Media / Written
MUSIC: Romeo Akiiki outs 10-track album, by Moses Serugo
Daily Monitor No 090, Friday 31 March 2006
Kads Band lead vocalist Romeo Akiiki is taking advantage of the outfit's recess from the campaign trail to release his solo debut titled Chillum Woods Sound presents Romeo Akiiki. The album will be launched this Saturday at Blue Mango in Bukoto, marking a decade-long desire by this versatile vocalist to do songs in the World Music genre. It took Akiiki this long because he wanted to work with a producer who was more than just a sound engineer. His quest led him to Gdava Woods, an expatriate music teacher at Kabira International School. The fact that Woods is classically trained with a background in composing, song writing and playing instruments made this singer/producer encounter a perfect fit.
Akiiki's album is atmospheric and stands out from the current crop of new releases. The album has a relaxed ambiance, one that is driven by strong narration and an exquisite blend of the acoustic guitar, kora, thumb piano, mouth organ, shakers, rattles, finger snaps and claps. With this release, Akiiki has made full use of his artistic freedom that came at a time of self-examination and a desire to break away from Uganda's mostly pop music pack.
Akiiki describes it as music for the mind and not the feet. The 10 songs are a fusion of traditional sounds and enchanting melodies. Akiiki completes this showcase of what he calls intelligently arranged music by doing both the vocal melody and harmonies. "He is a versatile artiste, one that can do low baritones to high falsettos with amazing ease", his producer Woods attests.
Tickets to Saturday's concert will cost Shs15,000 and it will start at precisely 8p.m. with two opening acts; adolescent music prodigy Kinobe and Tshila, a young female singer who fuses rap with folk. Akiiki will then command a hand picked band after which his producer will deejay African music for patrons who want to dance the night away.