Songs and Stories from Uganda BOOK/CD

A colorful, authentic sampling of 13 traditional story songs with English narrative, work songs, game songs and lullabies from the repertoire of W. Moses Serwadda, Ugandan musician, folklorist and faculty member at Makarere University in Uganda. The songs appear in the original Luganda, with phonetic pronunciation, English translation and an explanation of the story or purpose of each. The songs and stories included are from Serwadda?s own large collection of folk material, much of it acquired as a child in the household of his grandfather, an administrator in the Bukunja area appointed by the King of the Baganda.

There are stories of magic birds and animals, with songs and narrative interwoven. The musical transcriptions by the late ethnomusicologist Hewitt Pantaleoni are clear and easy to follow.

Bold, carefully researched and detailed two-color woodcuts by award-winning artists Leo and Diane Dillon add an exciting visual dimension to this unique collection of music and folklore from East Africa.

The recording ensures that pronunciation, melody and rhythms will be easily and accurately learned, and the stories will be brought to life for those too young to read.

The Book includes:
Six complete Ugandan folk tales with song interludes throughout
Seven work songs, game songs and lullabies
Cultural background information
Clear musical transcriptions
Phonetic spellings
Translations

The audio CD includes:
Every story, narrated by storyteller Moriah Vecchia
Every song and song-interlude, performed by W. Moses Serwadda, his daughter and friends.

About the Author and Editor:
William Moses Serwadda has been singing, dancing, and drumming since he was five years old. The son of a Mukunja farmer from the shores of Lake Victoria, he is presently on the faculty of the Department of Music and Dance at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. For years he ran a biweekly television program of traditional music for children there. His personal musical style is considered by the Ministry of Culture to be a model for the performance of traditional music, and since Uganda's independence in 1962 he has been asked many times to go around the country training local clubs dedicated to traditional music. He holds a Masters Degree in African Dance from the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, and has directed choirs in many festivals of African music throughout the world.

The late Hewitt Pantaleoni received his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University (CT), concentrating particularly on African music, and taught Western, non-Western and folk music at the State University College at Oneonta, NY.