Today went well. It started with myself and Abias, lead composer and keys player for the local band Progresso. After a quick jam to break the ice and a couple of phone calls, we had a couple of other composition-minded individuals with us, each with different strengths. I enjoyed getting to know the different roles these guys could fill as composers… different languages, lyrics, and melodies were brought to the table for myself and Abias to sort through and organize. Firstly, here’s a preview of the chorus, which has a more modern feel and is sung in the link language Portuguese as opposed to the various regional languages:

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Next is a bridge in Umbundu, whipped up by a kindly schoolteacher sporting micro-dreads by the name of Tchingualele. Umbundu is spoken further north within the river system, and this part will be the flow between the chorus and and language spoken further down the river system, Nganguela.

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And finally, for now at least, here’s one of my favorite parts of the song. This part will be both accompanied and a cappella at different points. The language is Nganguela, the most widely spoken in Menongue, and perhaps in Kuando Kubango province as well. It’s closely related to Chokwe, which is spoken in many of the villages interviewed by The Okavango Wilderness Project this year, which is good, because we want this song to be understood by as many of the people of the region as possible!

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That’s all for now, folks. I took some video as well, but I’m completely out of steam for the night. I’ll get on an edit ASAP to show you a bit of the songwriting process that led to these clips! ~Alex