mwendo jean bosco guitar improvisation ii

7/22/2019 Mwendo Jean Bosco Guitar Improvisation II

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The Guitar Improvisation of Mwenda Jean Bosco (Part II)

Author(s): David RycroftSource: African Music, Vol. 3, No. 1 (1962), pp. 86-102Published by: International Library of African MusicStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30250162

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2/18

86 AFRICAN MUSIC SOCIETY JOURNALTHE GUITAR IMPROVISATION OFMWENDA JEAN BOSCO (Part II)

byDAVID RYCROFTThreeofMwendaJeanBosco's earliest ecorded ieces,Bombalakandtwo versions fMasanga, ecordednJadotville,atanga, yMr.Hugh Traceyn1952,were onsideredinpart ofthis rticle'. en moreofBosco's recorded uitar-songsillbe consideredhere: 1. Namlia-e Gallotone G.B. 1588T.2. SokuchomaleJikita G.B. 1587T.3. TambalaMoja G.B. 1586T.4. MamaKilio-e G.B. 1728.5. Susanah G.B. 1781.6. MamanaMwana G.B. 1700T.7. KutembeawaWengi C.O. 82.8. Usichukie C.O. 82.9. Mwami G.B. 1781.10. Mnkabe G.B. 1789.Since Part wentto press have stillhad no definite ews of Bosco's presentwhereaboutspartfrom earsay vidence rom Northern hodesianBosco-fanwhobelieves hatBosco is not nTanganyikaas I suggestedn Part ) but nLeopoldville,and whoreportshat number fnewBosco recordingsre available nN. Rhodesiaand arefrequentlyobeheard ver heradio here.tmay fcourse urn ut nthe ndthat t is onlyBosco's recorded ersonality hichhas madethesewidespread fricantours,while he rtist imselfasremainednhisnative adotvillellalong.In myview,noneof thetenpieces isted boverises o quitethe samedegree fexcellence s Bosco's firstMasanga.Theyare all of interest, owever, orwhattheyrevealof the differentacets f his style.Severalof these ater ongshave distinctaffinities ithMasanga-melodic figures itherdirectly orrowedor more faintlysuggestivef ones nMasanga.Namlia-es closestn this espect.ts songtext-thoughnot ts vocalnotes-consists argely f a rearrangementftheMasangainesplusa fewinterpolations,otably he refrain:namlia-emama"-I am weeping or longing)forhim or her),mother.t does not emerge learly, ntiltheend,who theobjectoflamentationr onging ctuallys.But n the ast tanzaBesco seems oreferpecificallytohisfather.Longingor lamentationccurs gain n Sokuchomaleikita line6), TambalaMoja(lines4, 6 and7), MamaKilio-efirstine), ndSusanahfirstine).Some ight-heartedphilosophy-"two'scompany, hree's crowd" (when walkingout)-is offerednKutembeakua Wengi. sichukierings moreobscure dmonition:Don't leaveyourowncountry;strangerhould tay thome!" t snot learwhich oreignerrforeignersareherebeingreferredo-or was itperhaps hefield-recordingeam?The latter wosongsare recorded s vocal duets.The secondvoiceis seeminglyalso Bosco's own,presumablyubbed n later.The partsproceed lmost ntirelynparallel hirds.VocalMelody.Therearestrong rounds or ssertinghat,n all Bosco's guitar ongs, hevoicereally ccompaniesheguitar, atherhan hereverse. osco's choiceofvocalnotes s

1 Afriranusic, ol.2 no.4,1961, p.81-98,


3/18

THE GUITAR IMPROVISATIONS OF MWENDA JEAN BOSCO 87S 128 U.. N A M L I A - E Jean Borco MoendsS(Gllotone GBI588T) (Tranocribed by

G a0. Rycroft)

" -/ " I I -- /-- l

2Vocl 12 13 4

Nami Pa Mie:1!~ yetu Jrndotville,Uead urIGuiar

0A.61 ~ Pk,m

ALil ne

19 "'-J,. ..,0.*,., -

11 1______________________18-2.5r

VocaI

o. Nealia- a aea,nail-a- s,

Nelie- oe.,,

ne olia oGoitar

I"'p

8' 1'.0T3tr_4 -, VW m1y

, -,' i g r"i

* Capotasta fitted at fifth fret, i.e. sounding one fourth higher than written. Vocal linehas been transposed accordingly, i.e. should sound one fifth lover (key C).

rather estrictedndstereotyped.his seems o arisedirectlyrom he act hat is vocallines rereally kind fdescant,etheredo the ycle fharmonicrogressionsictatedbytheguitar. herudimentaryarmonic chemes ollowed ytheguitarnthevariouspieces mpose evere imits nthefreedomf themelodic ine,particularlyhen, s insomeof the ongs,vocalphrases lways tartndend,respectively,tpreciselyhe amepointsn relationo theharmonic cheme.Bosco's harmonic chemes onsist lways f a short equence fguitar hords rbroken hords,with set duration f either wo, three, r at mostfourbars, n thevariouspieces.The chosen equenceofprogressionss more or less exactly epeatedthroughouthepiece, nd a rather tultified elodic inenaturallyesultswhenvocalphrasesretied losely othe ange fnotes llowedby his imited eries fchords. hisis noticeable articularlyn MamaKilio-e, utembeawaWengi, sichukie,nd in the


4/18

88 AFRICAN MUSIC SOCIETY JOURNAL(N.II t-e 2)

guitar 3738 39 40 41 .

(( j (44&48) (45) ,jVocal (see 4 belo )4442 444

kvendipiadia ya kapsnga, O umwambi-e ende a-rudle leo. Namlia- a mama, noalia-Vocal

{uit r 50 51-rtrea l Go5 45

0 maa moult. ob. ase, Wo-a--Idapa k ko _. ** . . _.

o4N 3 4--fl%14'faio-

Masanga ong seepart of this rticle).nmy ranscribedxtractromMamaKilio-e,orinstance,heharmoniccheme sa two-bar ne:/ CG / FG /.All vocalphrasesnthesongcommence n quaver6 or 7 of an even-numberedar-G harmony-and ndonthe fourthuaverof thenext ven-numberedar-G harmonygain. Slight arietysprovided fter ar 16,bydividing hephrase nto twohalves.But evenso, eachhalfstillbegins ndends on a G-chord,nd thefinal oteusedbythevoice over this hordis alwaysB.VarietyntheVocalLine.In some of the other ongsBosco achievesgreater ariety,most oftennot bychanging he harmoniccheme, utby varyinghepoints t which hevocal phrasestarts nd ends n relation o theharmonic stinato.n Sokuchomaleikita,whichhasfour-bar D / C / D / G / harmony,he vocal line at first ollows hisphrasingexactlybars21 to 28). The first our two-bar ocal phrases ach start n an odd-


5/18

THE GUITAR IMPROVISATIONS OF MWENDA JEAN BOSCO 89

L I - 1all!

Kiss.8.

nab.o

kku anatu

aii*Cto

be .

i.kvede. nVaLt-

81 82 83 84 1 "

;:4tarh

r rnumberedar or tspreceding p-beat) nd end naneven-numberedne,so that heirunderlying armonys alternately D / C / and / D / G /. But thereafter,heshortenedhrase ommencingt theend ofbar28 andendingn an odd-numberedar,no.29,reverses heprocess, o that rom ere o bar 35 thevocalphasesproceed bove/ G / D / and / C / D / harmony ithoutny changehaving akenplacein theguitar stinato. he next ocalentrybars57to60) returnso theoriginal rder gain,with longfour-barhrasewhichobserves hebasic / D / C / D / G / cycleofprogression. fter hiswe find neight-barhrase f whichmore han ive arsconsis-of sustained ighD-the Dominant,o Westernars.Between ars 1 and 37 nTambalaMoja,Boscoagain mployshedevice f hiftingthevocalphrasen relation o theharmoniccheme,nd n Bombalakasee part ) boththevoiceand theguitar ogetherperateuch shift. his occurs rom ar21onwards,when nearlier ff-beatigurerom heguitar art sgivenprominence.thas ofcoursebeennoted arlier hatBosco introducestretchesf shiftedccentuationn theguitarbass solos ofMasanga,whiletheunderlying etrical cheme emains ntact nd littlealterationotheharmonicceme akes lace Part ,p. 83).Inmost fthe ongs he hythmithin hevocalphrases hemselves-thegroupingofquavers, r subdivision f beats-is unenterprisingomparedwithwhathappens ntheguitar.The vocal phrases onsist lmost ntirelyf sequencesof regular uaverduplets nterspersed ithsinglecrotchets. he straight our-squaremetrewhichthevocal line maintainss usually n complete greement ith theunderlying etricalscheme-i.e. with hatrepetitiverameworketup bythe"roughly onstantycleoffingeringperations" f theguitarist'sefthand,whichwas referredo in Part inconnection ithMasanga see p. 82). The voice seldomgoes in for ross-accentuationliketheguitar.nSokuchomaleJikitandSusanahomevocalsyncopationoesoccur, utthismainly eepsstepwithwhat s happeningn theupperguitar art.However, n


6/18

90 AFRICAN MUSIC SOCIETY JOURNAL* . 128 M.U. SOKUCHOMALE JIKITA M*ndrlAJl-n o1neo

(Gallotome 1587) (Tr. I. Rycrort)

Uuitar*

A - F- -_rS--

(guitar solo aS

Percussionin introduction)

hu- ki-z- e i m- dii- no i- -aha ko-le;i- to -

Na-mu-li- -a, na- mu-l- -a iyo mama nu bo- ma.

A- -- ---d - --n------0 ma-mas tabosll.

3etc..4

SCapotast at 5th fret, i.e. sounding- am fourth higher thn writtesVocal line hambeen trnauposed accordingly, i.e. should sosad fifth loweraPercussion (struck bottle) continues the seme phrase throughout. Guitarrepeate phrase of bars 5 to 8 during vocal.

A-u yq nbrr o8 booaCto~oMamanaMwana,whichhas theraciest hythmf all the ongs, hevocal ineplays wosagainst hreeswith heguitar artfor lot of thetime.Modality ndHarmony.

Manyof Bosco's songs,but notall, seem to employ Hepta-Domode, .e. thecommonWestern iatonicmajormode.But nMamaKilio-e hevocalphrases nd witha Westernmperfectadence, .e,onwhat n Westernmusic eels obe theDominant,


7/18

THE GUITAR IMPROVISATIONS OF MWENDA JEAN BOSCO 91S 148MM. TANBALAMOJA.(Gallotone GB 1586T) MwendaJoan Boeco(Tr. D. Rycroft)

Vocal 2 3

NamsumbaGui tar

-"2.3Percussionz i-tambalam a-lmu fungi b a- Ii ba(le)Guitar 15

r. T' - - fl .. i .vr e .

.11EMa- mana -nsumbs l -ki

ta awm Muvwala NA-ba-Ya-

o 13 . ...15 16$~ Ki-tambala eo-ja wi-fnngi yo ha- li- aba'{lo).Guitarsolo

* Capotasta at the fifth fret, i.e. sounding one fourth higherthan written. The vocal line hambeen transposed accordingly,i.e. should sound one fifth lower. Despite the regularityof the 3+3+2 rhythmic pattern in the guitar part for the first15 bars, an all-embracing I time signature is shownat the headof the piece owing to variations of rhythm all within 8-qua-ver units - which occur after bar 15.

nottheTonic. The songcouldthusbe said toemploy Hepta-Solmode-diatonicwithflat evenththekeyof G, but withF natural nstead f F sharp, orexample). nTambalaMojaandMnkabe,n theotherhand, hephrases esolve n ourSubdominantchord, uggesting Hepta-Solmode-diatonic with harpFourth thekeyof G withC sharpnstead fC natural).Mmkabe ere ffordsnterestingomparison ithNamlia-e.Thetwos(ings remelodicallylmostdenticalxcept or heirmodality, amlia-e singC naturalHepta-Domode)whereMnkabe ses C sharp.Apart romMamaKilio-e, ambalaMoja andMnkabe,ll theother ongsappear ouse the commonWesternMajormode,Hepta-Do.Theirphrases esolve-to Westernears-onto Tonic chords,with Perfectadence Dominant-Tonic)r,occasionally,Plagal cadence Subdominant-Tonic).haveborrowedWestern armonic erms ere


8/18

92 AFRICAN MUSIC SOCIETY JOURNAL(Tambala Woja - 2)

Vocal 10 21 31S 0 Ma-ma 0 nasli-a Boa-co-; i saulia,mama nmlaa,

Mamanamlia tas&, namlia Bosco, nasmlisa ucndo mamamuvWalamabsya.Guitar

r

79"80 819po, A-'

8248 . 4a4 arim V

foreconomyofdescription. t should not be inferred, owever,thatthescale of valueswhichBosco mayattachto harmonicrelationships uch as Tonic/Dominant, or Perfectcadence, etc., is necessarily dentical with conventionalWesternfeelingstowards suchphenomena.Bosco'sGuitarStyle.Similaritieshinted at earlier,between Namlia-e and the originalMasanga song, arenot confinedto the vocal line alone. Namlia-e on firsthearingsounds rather ike anadditional set of variationson theMasanga theme,but theirharmonicschemes are notthe same. Masanga'srudimentarywo-bar cheme-D / A-minor,D / G (as transcribedin Part ) is replaced n Namlia-ebya four-bar equence: G / D, D / A-minor,D / D,D / G. Nevertheless,there are severalplaces wheremelodic phrasesare veryclose tosome of those in Masanga. Compare, for example, bars 31-35, 71-73 and 79-80 ofNamlia-ewithbars 7 and 8 of Masanga (guitarsolo version).The Namlia-ebass solo, of bars 49 to 57, is rhythmicallyeminiscent f Masanga'ssecond bass solo (frombar 37, guitarsolo version) with its 3 + 3 + 2 organisation.Melodically,however, it is not a directborrowingfromMasanga,but arises out of theearlier ubsidiaryG-B-D bass figurewhich s first videntfrombar 5 (thirdbeat) to bar6 (first eat). This figure ecurseveryodd bar frombar 13 onwards, and alternateswitha contrastingA-D-G progression. These earlierbass figures,marked by slurs in thetranscription,re used antiphonally gainst the treblemelodyof the guitar,somewhatafter he fashionof "breaks" in jazz. When developed into an independentbass solo,however, theposition of thesenotes in the bar is slightly ltered.There is preparationforthisby some fillingup, in bar 49. Organic developmentof an earlier atentfigureinto a secondarymaintheme n thiswaywas of course also evident n Bombalaka nd inthe second bass solo ofMasanga.In Sokuchomaleikita the short ascending bass figure,G to C, in bar 129 is notderived in thisway but seems to mirror hedescendingreblefigure,G to C, of bar 1.Similarly, n Tamba!a Moja the G to D bass ascent of bar 83 may be regardedas aninversionof the initial treble descent of bar 1.


9/18

THE GUITAR IMPROVISATIONS OF MWENDA JEAN BOSCO 93

r . Is3 .M.M MlAMA lO-I(0aotete2eb IT8) Mwemda oan Bosac(Yr. D. Rycroft)

ruk.-- r_~-r- 6 -Gutar

IPp.. .FpI L-A8 14P %S-

0a- ma klli-o na-li- a--li-a ki-ll-o - e; Iawma

A dr t -I - I

L z'-I L

-.-*L '--__ - - 1 ir -

.. - .,I I -%.u-k-li-. ca- si-kiti-ka kill- a - J- Mama ki-li-. na-iruba ie-n

kill- o - n; Ma- -ma kili- o- e, Mai- -ma kili-o -e, Ma- rcac-i9 %%-

RI (Guitar solo as-.,__7 -.. , i :-: 2- ._ :: ha-r~etssq.) eta...

WI TA rr J.k-li-o- Ma- ma ki-li- a -a.

SCapotanta t 6th fret, i.e. sounding one fourth hibghr tha wrritten.Voeal line trusponed accordingly, i.e. souading one fifth lower,

Descendingcalepassages n the reble eem o be one of Bosco'sfavouriteevices.The Masanga heme tself onsists, fcourse, f two suchdescents-anarrestedne,followedby a complete ne fromG to G (as transposedn thetranscription).ninitial escending iguref four r fivenotes urns p intheguitar art fmost f hissongs,mostnoticeablynNamlia-e, okuchomale,armbalaoja,andMnkabe-but lsosometimesn moredisguised orm,s inMwami.Metrical rganisation.The underlying etrical cheme f Masangawhich, s was suggestedn Part ,appears o have ts roots n Luba tribal ancemusic,s tobe found nmany fBosco'sotherpieces. The eight-quaverlameworks physically ound up witha roughlyconstant ycleof fingeringperations erformed y theguitarist'sefthand,as wasdercribedarlier.Withinhis ramework,hedistributionf ccents,ndthegroupingfquavers ntoduplet, riplet,r mixedrhythmiciguress frequentlyltered-and attimes,r n somepieces ontinuously,reble nd bassgivethe mpressionfmaintainingtwo ontrastedines fphrasing hich reoffsetne fromhe ther.


10/18

94 AFRICAN MUSIC SOCIETY JOURNALSSUS0ANAl Mvenda Jean loseo

.(Gl lotonG781A) D. Rycroft)

VocL t I"Ma a

Su- as- nah. amas Su- sa- nab.i.

Voca

~it- 727r

Mi na-to-ka Jadot- vill Mi komve bile mi na-tumi-ka be me-b.

Su- sa- nah. Ma-m- nah* Capotamta at 5Sth fret, i.e. sounding one fourth higher than writtem.Vocal line trannposed in accordance, i.e. should sound one fifth lFoc.

The guitar partsof all thesongs dealt within these articles re based on an eight-quaver schemeof thiskind,with theexceptionofMama naMwanaand Mwvami-wherethe foundation s regularcompound time with tripletsubdivision of the beats-andSokuchomaleJikita,hich could be said to employ regular2/4 withsyncopation.


11/18

THE GUITAR IMPROVISATIONS OF MWENDA JEAN BOSCO 95MAMA AMYANA Mvenda Jean Boscotuiare 168 M.. (GallotoneB1TOO) (transcribed

Translosed - *fourth hirher. ke F)(capotasta itted a fifth fret)

-Maaa nav a tumbana to ja-li hi r avan Ito jali h iGUITAR (transposed

162 31B4

j-tel; Mama na tu.baa t. jali i m Otel.

VICE

Mas na mitanpeihan tipatckiFna kwen1s; ni m Ldanaf- taipt)

v r IF pW0,

Apart fromthese exceptions,the eight-quaverframeworkforms the basis of alltheothersongs considered here. n some pieces the main bass notesfallon thefirst ndfifthquavers, except n some of thevariations-particularlybass solo passages. This canbe seen in the two Masangasor in Namlia-eand Mnkabe.Bass solos in these threepiecesoftenbring into prominencenot the first nd fifth, ut the first nd fourth uavers,togetherwith either the sixth or seventh,since 3 + 2 + 3 or 3 + 3 - 2 grouping isused in place of the standard4 -- 4 bass organisation-see Masanga solo, bars 37-47,orNamlia-e,bars 50-56.In Mama Kilio-e, nd in Kutembeakwa Wengind TambalaMoja, however,we have a


12/18

96 AFRICAN MUSIC SOCIETY JOURNALVOICE

IT- Pill- ILf%#-" iiLA-k II,S kwend'a, Mapar _o Ma-ma Mamna, Mama, Mama- Mama.27 28 29 30 31

Nauvana, ku-ye Ieyo twendo ba-ye-ke; Nammana ku-ya leyn twende

GUTAR (as 27) (as 28)A-AS(guitar simile to bar 50)

VOICE 44 4 --- 4 0S Mam , Manc, Ma-, Mama-, Mama-, a-y -----------

TAR52 53 54 55-0 61-62 63-64 6 (as 6)

reversal f thisprocedure. -ere he nitial, tandard ass organisations not a 4 + 4grouping,withmainnoteson thefirst nd fifthuavers s inMasanga -c.,mentionedabove,but regular -3 -- 2.The main ass notes all egularlynthe irst,ourthndseventh uavers.But temporaryariation s laterprovidedby changing o 4 --4grouping, sing uavers1 and5 (see TambalaMoja,bar 16 etseq.).Fromtheway n which haveplacedthebar-linesn Bombalakasee Part ) andUsichukie,hese wopiecesgivethe mpressionfbeing xceptionaln that heirmainbass notes reconsistentlyffhe pparentmainbeat. tmight erhaps avebeen morein keepingwithmy reatmentf the other ieces f hadscoredBombalakas follows,with hebar-lineslaced nequaver arlier han heyppearn the ull ranscription.BOMBALAKA-an alternativeranscription..R" >rl 3p- .. - r-. ... . . T--'-V-lM-etcbIL-,

etc.Marie Jo m'a& kwambia ke -ye bwaua ye- mgu,


13/18

THE GUITAR IMPROVISATIONS OF MWENDA JEAN BOSCO 97r 184 .M. kUTEMBEA KWA WLNGI Mwenda Jean Homes(Gallotone CO. 82) (Transcription byDavid Itycroft)

Vocal

GuitarSAt

I'

hkfuSi k-z etc.,*For the recording,this piece was playedwitha capotasta fitted at the fifthfret, i.e. sounding one fifth lower than written here. The vocal line hasphrase, played by etrikine a bottle with a stick, is repeated exactly through-

ieredIan a rsposiet.n esornct f the recording.

phaeae yrii-ebttl ihs ci repae xctytruho~. fe-)r ],tbt- ttreryree sth to-rprse fbrsI.m', 1- ,-...y -i ,'+ r 1r+-..- th. r c rin ,

Scored n the manner ndicatedbove,boththeguitar reble ineand the vocalphrasingallonequaveroff hebeatthroughouthepiece.As a listner,t s difficultoconceive f this ormfbarringsbeing he orrect ne forBombalakaecause hevocalline and the treblemelody f theguitar re so convincinglyhrased hat t requiresquite nd effortfwill-powerot oaccept hems expressinghemainmetricalcheme.The illusion s particularlytrong ince the bass never omes ntoprominences anaccentuallyxpressedmetre,ndat onepointBosco evenforsakestentirely-betweenbars37 and 44 in the ranrcriptionseePart ). But fonetries layinghepieceon theguitar-andAndrew racey,whomanages etter han can,hasfinally ersuadedme


14/18

98 AFRICAN MUSIC SOCIETY JOURNAL*a 144 M.M. USICHUKIE(Gallotone CO.82) Mwend& ean Boace(Transcription byDavid Ryeroft)I OFIGUITAR(CUpotasta W,at thret) ERCUSSIO.E , , CUSSI ON%

0+ r w.

! ]/ Tb+ % r

7wjlOCC;

-ni a- ki-fika kunyumba- ni.

OFI 1

-+ i

>IWL 1

A1 1 1 1 1 -1 -a i PrT

Capotasta at fifth fret, i.e. soundingone fourth higher than written.

The vocal line has here been transposed in accordance with the guitarscoring. Actual pitch should be one fifth lower than written.In the guitar part, the second voice stands out are strongly thanthe highest notes, i.e. initial G-F-E etc. are prominent.In repetitions of the verse the following variants are used in theguitar parts let repeat: Bare 5 and 6 replace 13 and 1412nd repeat: Bars I and 2 replace 13 and 14.In the vocal line, bars 10 and 11, the superscript accidental indicatesslight flattening, the notes lying between B and B flat in pitch.

on this oint-onecannot utfeel hat hemainmetricalcheme oes n factic n one'sfingers,ndthat nly hebass s on hebeat.In Usichukiehe wo-note assfigureseem o be used ntiphonallygainsthe reblemelodynd thevocalphrases,nd to stand npolymetricelationo them t a distanceofhalf bar measure.n my ranscriptionfUsichukiehich ccompanieshepresentarticle was swayed ythe moreprominentlyxpressedmetre ivenoutbythe voice


15/18

THE GUITAR MPROVISATIONSOF MWENDAJEANBOSCO 99S118 MM. MAMI iwead JesD Boeat(Gallotone GIT8118) (Transcription byDavid Rycroft)

-3 J . ,VocalK1l- sandi we- 1t e 1o, 41- d we- le

GuitarFe r

o a- yo u- t- i va- b- di v l

18t

kubga, Kal- sandi we- Is lo.

Capotests at fifth fret, i.e. sounding one fourth higher them writtee. The vocal lieshas been transposed in accordance with the guitar scoring. Actual pitch should be onefifth lower than written, Guitar and percussion (bottle struck with a stick) repeatthe phrase shown in bars 5 and 8 throughout the vocal extract shoewnhere.

Introduction from guitar usng= 168 U.M. "M N KA1 B EN M[ooNdeJeas fBoec(Gallotono GB.1780) (Tr. D. Rycroft)

(cf. "Namlia-e" ) et..SCapetasta at fifth fret, i.e. sounding oea fourth higher thn wrttt+e.

and theguitar reble ine. t wouldprobably e more onsistento base thebarringnthe bassagainhere,nwhich ase the bar-linewould fall n themiddle fmypresentbarmeasure.Apartfrom hesevariouseight-quavermetrical chemepieces,two of Bosco'sguitar ongs,Mamana Mwana ndMwami, ave a fixed ompound uplebassorganisa-tion n theguitar art,with riple ubdivisions f thebeat. Off-beatrientationf theguitar rebleine nrelation othebass s permanentn boththese ieces, utthevocalmetre greeswiththe main beats of thebass and,consequently,heprincipalmetrehere ctuallyomes oprominentxpression, hile heguitarrebleine s the nly oddmanout", in syncopatedelation o it.A fewfurtheremarks bout Bosco's off-beatphrasing illbe added tthe ndof he resentrticle.One interestingeature fMamanaMwana s thequaverdupletgroupingn thevocal line,whichholds out against heguitar's ripletubdivisions f thebeat.At


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100 AFRICAN MUSIC SOCIETY JOURNALcertain oints, oice andguitarwopover-exchanging uplets or riplets-as n bars16and 21.Bottle hythms.

In sixof the ongsatpresent nderdiscussion,n additionalouch s supplied ythepercussionccompaniment-abottle hythm",rovided yananonymousccom-plicestrikingn an empty ottlewith stick.His commonest ottlerhythm,n thevarious ieces,s one or other ersion f hat an-Africanstandardattern":1: 4j 4 444:jjj:11in ts ixteen-quaver-lengthorm2.reciselyhis amepatternccurs s a "stick hythm"in two itemsof Luba tribaldance musicfromBosco's area (recorded n GallotoneG.B. 1581T). WithBosco's KutembeawaWengihe bottle hythms phrasedn themanner hown above: one measure ff, nd one measure n thebeats,alternately.In Sokuchomaleikita nd TambalaMoja the otherwell-known ersion f thispattern,thatwith /8 + 9/8phrasing,s employeds a bottle hythm.epending n whetheror notone presupposes singlemainmetricalcheme nderlyinghemusic-suchasthat ertainingo Bosco's fingeringycle n theguitar-this atternmayofcoursebescored n either f thefollowing woways.Fromtheuppermostf the two trans-criptionsherelationshipf thisversion f thepatterno theversion hown arlier anmostclearly e seen.They may n factbe regarded s two differenthrasing f thesamepattern.

), 8 r lr r r r r rb,.) IIlIF +,Fr r r prnI

Forthe ongMwami shorter,welve-quaver-lengthorm fthis ype fpatternsusedas a bottle hythm,hraseds6/16+ 3/8. tmay enoted hat he6/16half fthepattern ere greeswith hevocalphrasingnd theguitar ass noteswhich xpresshamainmetrical ramework) hile the3/8 halfagreesmore or less with the off-beatphrasingf theguitar reble ine.Usichukieasa lesssubtle, ight-quaver-lengthottle hythm,adeup n 3 + 2 + 3grouping.usanah as a rapid ixteen-semiquaver-lengthattern, rouped s 3 + 3 + 4+ 2 + 4,which grees lmost xactlywith heguitar's reble hrasing-but he atteronly yncopatesrom he bass withinhemeasure, eing n stepwitheachdownbeat.Thoughmuchfaster,hisbottlerhythmatterns suggestive f the commonCubanRumba lavesfigure:lf:+ . bj 4J ,+ J

The samepattern ccurs gainwith woofBosco's later ongs,Mbele a Kuenda ndKutembeajiani,which haveomittedrom resentonsideration.SyncopationrPolymetre?Where o drawthe inebetween yncopationndpolymetreaises rather exedquestion-or do we need to reviseour terminology?Syncopation" onventionally

'This pattern as frequentlyeen referredo by Dr. Jones.See A. M. Jones:StudiesnAfricanMusic,OUP, 1959,pp. 210-213.See also AnthonyKing: "The Standard atternn YorubaMusic",AfricanMusic,Vol. 2, No. 3, 1960,pp. 51-54.


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THE GUITAR IMPROVISATIONS OF MWENDA JEAN BOSCO 101impliesdeviation, suallybyan upperpartand usually nlytemporarily--withinhemeasure rextendingvernot more han wo orthreemeasures-fromn establishedandcontinuingmain"metremaintainedyanother art. Polymetre"eems o coverdivergencen a largercale, utwithout ecessarilyssertinghat herespredominanceof one overtheother rothers.Decidingwhether givenpiecehas nfact single main"metre, romwhich hephrasingfthe other artsdiverges,s often difficultuestion,nd one overwhichthere as n thepastbeensomecontroversy-A. . Merriam as summarisedhemainpoints fdissentionptlyn his"African usic outhf he ahara3.t seems hatn muchAfricanmusic, nd n some azz,one findsvidence fa "main"metricalchemewhichis given ittle r no accentual rominence,hilethe various off-beat"hrasingsreexpressedo convincinglyhat hey ardlyeem o be satisfactorilyovered ythe erm"syncopation"n itsnormal, estrictedense. Constant ambert otedsomethingfthiskind n azzwhenhewrote,nthe arlythirties:In (American) egro azz bandsthe rregularross-accentsregiven o muchmoreweight han heunderlyingulse,that herhythmicrabesqueslmost ompletelybscure hemetricalramework . ."4.

Bosco, of course,frequentlyucceeds n entirelybscuring is framework-and,beyond his, n jugglingwith two divergentlyff-sethrasings r apparentmetressimultaneously-andhismight, ne fears, ossibly lso be thecase in some otherAfricanmusicwhichhas initiallytruck he non-Africannvestigators polymetric,withoutny inglemainorganising rinciple.The question f thepresence r absenceof a single main"metricalrameworkcannot,t seems, afely e answered n the criterionf whetherr notthisactuallycomes to overtexpression hrough ccentuation. laying nyof Bosco's tunes for

oneself ntheguitar,nebecomes onscious f he rameworkiedupwith he epetitivecycle ffingeringperationsnthe eft and.This cannot utbefelt s a basicunifyingprinciple hetherrnot, noneor other fthe unes,t comes ntoprominencehroughaccent lacement.ometimest cannote expressed-ashappens emporarilynmany fthepieces, ndpermanentlyn Bombalaka-withoutompletelypoiling hedeceptivesubtleties fthe eeminglyndependenthrasingsn theupperparts.Bosco'srhythmicechniquemight eregardeds basically formfsyncopation-or "off-beathrasing",f"syncopation" illnot stretchar nough-butone n whichthemainmetricalrameworksattimes artiallyrcompletelybscurednfavour ftheoff-setineor lines,which re often hrasedn sucha wayas to pose as individual,independent etres n their wnright.Buttheproblem f invisible mainbeats" isstill bit f strain n ourpresenterminology.

Editor's ote.--As ar s weknow,hesere he road etailsfMwenda's ovements.He wasworkings a juniorlerk t a 'pasport'fficenJadotvillehen discoveredim,nd hroughisfirstecordingsithme,especiallyfMasanga'ndMama aMwana' ewas aunchedn a part imemusicalareer.Shortlyfter y isitoJadotvillee eft ispost herendwent oElizabethvillehe argerentre heren1953 e obtainedjobasmessengeror localbank, positionehasheld or enyears. e has ontinuedosing ndplay he uitar, akingeveralppearancesinElizabethvilleromimeotime,nd,t sunderstood,as nly nce eft he rovincefKatanga. hiswas n1961 t the equestfcommercialilmompanyhich anted im o take artn shortdvertisingilmnNairobi.WhilenEastAfricaeundertookroundof oncertsnNairobi, ombasandDar sSalaam,nd lsorecordedor thirdime. his nce gainwaswith allotoneavinglreadyrecordedorhemnElizabethvillin953. he ameompanyecorded wendanElizabethvilleastNovember,962, is ourthession.Unfortunatelyis ecentongs o not ulfillhe romisefhis arlynes.Withhe awofdiminishingeturnsnly strokef he ldgeniusnMwenda'sart ould e ikelyokeep imn he anksf ecordingrtistsnfuture.He stillives nElizabethville,here is ddresssc/oM.Capelouto,ox397, lisabethville,atanga, ongo. ettersohim houldbewrittennFrench,is econdanguage. HughTracey.sin:ContinuityndChangenAfricanalares, d.BascomndHerskovits,niversityfChicagoress,959.'Constantambert: usir o,Pelican ooks, 948, . 159. Firstublished934),


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102 AFRICAN MUSIC SOCIETY JOURNALDISCS RECORDED BY MWENDA JEANBOSCOandpublishedyGallo (Africa)LimitedundertheGallotoneLabel

Publishedn 1952.G.B. 1586 Masanga.TambalaMoja.G.B. 1587 SokuchomaleJikita.Mama Kilio-e.G.B. 1588 Namlia-e.Bombalaka.G.B. 1700 Masanga.G.B. 1725 Majengositakwenda.G.B. 1726 Paulina-e.Teresawalala.G.B. 1728 Mamakilio-e.Paulinamubaya.G.B. 1754 Mamana mwana.Published in 1953.G.B. 1789 Mari Kiloko.Mukabi.G.B. 1790 Soya.

KubishaNa Bakuba.Publishedn1954.C.O. 23 BunduguwaMukizungu.MaraMingi.C.O. 24 Sac Inapita.EeBibi eBwana.C.O. 25 KuvaeKulaKunwa.Kitu Gani Kumulango.C.O. 26 Mwendoulikwenda.MtokoKidogo.C.O. 34 Muchokowa MukwaziMoja.Kulia miNalia Maria.C.O. 35 Wauzaiiwa Mankinga.TuwaeshimuWazazi.C.O. 36 Tembea Uwone.Bibi VasangushiMtoto.C.O. 37 UisfawyeMatataVasilo.MwendoWasipo Tayaki.C.O. 38 Kuwowo Pasipo Kunwaza.Kubudongo.C.O. 39 Pole Pole njoa Mwendo.UkinikutaMubar.C.O. 41 MukwenuWadimaMadima.SingaTumbo Yawa.Ndumba.

Published in 1955.CO. 0 Cheka Mama.Bibi Mpenzi.C.O. 81 KupendanaTuapendana.KupokelewaVizuri.C.O. 82 Usichukie.KutambeakwaWengi.C.O. 88 Bulofua.Nimemukata.C.O. 89 Kuturizana.WatotoWawili.C.O. 96 KufuataMpenzi.UsisemeWongo.C.O. 97 Usiwe Nasikitiko.Mbele Yakuwina.C.O. 98 WatuWapuzi.WageniWanafika.C.O. 100 Unge NikatalaMbeleBibi.TukizungumuzaWawili.C.O. 101 NbeleyaKuenda mu Bar.KutembeaNjiama.CO. 102 BoscoPishi.Masikitiko aMpenzi.C.O. 103 Mukini a Coniense.Mtoto.Published in 1956.C.O. 110 KituUnapenda.WangaWalote.C.O. 111 SikuMoja Nilikwenda.TukianjaKulewa.CO. 113 MapendanoBosco.Lizzie.CO. 115 WakatiNilikuwaMtote.WakatiBali Kuowa.CO. 116 WaBibi Zetu.BakikuowaUsiombeKings,C.O. 121 WakatiMuliOwana,Tukiendaadotville.

C.O. 123 Chaffeurulevi.KufikakwaMfalme.C.O. 126 ZamaniCongo.KwimbaNakoNikuzuri.C.O. 130 KabumbaPart .KabumbaPart .C.O. 133 KijanaMoja.Ninikukosea.C.O. 138 Uninikuta uMeza.Bibi TwendeKwetu.C.O. 142 SafariMena Kwenda.Bwivu.C.O. 143 BinginaMbiri.ShikuyaKangua.C.O. 145 MunongoWatwa.KwendakuSoko.C.O. 149 KuchezaMizuri.BibiSofia.C.O. 152 KutembeayuSheko.Kilamuntuna Penda.C.O. 156 BibiKunua.Masimango.C.O. 157 Mungia.Kutembea.MusanaBongo.Published in 1958.C.O. 168 TuendeTurupi.Vidiwa.C.O. 175 Mukisema a Bwana.Ukiwa naManeno.C.O. 176 Mama Lillianne.Safari.C.O. 177 Miakaya aman.Wavijana.C.O. 181 KizengUnakevea.Bibi wa Oumba.C.O. 182 Usafi.UkifukiheSikombiyo.

C.O. 188 WakubwaWazaman.Safari unyeka.C.O. 190 Kufwa.RudiaMpezi.C.O. 193 Marianne.UziwazeMingi.Published in 1959.C.O. 194 TurudiNyumbani.Kulia Stephanie.C.O. 195 WakatiNilikupendaRosa.Hutuwa BwanaMasasi.C.O. 196 Baba Muko.ShangweMkubwa.C.O. 197 Kulia Sousane.SiweziKurudiLucia.C.O. 198 Usitingizike.Kisqahili naachana.C.O. 199 TajirinaMali Yake.

Pita Bakuone.C.O. 200 PilipiliYasipoKula.BembelizaMapendo.C.O. 201 MamaMaria.Congo naendelea.Published in 1950.C.O. 202 BwanaAlisema.WakatiWa Kuowa.C.O. 203 Walikwambia oa Moto.BibiCha ChaCha.C.O. 204 UsitokeNyumbani.KukumbukaBayeke.C.O. 205 MagontwaYatakwisha.Eshima.C.O. 206 Sema Wazi.Pole Kwa Bwana.C.O. 207 WeziNiWabaya.Owa Bibi.Publishedn 1962.ASL. 523 BilombeDistingue.Na KezengelaYo.ASL. 519 Njila Takwenda.ASL. 520 Wapi Suzune.jau va Frankas.&SL. 521 SafariyaMpenzi.Kipenza Wee.

mwendo jean bosco guitar improvisation ii

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