Muniini K. Mulera

Prayers without action will not defeat Covid-19

By Muniini K. MuleraFebruary 23, 20210 comments

Now, that was very good news from Tanzania over the weekend. President John Pombe Magufuli’s public acknowledgement of the Covid-19 pandemic in his country put a half-smile on my face. Yes, it took the Covid-19-induced death of Seif Sharif Hamad, the vice-president of Zanzibar, ...

Tina Brooks: Forgotten tenor saxophonist in life, revered by connoisseurs in death.

By Muniini K. MuleraMy Kind of Music Jazz MusicFebruary 20, 20210 comments

#Tina #Brooks #Blue #Note #Jazz #Hard #Bop

Tina Brooks. Tina, as in tiny or teeny because of his small size and gentle, shy nature. A name hardly known, yet up there with the best tenor saxophonists of the Golden Age of Jazz music. Tina Brooks belongs in that top tier club that had in its ranks people like John Coltrane, Hank ...

The Music of Wayne Shorter through a celebratory recap by Wynton Marsalis and JLCO

The Music of Wayne Shorter through a celebratory recap by Wynton Marsalis & JLCO

By Muniini K. MuleraMy Kind of Music Jazz MusicFebruary 18, 20210 comments

#Wayne #Shorter #Wynton #Marsalis #Jazz #at #Lincoln #Center #Orchestra #Jazz

Wayne Shorter, who is now 87, is one of the last two great masters of the tenor saxophone that dominated the Golden Age of Jazz music. (The other is 90-years old Sonny Rollins.) When Mr. Shorter joined Wynton Marsalis and the superbly talented Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for ...

Bobby Hutcherson: oblique? Pretty straight-ahead Jazz

By Muniini K. MuleraMy Kind of Music Jazz MusicFebruary 17, 20210 comments

#Hutcherson #Oblique #Blue #Note #Tone #Poet #Herbie #Hancock #Albert #Stisnon #Joe #Chambers #Jazz

Title: Oblique Label: Blue Note ST-31963, Tone Poet Series Recorded: July 21, 1967, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA First released in January 1979 Blue Note Tone Poet reissue in 2020 Musicians: Bobby Hutcherson (vibes), Herbie Hancock (Piano), Albert ...

Bobby Hutcherson: sublime musical happenings

By Muniini K. MuleraMy Kind of Music Jazz MusicFebruary 17, 20210 comments

#Bobby #Hutcherson #Happenings #Blue #Note #Music #Matters #Jazz #Herbie #Hancock #Bob #Cranshaw #Joe #Chambers #Jazz

Title: Happenings Label: Blue Note ST-84231, Music Matters Jazz 45 RPM Limited Edition Recorded: February 8, 1966, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA First released in January 1967 Music Matters Jazz reissue in 2011 Musicians: Bobby Hutcherson (vibes), Herbie ...

Bobby Hutcherson kicks up musically beautiful dust

By Muniini K. MuleraMy Kind of Music Jazz MusicFebruary 17, 20210 comments

#Bobby #Hutcherson #The #Kicker #Blue #Note #Tone #Poet #Herbie #Hancock #Joe #Henderson #Grant #Green #Duke #Pearson #Bob #Cranshaw #Al #Harewood #Bedouin #Jazz

Title: The Kicker Label: Blue Note 21437, Tone Poet Series Recorded: December 29, 1963, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA First released on CD in 1999 First released on vinyl LP in 2020 Musicians: Bobby Hutcherson (vibes), Joe Henderson (tenor sax), ...

Pete La Roca: Basra is an essential Blue Note Jazz recording

By Muniini K. MuleraMy Kind of Music Jazz MusicFebruary 16, 20210 comments

#Pete #La #Roca #Basra #Blue #Note #Malaguena #Joe #Henderson #Steve #Kuhn #Steve #Swallow

I was bawled over when I first heard this music on the Music Matters Jazz 45 RPM reissue of this classic Blue Note in 2012. The opening track – Malaguena – immobilized me with a dropped jaw and a smile. It immediately reminded me of the North African ...

Magufuli, Covid-19 and Tanzania's anti-science fantasy

By Muniini K. MuleraFebruary 16, 20210 comments

#Magufuli #Covid19 #Tanzania

My relative who lives in Tanzania is recovering from a very severe acute illness whose symptoms and signs are very similar to those of Covid-19. Whereas her Tanzanian doctors have not mentioned her diagnosis, Kamacunda (not her real name) has been treated with the standard drug combination ...

Byrd in Flight by Donald Byrd celebrated Ghana’s independence

By Muniini K. MuleraMy Kind of Music Jazz MusicFebruary 15, 20210 comments

#Donald #Byrd #Byrd #in #Flight #Ghana #Jazz #Blue #Note #Tone #Poet

I have spent the evening enjoying some of the great Jazz music reissues by Blue Note in its Tone Poet Series. This one is another masterpiece by Donald Byrd. To my ears, one of the best among his recordings. This one is special because of its celebration of Ghana which had become ...

Donald Byrd (1932-2013) – CHANT: swinging post-bop Jazz

By Muniini K. MuleraMy Kind of Music Jazz MusicFebruary 15, 20210 comments

#Donald #Byrd #Chant #Pepper #Adams #Herbie #Hancock #Doug #Watkins #Teddy #Robinson #Blue #Note

Donald Byrd – Trumpet Pepper Adams – Baritone saxophone Herbie Hancock – Piano Doug Watkins – Bass Teddy Robinson – Drums Label: Blue Note (Tone Poet Series) Recorded: Monday, April 17, 1961 Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder Location: Van Gelder ...

Chic Corea: Now He Sings, Now He Sobs

By Muniini K. MuleraMy Kind of Music Jazz MusicFebruary 13, 20210 comments

#Chick #Corea #Tone #Poet #Blue #Note

Chick Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was one of the most popular musicians of the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries. His work with Miles Davis at the end of the 1960s and with his own Return to Forever earned him great international acclaim. His ...

Dr. David Sennoga was a complete paediatrician

By Muniini K. MuleraFebruary 8, 20212 comments

#Sennoga #paediatrician #paediatrician #Durban

By Dr. Muniini K. Mulera Dr. David Sengendo Sennoga, a Ugandan-born paediatrician, died in Durban, South Africa, last week. His life was claimed by an acute illness that he had valiantly fought for several weeks under the care of professional colleagues who continue to ...

Listen to the other side in Uganda's national conversation

By Muniini K. MuleraFebruary 1, 20210 comments

#Uganda #Buganda #Federo

One reader of my letter last week posted his reaction on a WhatsApp discussion forum that, in my view, encapsulated a major cause of Uganda’s failed marriage. The gentleman wrote that he had been struck by my statement explaining one reason why some people ...

Dexter Gordon (1923-1930) on Blue Note

By Muniini K. MuleraMy Kind of Music Jazz MusicJanuary 30, 20210 comments

#Dexter #Gordon #Blue #Note

Dexter Gordon (1923-1990) My top ten jazz tenor saxophonists are (in alphabetical order): Tina Brooks, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Coleman Hawkins, Hank Mobley, Wayne Shorter, Buddy Tate, Ben Webster and Lester Young. If asked to choose ...

Buganda, Museveni and charges of sectarianism

By Muniini K. MuleraJanuary 26, 20210 comments

#Buganda #Baganda #Uganda #Museveni #Kyagulanyi #Bobi #Wine #sectarianism

The fraud during this month’s voting ritual in Uganda exceeded my expectations. I knew the numbers would be faked, but I underestimated the boldness with which it would be done. Luckily, not even the internet shutdown stopped brave compatriots from recording the ...

Who is the best choice to succeed Yoweri Museveni?

By Muniini K. MuleraJanuary 11, 20210 comments

#Mugisha #Muntu #Aliance #ANT #Museveni #Uganda

The charade of this week’s so-called election, whose official result we already know, should not distract us from one obvious reality. At 77, Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Museveni will soon yield to biology and a need for long-deserved retirement. As usual, the ruling regime ...