The Ugandan dynamics of Kinobe and Soulbeat Africa hit the STLCC-Meramec Theater Friday, April 23 with a unique blend of East African instruments and sounds of vocals, percussion and guitar.
Curtis Daniels
-Staff Writer-
The Ugandan dynamics of Kinobe and Soulbeat Africa hit the STLCC-Meramec Theater Friday, April 23 with a unique blend of East African instruments and sounds of vocals, percussion and guitar.
The group is comprised of musician Kinobe Herbert, commonly known as Kinobe, who is from Uganda, which is located in Eastern Africa. Other group members are from various other parts of Africa. Together, they form the band Soulbeat Africa.
Kinobe began playing music at the age of five, and has been performing publically since he was 10 years old. In high school, he played in music clubs and started playing with professional bands in 1998. Since then, he’s expanded into sharing folklore and touring at festivals.
Kinobe sings for Soulbeat and specializes in African drums along with the Kalimba, a thumb piano. He travels globally touring and conducting workshops to educate people of all ages about the African tradition of song, dance, and fable.
The day before the concert, Kinobe shared folklore of Uganda on campus, and later, he conducted workshops on drums, dance, and song.
“The workshops were pretty good. The positive turnout from the college was really wonderful,” said Kinobe. “The college community gave us so much positive energy to make it happen.”
At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Kinobe performed an ensemble of one of Soulbeat Africa’s most popular opuses, “Abataka,” with the Meramec Choir and Orchestra.
“I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to work with Kinobe and other great musicians to produce such great music,” said Meramec concert choir member, Josh Todisman.
Kinobe said this experience was a bit different, as he never conducted an orchestra with a choir simultaneously. The ensemble performed together for only one day.
“It was very exciting on one end and challenging on another; challenging because of the choir and orchestra. There was a strong bridge between us and the college students made possible by the professors,” said Kinobe.
Kinobe says he feels the music he and Soulbeat Africa make is universal, calling it African-world music.
“I am influenced by a bunch of different sounds from all around the world, but I am grounded,” Kinobe says. “The energy comes from my home, but I am inspired by a bunch of different cultures.”
Most of Kinobe and Soulbeat Africa’s vocals are in his native tongue as well as English. He said his ideas for his music come from about the things he sees: “love, injustice, and just stuff in daily life.”
Kinobe and Soulbeat Africa’s said his aim to be universal enabled them to connect with the audience, and the crowd eagerly begged for an encore. ”
