http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLyghQyXWxU

After their rousing performances at LINZFEST 2010, the five musicians from Zanzibar and Zimbabwe – Shaaban Muasi Vuai aka Sekembuke, Hussein Fereji Azani aka Siga (who played with Otto Lechner & Windhund), Tendai Manatsa aka Bomba, Josh Meck aka Shimbo and Samm Farai Monro aka Comrade Fatso – went on a retreat to Harrachsthal in the backwoods of Mühlviertel north-easterly of Linz.

The host Karl Katzinger aka John Tylo from Backwoods Association expected them to stay overnight in his old farmhouse and to perform at the Cafe Druzba next door. First, a sunny afternoon provided for the right mood to relax and to teach Sekembuke and Bomba to scythe whilst Monique and Rose prepared a range of dishes East African style.

Towards evening Siga and Sekembuke started their procession in the backyard blowing the Zumari horns and pulling the crowd into the venue where Comrade Fatso and Chabvondoka took over with their radical street poetry and pulsating music. A short video homage by Michael Pilz dedicated the evening as a tribute to the late Keith Goddard with Peter Kuthan showing some slides about his legacy, the Tonga.Online project in Zimbabwe (www.mulonga.net).

Thanks to the lively interest and participation of the audience the event lasted “till late”, way beyond midnight and saw some musicians jamming including the host Karl on the trumpet – a true Pungwe and nice farewell to Comrade Fatso and Chabvondoka!

Otto Lechner, accordion, Melissa Coleman, cello, Mathias Jakišić, electric violine, Karl Ritter, guitar and Peter Rosmanith, percussion have been featuring the two Zumari horn players Shaaban Muasi Vuai (Sekembuke) and Hussein Fereji Azani (Siga) from Zanzibar at LINZFEST on Monday. Not only for the LINZFEST organiser Wolfgang Almer but also according to many other participants in the audience, this concert was wonderful and – together with the Poetic Pilgrimage from Jamaica – one of the highlights of LINZFEST 2010.

Comrade Fatso from Zimbabwe, who was also lining up at Linzfest together with Tendai Manatsa and Josh Meck, after listening to the performance: “Great show, guys!! Really powerful collaboration.. Blew me away! more fire to you!”

Thanks to Werner Puntigam for taking the pictures

mit SIGA & SEKEMBUKE (Zumari Horns) aus ZANZIBAR und
COMRADE FATSO aus ZIMBABWE.
PETER KUTHAN, mastermind vieler Austauschprojekte mit Ländern des südlichen Afrika, zeigt
Lichtbilder von seinen Reisen.
Zusammentreffen bereits am Nachmittag.
Ab 20:00 Uhr lockere Mischung aus Musik (moderat verstärkt), Projektion und Gespräch.

FR 28 MAI 2010

GARAGE DRUSHBA
HARRACHSTHAL 8
4272 WEITERSFELDEN
http://www.backwood.at

linzfest_concert_clip (mp3, 0′48”)

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.

A young fan observing the group’s soundcheck… At noon Siga & Sekembuke, Otto Lechner & Windhund, as well as guest musicians met at the Lentos Stage in Linz for the sound check. Not having performed together on a stage like this before, some very basic questions needed to be sorted out. Such as the distance to the microphones to be kept. Or, even more basic, how to begin the concert.

Rose, who works in the Linzfest cuisine, kindly took a few minutes from lunchtime stress to translate.

Listen to an audio excerpt of the short yet efficient discussion (mp3, length: 1′13”):

Siga & Sekembuke, Peter Kuthan, Rose, Karl Ritter

The “museum” mentioned at the end is the Akustikon, an institution dedicated to the culture of listening, which was visited by the group, along with other musicians, later in the afternoon.

Fantastic weather in Linz, plenty of people in the festival area, the musicians getting ready for their concert, starting in exactly one hour…!

A first encounter of Siga & Sekembuke happened at Stadtwerkstatt cultural center in Linz yesterday night for rehearsals. Interesting to note how the session developed from observation and a rather reserved attitude to approaching similar scales and swings. Later on Comrade Fatso from Zimbabwe and Sukina and Muneera from Poetic Pilgrimage from Jamaica/UK joined in to listen.

Who would expect the sound of Zumari horns sailing across the Danube stream at the opening ceremony of this years LINZFEST. The landing of two musicians from Zanzibar carried downstream on small boats by the fire brigade took many onlookers by surprise.
But for Shaaban Muasi Vuai aka Sekembuke and Hussein Fereji Azani aka Siga, the banks of the Danube are not an unknown territory. They have been here last year already for the Parade Linz09 when they sent their intriguing Zumari horn sounds up from Lentos museum towards the Pöstlingberg mountain. Now they are welcome back in Linz with a big applause – Karibuni!
This year they start an Austrian tour with Otto Lechner & Windhund musicians from Linz via Graz to Vienna as a kind of interlude to the forthcoming East Africa tour of the Windhund musicians in July. The journey of the Zumari horns will facilitate another encounter of diverse cultures, music worlds and people.

Das Linzfest am 23. und 24. Mai steht heuer ganz im Zeichen Afrikas. Rund 50 Veranstaltungen setzen sich mit dem vielfach unbekannten Kontinent auseinander.

Musikalische Begegnungen

Den Anfang am Montag, dem 24. Mai 2010, machen um 17:00 Uhr Puntigam & Hollinetz, zwei Linzer Musiker, die in ihre Musik Anregungen aus ihren Afrika-Reisen einfließen lassen. Wenn um 18:00 Uhr Hajamadagascar die Bühne betreten, beginnt ein “bal poussière”, ein ausgelassenes Fest.

Um 19:00 Uhr treffen Otto Lechner und seine legendären “Windhunde” auf die beiden Zumari-Bläser Sekembuke und Siga und entführen die Besucherinnen und Besucher in eine andere Welt.

mehr: http://oe1.orf.at/artikel/244174 als mp3

Foto: Siga & Sekembuke beim Anblasen der 3. Etappe der Parade Linz09 beim Kunstmuseum Lentos in Linz, wo sie am Pfingstmontag mit Otto Lechner & Windhund auftreten werden.

Weitere Informationen zum Programm: http://www.linzfest.at