Afrigo’s Twali Twagalana is bittersweet
Their music is not just timeless, we remember listening to it with people no longer with us. We remember listening to it as people we no longer are.
Afrigo Band. File photo
Throwback Thursday Music Review: Twali Twagalana – The Afrigo Band
It’s funny when you think about but nostalgia might be becoming the in-thing.
I feel like if there is one thing that will get you nostalgic in a minute, its music from The Afrigo Band. It is hard to explain.
Their music is not just timeless, we remember listening to it with people no longer with us. We remember listening to it as people we no longer are.
Afrigo Band is quintessentially Ugandan. It might sound corny but they are like part of our DNA. The band’s music is basically the theme music of our lives. And one song that captures this ethos beautifully is the song Twali Twagalana.
The song is a reminder that Moses Matovu is a wonderful singer. The most iconic thing about Matovu is his saxophone, mostly because saxophones are melodramatic instruments. But good heavens, his vocals are gorgeous. The control, the restraint – he sounds like a sage, bittersweet with world weary wisdom.
Twali Twagalana is also a blatantly beautiful melody. I wasn’t sure who plays keyboards on the original, but I just loved the restraint on the way he works through those straightforward chords. I looked it up and of course it was the legendary Tony Sengo.
The song was written by Tonny Ssenkebejje, and he also famously played the saxophone on the studio version of the song. Moses Matovu of course plays the saxophone when the band is performing this classic live.
Like most potent melodies, this song is simple: keys, non-insistent percussion, bass, and that sax that comes in at just the right moments. The harmonies are light, feathery almost.
Ssenkebejje also plays the guitar solo on this track, riffing through it with abandon that threatens but never really disrupts the song. And through it all, Matovu sings one of the bands most universally loved songs.
Twali Twagalana is the first song that comes to mind when I think of the possibilities, the promise that is Uganda. It is gorgeously bittersweet. That is one of the beast song arrangements you will listen to, ever. It is also arguably the most complete vocal performance that the Afrigo Band has ever given us.