Sauti, the new gospel sensation
Oct 27, 2005
IF you take the lyrics out of Sauti’s stage performances, you get a bold peculiar trend that the group is seeping into the gospel make-up.
By Raphael Okello
IF you take the lyrics out of Sauti’s stage performances, you get a bold peculiar trend that the group is seeping into the gospel make-up.
They exude a demeanour akin to a traditional African cultural troupe. The choice of their group name is of Swahili origin, yet they are a Ugandan gospel assembly.
Sauti’s recent performance at Namboole, during Trinity Broadcasting Network’s Praise the Lord live broadcast introduced them, for the first time, to over 30,000 Ugandans and to the world.
Amidst a hubbub of voices, Edwin Bahatta, Kenneth Tusubira and George Lubega orchestrated a heart-throbbing performance that compelled an awed silence. In the depth of the silence, an eccentric fusion of drumbeats and animal sounds introduced Mwijje, the title track off their ‘Sauti the Project’ album.
An ominous lion’s roar, a raucous cock’s crow, a twittering snake’s hiss and a cacophony of bird sounds created a wild romantic fantasy in which the trio, dressed in shredded leopard-spotted trousers, stomped and romped.
The ensuing vocals beckoned everyone to congregate in the house of the Lord, for a new day had come. The song’s climax summoned a rapturous ovation.
Two weeks later I meet with the Sauti members. The first question I ask is why they did not participate in the recent Uganda Pearl of Africa Music awards, and they chuckle. “We wanted to but we decided that we first needed to have a video because it (the video) adds more value,†Lubega says.
Adding more value to their 12 songs and artistic impression is what the group has been doing since their formation in 2004 by their manager, Isaac Rucibigango (formerly with Limit X).
The energetic gospel artistes frequently travel to Nairobi, Kenya, where they have recorded four songs. The other songs, recorded in Rucibigango’s Fishnet studios, were also taken for cleaning in Nairobi.
In Kenya, Sauti interact with many local gospel musicians.
They have performed at numerous social events and crusades hosted by renowned American evangelists like Dr. T.D Jakes, Joanita Byron, Bishop Eddy Long and Britt Bentley. Consequently, they are endeared more to Kenyans than Ugandans. While in Uganda, they confine themselves to Rubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral where, for the past four years, each belonged to the cathedral’s mainstream choirs.
“God called us differently but we are living the gospel. Sauti is here to live for the gospel,†says Bahatta.
Like the meaning of their name, Sauti (voice) want to be the voice that heals the broken-hearted and bestows hope to the hopeless through their English, Swahili and Luganda songs.
“We want to go as far as we can. Our aim is to speak to the whole world,†Tusubira says. They might just achieve that dream, as Rucibigango is raring to spur them to greater heights beyond which Limit X reached.
“As Limit X we went through struggles that groups don’t have to go through,†he says. “I can walk a group through and have them deliver in a year where it took us four years. My desire is to see an African group do as much or even more than Limit X,†he adds.
“Sauti is the group now. I am working on getting them to the US. It’s a better springboard if you want to take the world,†says Rucibigango.
Ends
IF you take the lyrics out of Sauti’s stage performances, you get a bold peculiar trend that the group is seeping into the gospel make-up.
They exude a demeanour akin to a traditional African cultural troupe. The choice of their group name is of Swahili origin, yet they are a Ugandan gospel assembly.
Sauti’s recent performance at Namboole, during Trinity Broadcasting Network’s Praise the Lord live broadcast introduced them, for the first time, to over 30,000 Ugandans and to the world.
Amidst a hubbub of voices, Edwin Bahatta, Kenneth Tusubira and George Lubega orchestrated a heart-throbbing performance that compelled an awed silence. In the depth of the silence, an eccentric fusion of drumbeats and animal sounds introduced Mwijje, the title track off their ‘Sauti the Project’ album.
An ominous lion’s roar, a raucous cock’s crow, a twittering snake’s hiss and a cacophony of bird sounds created a wild romantic fantasy in which the trio, dressed in shredded leopard-spotted trousers, stomped and romped.
The ensuing vocals beckoned everyone to congregate in the house of the Lord, for a new day had come. The song’s climax summoned a rapturous ovation.
Two weeks later I meet with the Sauti members. The first question I ask is why they did not participate in the recent Uganda Pearl of Africa Music awards, and they chuckle. “We wanted to but we decided that we first needed to have a video because it (the video) adds more value,†Lubega says.
Adding more value to their 12 songs and artistic impression is what the group has been doing since their formation in 2004 by their manager, Isaac Rucibigango (formerly with Limit X).
The energetic gospel artistes frequently travel to Nairobi, Kenya, where they have recorded four songs. The other songs, recorded in Rucibigango’s Fishnet studios, were also taken for cleaning in Nairobi.
In Kenya, Sauti interact with many local gospel musicians.
They have performed at numerous social events and crusades hosted by renowned American evangelists like Dr. T.D Jakes, Joanita Byron, Bishop Eddy Long and Britt Bentley. Consequently, they are endeared more to Kenyans than Ugandans. While in Uganda, they confine themselves to Rubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral where, for the past four years, each belonged to the cathedral’s mainstream choirs.
“God called us differently but we are living the gospel. Sauti is here to live for the gospel,†says Bahatta.
Like the meaning of their name, Sauti (voice) want to be the voice that heals the broken-hearted and bestows hope to the hopeless through their English, Swahili and Luganda songs.
“We want to go as far as we can. Our aim is to speak to the whole world,†Tusubira says. They might just achieve that dream, as Rucibigango is raring to spur them to greater heights beyond which Limit X reached.
“As Limit X we went through struggles that groups don’t have to go through,†he says. “I can walk a group through and have them deliver in a year where it took us four years. My desire is to see an African group do as much or even more than Limit X,†he adds.
“Sauti is the group now. I am working on getting them to the US. It’s a better springboard if you want to take the world,†says Rucibigango.
Ends