (mp3, 45 seconds)

Sekembuke & Siga entered with their Zumari horns from the back corridors of the Palace, making their way onto the stage.  As Windhund have experienced before, at concerts and private sessions in Austria, each time they meet the Zumaris turns out differently. At Mtoni Palace, the Zumaris stepped back a little bit, leaving more space for improvisation and solos of the less strong instruments.

Right after the concert, Otto Lechner commented on the reunion with Sekembuke & Siga, clearly happy with the outcome of the concert:

Otto Lechner’s comment (mp3, 40 seconds, in German language)

And one of Zanzibar’s most acclaimed musicians, Mohammed Issa Haji (aka Matona) made some very positive remarks on the concert evening, which he found to be an interesting approach between two musical universes, yet to be explored further in the next couple of days…

Matona’s comment (mp3, 50 seconds, English)

Foto © xeno

On Monday night, Otto Lechner & Windhund were – after successful performances in Linz and Graz – once more joined by the Zanzibari Zumari horns duo Sekembuke & Siga – the first occasion for the Viennese audience to experience the merging of two very different sonic spheres! With a sold out Porgy & Bess, the concert marked the beginning of the 6-days-festival “Began in Africa”.

After a mellow intro by Otto Lechner, Melissa Coleman, Matthias Jakisic, Karl Ritter and Peter Rosmanith, the two Zumari horn players entered by striding through the auditorium from the upper to the ground level… an effective entrée!

sound excerpt 1

Especially in the second half of the gig, some great improvisational passages showed, that – though, as Otto Lechner stated, each concert with the Zumari horn musicians is like a completely new encounter – the traditional sounds of Zanzibar and the improvisation by the Austrian artists, provide a common ground for new explorations…

sound excerpt 2

Windhund, Sekembuke & Siga @ Porgy, Vienna

For further pictures of the gig, check out the Gallery on this site!

and from VIDC / on Flickr: Foto © Karola Riegler

The East Africa tour started on Monday, 24 May 2010, in Linz: Otto Lechner and the Windhund were joined by Siga & Sekembuke from Zanzibar (Zumari Horn) as well as Austrian musicians Mathias Jakisic (E-violin), Herbert Pirker (Percussion) and Peter Rosmanith (Percussion).

As the main performance that evening on the Ö1 / Casino Linz Stage at the Lentos Museum, and also due to the lovely, warm weather conditions, the concert was very well attended.

The Linz audience – who might have been familiar with the hypnotic sound of the Zumari Horns from last year’s Parade performance – welcomed the experimental combination of traditional Zanzibar sounds with improvised music from the beginning on. And – though nobody had expected it – it appeared as if the musicians had been playing together for a lifetime…

And where there is people and music, there’s also officials taking care of law & order… 96,8 dB, too much for hears!  The sound engineer got a ticket for not giving in and turning the volume down.