Birigwa

Afro-Jazz artist Birigwa hails from the Baganda tribe of Uganda. In the early '70s, Birigwa made a halfway-round-the-world journey to Boston, MA, where he began his formal studies of music at the New England Conservatory. Surrounded by musicians from all over the world, his deep knowledge of his own folkloric traditions mixed with the folk, jazz, and rock traditions extolled by his classmates at NEC and the nearby Berklee College of Music. Fellow musician and talented pianist/arranger Mait Edey saw potential in Birigwa's interweaving of North American traditions with African folk styles. In 1972, the pair were joined by a handful of Bostonians for the recording of his self-titled debut, released on Edey's own Seeds Records. While the record was a successful grassroots effort, it would be more than thirty years before the album came to the world's attention. Following the turn of the century, Florida based Luke Mosling came upon the album and was inspired to reissue the project on his start-up Porter Records. Birigwa's 2007 reissue was met with a warm reception by world music record buyers throughout the States and Europe. ~ Evan C. Gutierrez