Due to drop on April 9th via Smithsonian Folkways records, a record written and performed by coffee farmers of the Peace Kawomera (Delicious Peace) cooperative in Mbale, Uganda. If you’re unfamiliar with the Smithsonian Folkways label, they’re the non-profit record company wing of the Smithsonian Institute, and they do pretty wonderful work. Dreary late-winter weather got you down? Put on this Smithsonian Folkways compilation of early Mighty Sparrow calypso. Unstoppable!
The tracklisting for “Delicious Peace” includes such jams as:
* The benefits of coffee Akuseka Takuwa Kongo Group (4:23)
* Hit the jerrycan! Integrated Rural Development Support Programs Choir (5:26)
* In Uganda, everyone grows coffee Mbiko Aisa Farmers Group (4:18)
* My beautiful wife, come back and we’ll grow coffee Peace Kawomera Jazz Band (5:13)
* Poverty is an obstacle to a good marriage Masanda Group (2:22)
* If you are stuck in tradition, change will not wait for you Gumutindo Women’s Group (2:00)
* We have improved our economic status Mbiko Aisa Farmers Group (4:29)
You can listen to a sneak preview of “My Beautiful wife, come back and we’ll grow coffee” right here via Smithsonian Folkways. Yes, this is what the new Vampire Weekend album will sound like. Here’s some more on this fascinating project from SF:
GRAMMY-nominated Tufts University professor and Rabbi Jeffrey A. Summit recorded the album in various Ugandan locales from muddy coffee fields to local synagogues. Village guitar groups and women’s choirs sing to stress the transformative impact of Fair Trade prices and to encourage their neighbors to join the coffee cooperative.
They are accompanied by traditional instruments, such asembaire (xylophone with wooden keys), ngoma (drum), akadongo
(lamellaphone, often referred to as a thumb piano), endingidi (one-string fiddle), and nsasi (shaker). The performers combine various Ugandan languages and musical styles, occasionally adding Swahili, Arabic, Hebrew, and English. The people of Peace Kawomera come together to sing of the benefits of interfaith cooperation and, through music, teach new members how to produce great coffee.
Royalties from album sales go right back to the Peace Kaworma cooperative, and have been designated to help fund education for children in that community. Album goes on sale April 9th! Expect a full Sprudgefork.com review when it drops, and learn more about Smithsonian Folkways here!
