Stories > 16. Rwanda 2023

We drove to Gikondo in the morning to record Abutazi.   Abutazi are a group of two artists, Akayezu Jean Patient on the inanga and Fox Makare the energetic rapper. They are supported by their drummer Samy Iradukunda kut. Abutazi have been together since 2019 after meeting in music school. Jean Patient’s mother Sophie Nyasisenga (the…

The second group we recorded at Jado’s studio in Kigali was the Impara Band, one of the pioneer bands of Afro-Cuban music in Rwanda. Impara is Rwandan for Impala. The band was founded in 1975 and originally had 9 members. They lost 7 of their members during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. The two remaining…