Group 3: Makanyaga Abdul

November 23rd, afternoon, Gikonda, Kigali

The full crew plus Sophie drove toward Gikonda.  We dropped Sophie off half-way and said goodbye as she took a motorcycle home.

We continued toward Gikonda ending up on a red dirt road. We had to walk up a very steep hill between houses, with all the equipment, to Makanyaga Abdul’s house.

We set up on the terrace outside his house overlooking the lush hills of Kigali.

Makanyaga Abdul is a very well known by both young and old in Rwanda. He was born in 1947 in the Huye District. He started his singing career at age 20.  He played a pivotal role in the evolution of Rwandan music. He combines traditional music with jazz and blues. He has played in many bands over his lifetime and his first band was called Rita Jazz. His influence extends far beyond music and he has nurtured many young artists. He recently celebrated his 50 year career in music on 4 July 2023, a true icon of Rwandan music.

He wrote all the songs we heard today. His son, Fataki Hamdan, Mak Junior, joined him in the performances.   The entire band we saw today consists of:

Makanyaga Abdul – singer and guitar

Fataki Hamdan, Makanyaga Jr – singer

Wenga Abdul Karim – singer and percussion

Tabana David – guitar

Nizeyimana Abed – guitar

Akimana Methoucela – percussion

Ngarukiyintwali Jean de Dieu – singer

Lutagengwa Francoise – singer and dancer

Songs we heard today:

1. Urukundo rurambuye – meaning Endless Love, a love song
2. Garuka Susanna – meaning Come back Susanna, also a love song about a lost love, Susanna.
3. Gikundiro – meaning Someone Loved
4. Hashize Iminsi – about lost love. It’s been a long time looking for and waiting for my love but never seeing her.
5. Ngwino Mukunzi – meaning Come my Love
6. Nagera Muri Bari – meaning When I get to the Bar
7. Rubanda – means People. This song is about telling a woman not to listen to the people, they say bad things.

We ran through the songs with a smaller group and then larger, so the videos you can see are  first with the small group below:

1. Urukundo Rurambuye – false start, kept rolling. artists: Makanyaga, Fataki and Wenga
2. Garuka Susanna  artists: Makanyaga, Fataki and Wenga
3. Gikundiro – false start, kept rolling. Slight fumble at the end.  artists Makanyaga, Fataki and Wenga
4. Hashize iminsi – artists Makanyaga, Fataki and Wenga
5. Ngwino Mukunzi – Take 1 aborted, noise. Take 2 good. Artists same as above plus Tabana on guitar
6. Nagera Muri Bari – same artists as no.

Then we redid all the above with the full band except Lutagengwa.

7. Urukundo rurambuye –  Retake
8. Garuka Susanna – Retake
9. Gikundiro – Retake
10. Hishize iminsi  – Retake. False start after 1-2 mins but kept rolling. Call to prayer in the back ground during the 2^nd half
11. Ngwino Mukunzi – Retake. False start brief, kept rolling

We then added a new song added and the whole band present.

12. Rubanda

As crew backed up, Tabu, Jimmy and Kathy grabbed a photo