Samite
Ithaca, NY
Ugandan music

Born and raised in Uganda, Samite Mulondo learned to play traditional flute music from his grandfather and he attended school in the King's Courtyard where the royal musicians played for the King.  Those early influences instilled in Samite the rhythms and patterns of the traditional music of his people, the Baganda.  When a high school teacher in Kampala recognized his talents and put a western flute in his hands, Samite began a journey on a path to becoming one of the most highly acclaimed flutists in East Africa.  In 1982 he fled to Kenya as a political refugee, where he played with the Bacchus Club Jazz Band and the popular African Heritage Band.  In 1987 he immigrated to the United States and now makes his home in Ithaca, New York.

Samite's music celebrates Ugandan culture: he sings in his native tongue of Luganda and, in addition to flutes, performs on kalimba (finger piano), marimba, and litungu (seven-stringed Kenyan instrument).  His music has won critical praise. Fellow African master musician, Joseph Shabalala, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, says of Samite’s work, "When you hear the music of Samite, the soul of Africa is revealed to you."  And, Jim Washburn of the Los Angeles Times, says that, "Although one of Samite's kalimbas was no larger than two cigarette packs, when amplified it revealed an enfolding timbre and interweaving complexity that Philip Glass would be hard pressed to replicate."

In addition to Samite's musical career, he is the founder of the non-profit organization, Musicians for World Harmony, whose mission is to enable musicians throughout the world to share their music to promote peace, understanding and harmony among peoples, with a special emphasis on the displaced or the distressed who could benefit most from the healing power of music. "I am convinced that we are all moved by the same desires, needs and emotions, regardless of the language in which those feelings are expressed.” In 1999, Samite traveled through Africa and filmed the PBS documentary, Song of the Refugee, which along with his CD Kambu Angels was inspired by a desire to present African refugee's hope for the future in spite of the suffering and loss they have endured. A more recent project has been writing a soundtrack for a documentary film on Wangari Muta Maathai, the Nobel Peace Prize winner for 2004.

Links

http://www.samite.com/

http://www.buganda.com/luganda.htm

www.musiciansforworldharmony.org.

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