Seby Ntege is a singer songwriter from the Busoga region of eastern Uganda, renowned for producing some of the best multi-instrumentalist in the country and himself is a master of several folk instruments from his country including akogo thumb piano (a.k.a. kalimba), endongo lyre, adungu harp, percussion and endingidi, a one stringed fiddle.
Born into a musical family, Seby joined the family band Nile Beat Artists aged 13 and was introduced to the international stage, touring different African countries as an instrumentalist and dancer.
In the UK he is today among the most accomplished new musical exports and an ambassador of traditional Ugandan music, yet his musical versatility and adventurism has led to collaborations with a number of celebrated artists from different musical backgrounds.
Seby describes his forthcoming album, Five Notes, as “a personal musical memoir of his 15 years of living in the UK” and the presence of the West African Kora picked up whilst touring with acclaimed female Kora player Sona Jobarteh from Gambia is part of this story.
Updating the Ugandan folk tradition alongside Seby is a hand picked band of choice musicians…
Providing a sweet contrast to Seby’s vocal is backing vocalist Diana Lganda who first reached out to the band via social media and was readily invited to join the band. A fellow member of the Ugandan diaspora in London, Diana has released her own album of Luganda language children’s nursery rhymes.
On guitar is Mr Will Sherratt; Born to an English father and Filipino mother Will is loved and respected on more than one continent for his stage persona “Mr Will” and first picked up a guitar age eight already understanding there was a world of music beyond MTV and Radio 1.
Mr Will’s eclectic and playful approach to composition and performance was developed as a result of studying with elder of Congolese guitarist Lokassa Y Mbongo in Boston, as well as artists from Mali, Guinea and South Africa, and legends of fingerstyle Tuck Andress and Martin Taylor.
Sitting behind the drums is Lucas Keen, a nuanced and inventive drummer thanks to time spent living in Burkina Faso. Having played mbalax, afrobeat and jazz, Lucas occupied the drum stool for Rise Kagona of The Bhundu Boys before keeping it tight for Seby.
On bass duties and also lending his production to Five Notes is Rob Stevens. Recently returned from NYC where he engineered bands including The Magnetic Fields and The Davenports at Mother West Studios, Rob can seemingly play and mix anything.
HOW TO ENROL ON THIS COURSE
For this special one of event we are looking to recruit a maximum of 20 musicians. We are particularly interested in hearing from musicians of complementary disciplines. From Hip Hop artists to classically trained musicians, Sambistas to folk players.
The course is entirely free but we welcome donations to our registered charity Global Grooves.
Musicians wanting to sign up to this masterclass are asked to enroll on this course as an expression of interest by the 1st September 2018. You will receive a response from your expression of interest by 7th September 2018.
To submit your expression of interest visit the link at the top right of this page (standard browser) or the bottom of the page (mobile browser).
We are currency updating our website with additional information fields. Until then please include:
What you play.
Your previous experience.
Why you are attracted to this course and what you would like to get out of it.
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Pop your email address in the box here and we’ll send you updates about our work, including how to get involved. We promise we won’t inundate your inbox, but you will be able to unsubscribe at any time.
