The Black Uganda Choir, a non-traditional polyphonic choir, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Although the ensemble is led by Tomáš Drtílek, our questions were answered by the spokesman of the thirteen-strong ensemble, Ivan Holas, and the most productive writer in the group, Richard Lank.
The Black Uganda Choir is celebrating its 25th birthday. What exactly made you get together?
Ivan: It was a coincidence and at the same time a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we just couldn’t stop in time. Almost all of us were at that time members of a certain renowned Brno choir, the name of which I am forbidden to give. At the beginning of the 90s, in the little free time we had among all the tours, a small group began forming inside the bigger group of those who loved to sing along with a guitar. We, however, wanted just that little bit more. Then we decided that it might not be a bad idea to try it with an audience. Our first live performance in the Brno Rock Café U Labutě was quite dramatic, the audience was a bit different than we expected. But we survived and we’ve been going strong for 25 years since.
Even though you also perform your own songs (the author mainly being Richard Lank), most of your repertoire is made up of songs taken over from other artists with your own, often parodic texts. Has the method you work with in your repertoire changes over the years?
Ivan: Since the form wasn’t really comprehensible at the beginning, the only change has been that it now isn’t comprehensible from a completely different angle. I would say that after 25 years, the main creators for the band, Rich Lank as lyricist, arranger and composer and Tomáš Drtílek as arranger and composer, have found our strong and weak points. The newer songs are therefore tailored more to our needs, and there is probably less waste.
Richard: We found that the most effective way to create is when the author or the person responsible for the arranging and the song takes the raw idea to a rehearsal. Then we start rehearsing the song, and once in a while when the author can’t make it, the song undergoes a huge transformation. We call this process ‘ugandisation’.
Ivan: That is a term invented long ago by Jirka Moravský Brabec and we really liked it. From that point on we have been ‘ugandising’ even more.
Do you still use the songs you wrote in the early years?
Ivan: Certainly, some songs have become such classics that neither we nor the audience can get rid of them. On the other hand, with the exception of one song sung once in five years at anniversary concerts, we don’t use songs from the first concert. And even that song won’t make it into this years’ concert. Usually 60 to 70 percent of our repertoire is nothing new for our audience, and we add about four new songs a year.
You draw on many musical genres – from classical through jazz to folk. Has this pool of inspiration grown through the years?
Ivan: Basically, all the sources we take from have stayed the same. We haven’t yet used any repertoire from electro music, but are more interested in folk, pop, jazz, folk songs, African songs, classical music and even some spirituals with our own, very unspiritual texts. The only thing that changes is the ratio, but that is very hard to define.
Richard: Together there are thirteen of us and the cast hasn’t really changed much in the past 20 years. Not even marriages between members of the band haven’t broken up the band, nor has the band broken up the marriages. The natural diversity of the repertoire is caused by every person bringing their own little part into the mix.
You are mostly a vocal band, but in some songs you use accompanying instruments – guitars, bass, a mandolin and flutes. How did this arrangement of instruments form?
Ivan: It formed because each of the instrumental players who joined the ensemble wanted to play a little bit too. Some stayed and some left because they didn’t get enough space to play. The arrangement is balanced and versatile and we can play anything, even Ivan Hrubý can nowadays play on the double bass what he couldn’t formerly play on the bass guitar. Next to the already mentioned instruments we sometimes use the djembe, a small drum, keyboards and for special occasions some ethnic instruments, or a ukulele trio.
Richard: most of the Uganda repertoire is simply vocal. We can attack with instruments too, but our voices usually do the job. This is a classic historical method used from the times of Ktož sú boží bojovníci (Ye Who are Warriors of God – a 15th century Hussite war song – trans.).
Ivan: It does have a practical advantage. For example, when we perform at some gallery opening, the whole thing would end before we could put up the apparatus. Like this we march in, sing the songs, have a bite…
I still must ask, is it always immediately clear whether the song will be purely vocal or will have instruments?
Ivan: Sometimes we find out when rehearsing that the acapella version doesn’t fully fit, but most often we find out already in the arrangement itself. When we rehearse, we experiment, adding or taking away instruments. It is basically a long-term progression, and even the songs that are sung in front of audiences change through time. Doubly so when we return to them after a longer time.
You will be having your official birthday concert. When and where will it be?
Ivan: It will be starting at 6 p.m. on 14 October in the Café Práh in Brno. That is one of our favourite places in Brno, we have events there about once a year and we had our anniversary concert there five years ago. This time it will be a classic concert, which we don’t want to burden with some expositions and memories, sifting through photos and so on. We’ll leave that until after the concert. We have also invited former members, who will probably have an opportunity at the end to sing some of our notorious songs. For the audience, there will be a little choreographic surprise.
Apart from Café Práh, where do you play?
Ivan: In Brno it is for example the club Leitnerova. Other than that, we often go to the beautiful summer choir workshop in Lomnice u Tišnova. The A-Fest is also interesting, organised by the Academy of Sciences in Průhonice. The list continues, although less than in the past, when we used to participate in large domestic and foreign festivals. However, a few children have appeared and we don’t really do big events anymore. Anyway, in four or five final rounds at national contest festivals the only victory was the Mohelnický chechták in 2000 for the song Malí lidi taky lidi (Small People are also People). We no longer actively look for concert opportunities, rather working on preparing our fifth CD and waiting for what comes our way. But the offers just keep coming.
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