To download a free color .pdf of the booklet, go to www.kuimba.com Salimu! Heshimu! This CD is dedicated to Indigenous and Creative People everywhere whose purpose is to live a life of Beauty — despite a world gone mad. Kuimba (koo eem’ bah) means “to sing or to make music” in Swahili. The lyrics on this album are written in Congo Swahili or Kingwana (keeng gwah’ nah), a dialect of Swahili spoken in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Lark Bowerman was born and lived until the age of eighteen. To see the lyrics of these songs or to download a free .pdf of the booklet, go to www.kuimba.com 1. Salimu! Heshimu! (sah lee’ moo heh she’ moo) — Greet! Honor! (3:35) lyrics and music, Lark Bowerman On the last morning of our visit to Itendey, Lark’s home village in Congo, Africa, the most glorious sunrise happened which sent us on our way with a surge of happiness. Salimu! Heshimu! first came into being out of that experience and was later completed during a backpacking trip on a similarly gorgeous morning in California on the banks of the South Fork of the Trinity River. 2. Hakuna Matata (hah koo’ nah mah tah’ tah) — There’s No Problem (No Worries) (5:17) lyrics, Kris Bowerman, Lark Bowerman; music, Kris Bowerman 3. Dawa Mutamu (dah’ wah moo tah’ moo) — Sweet Medicine (5:50) lyrics and music, Lark Bowerman 4. Happy Drums — Wangoma Furaha (wah ngoh’ mah foo rah’ hah) (3:17) music, Kris Bowerman, Lark Bowerman We often play this very typical north African beat on a set of drums made by the Abaluhyia people of Western Kenya. These drums, called Isukuti drums, are covered with Monitor Lizard skin, a not unusual choice of instrument making material in Africa. Tradition has it among many indigenous peoples that to play a drum covered with the hide of a certain creature is to summon the spirit of that animal. That is why sometimes we call this piece The Lizard’s Dance although in this case it would be The Goats Dance because we’ve played on Djembe drums with goat skin heads. 5. Giza (gee’ zah) — Darkness (4:11) lyrics and music, Lark Bowerman Feared, admired, a force to be reckoned with, Chui, the Leopard, a magnificent Presence felt in the mystical Ituri Forest nights. 6. Lolwa Wambuti (lohl’ wah wahm boo’ tee) — The Forest People from the Lolwa Area (2:00) words and music and performance, the Wambuti from Lolwa, Congo We hiked out a mile or so from the village of Lolwa to where we had been told that we’d find a group of the Wambuti (Forest People). We found them dog tired at the end of a day of work in a Villager’s garden in the scorching sun. (The Wambuti are shade dwellers.) As the forest is cut back it seems the Wambuti’s fortunes are cut back with it. They are demanded upon for hard labor with very little return. Eight percent of the proceeds of the sale of this CD goes to a fund for the Wambuti. That still doesn’t replace the cut back forest… In spite of their being so tired that day they sang for us and agreed to let us record it. As you can hear, they sang and played their instruments beautifully. (Kris says it sounds to him like their lament.) I always think to myself when listening to the Wambuti, “Our ancestors too were Indigenous people. Perhaps even the same ancestors as theirs…” 7. Kacheche (kah chay’ chay) — African Wagtail Bird (2:48) lyrics and music, Lark Bowerman It was one of my best things as a kid, to wake up before the crack of dawn and listen in the stillness for the first bird call. Then as soon as the forest air was utterly permeated with their songs I would tip toe out into the misty, dew laden world of an Ituri morning. Kacheche’s voice was always to be heard, hauntingly sweet among the trees. Kacheche, the little black and white wagtail bird. 8. Kutembea (koo tehm bay’ ah) — Walking (2:06) music, Lark Bowerman, Kris Bowerman Lolwa, in the Ituri Forest, is the place in Congo where Lark spent her early childhood. One of the most familiar every day sounds there, as in many an African village, is the Kalimba (Thumb Harp, in English), also know as the Sanza or Mbira. It appears in many different shapes and styles throughout Africa and serves in every capacity from simple entertainment to political commentary to high ceremony. The flute, also a commom instrument thoughout Africa joins the Kalimba on our reminiscent walk around Lolwa. 9. Mawingu (mah weeng’ goo) — Clouds (4:40) lyrics and music, Lark Bowerman Once I lived for a while in the hilly grasslands of northeastern Congo not far from Ugandan border. Here in the village of Kwandruma, the mist rising from the nearby lake creates some of the most phenomenal cloud formations I have ever seen; but after living in southern Oregon during a drought, clouds began to take on a new significance for me. One day while looking out toward the Siskiyou Mountains, I saw a bank of Cumulous clouds that reminded me of Congo and inspired this song. 10. Congo River — Mto ya Congo (1:59) music, Lark Bowerman, Kris Bowerman In 1947 Lark’s Mom and Dad sailed up the Congo River to the area where she was born and where they lived until the summer of 2000. We hope to one day make the trip ourselves but in the meantime this bow harp tune is our imagination of the “Congo River Odyssey.” 11. Itendey Song — Nyimbo Ya Itendey (nyeem’ bow yah ee ten day’) (1:55) harp theme, traditional Congolese; lyrics and melody line, Denni MacDowell Lark’s nephew, Denni MacDowell, had recently returned from a visit to Africa when we met in British Columbia. He had picked up this bow harp theme while at Itendey. He taught it to Lark and she plays it here on her Celtic harp. We never intended to put this impromptu jam session recorded on four track cassette onto disc but when we came to redo the song we realized that we couldn’t recreate the feeling of spontaneity and fun that we’d managed to capture — so here it is, Denni! 12. Kesa Na Mie (keh’ sah nah me’ eh) — Dance With Me (5:16) music, Kris Bowerman 13. Itendey Wambuti (ee ten day’ wahm boo’ tee) — Song of the Hunt (2:40) lyrics, music and performance, the Wambuti of Itendey, Congo The Wambuti or Forest People, have lived in the Ituri since time immemorial. When they and their habitat are left undisturbed they wander in search of whatever their basic necessities might be, singing as they go. They own nothing and yet they are some of the happiest people. Their lifestyle is such that they never upset the natural balance of the forest which accounts for their having survived there these many thousands of years. From accounts of two early European visitors to Africa we learn that the Wambuti, before the coming of Europeans, included in their oral tradition the story of the Garden of Eden; however, to the Wambuti, humanity’s expulsion from the Garden did not occurr as a tragedy. In The Hero With An African Face contemporary author Clyde W. Ford writes, “…the elegant reason given for the Mbuti’s joyous attitude toward God’s removal from his creation is that with this separation human consciousness has the necessary distance to behold the beautific vision everywhere — much as we might back away from a masterpiece of art to appreciate fully the radiance it unleashes.” For the Wambuti (as for possibly all African tribes) singing and dancing is part of everyday life. This is a song they sang for us early one morning when we visited them. It’s a song which is usually performed as preparation for the hunt of a very large animal, like say, an Elephant. This is a clip from the twelve minute recording. 14. Funga Roho (foong’ gah ro’ ho) — Hang In There (5:34) lyrics and music, Lark Bowerman Sometimes in life happiness flows like warm honey on a sunny day on the Coast at Mombasa. At other times it seems as slow moving as the glaciers on the Ruwenzori Mountains of the Moon. This chant is for such times. Funga Roho loosely translated, means: quiet your heart, hang in there, keep it together. Lark Bowerman: lead & harmony vocals, kinubi (Congolese bow harps), Nyamwezi cowherder’s harp (Tanzania), acoustic guitar, folk harp, kayamba, kalimba and percussion Kris “Scrub Jay” Bowerman: harmony vocals, djembe & talking drum (West African drums), trombone, recorder, Moroccan bamboo flute, kinubi, conga and percussion Contributing Musicians John Waller: djembe, Moroccan clay drums, conga and percussion Don Keller: bass The Wambuti (Forest People) from Lolwa and Itendey, Congo: Traditional music Denni MacDowell: vocal on “Itendey Song” Chris Ridout: bass on “Itendey Song” Randall Walker: tuba on “Mawingu” Hayfork Village Singers: background vocals on “Hakuna Matata” and “Funga Roho” Produced by Kris Bowerman and Lark Bowerman All Arrangements by Kris Bowerman and Lark Bowerman All Songs © Lark Bowerman/Kris Bowerman (BMI) except “Kacheche” © Lark Bowerman/Kris Bowerman (Harpers Hall Music/BMI) Special Thanks to (very) fine artist Bella Peralta for her passion for Africa and its people and for pouring many dedicated hours into the artwork; to Linda McGinnis for her generosity of spirit, excellent listening skills and meticulous graphic art work; to Diana Sheen (properly written diana sheen) for taking everyone’s suggestions so good naturedly and her obvious dedication to taking outstanding photos; to John Waller for being a friend as well as an insanely creative drummer and Production Assistant; to Don Keller for the great sound on bass and endless patience with working out the parts; to Kenny Teel for moral support and “sound” sound engineering advice. Recorded and mixed at Water Bird Recording Studio, Hayfork, CA (July 11, 2000 – October 31, 2000) except “Itendey Song,” recorded and mixed in Point Roberts, WA (June 10 & 14, 1998) and “Lolwa Wambuti” and “Itendey Wambuti,” recorded in Congo, Africa (March, 1990) Production Assistance: John Waller Recording Engineer: Kris Bowerman Assistant Engineer: Lark Bowerman Artwork: ©Bella Peralta Photographs: diana sheen Graphic Design: Linda McGinnis © 2001 Kuimba Publishing website: www.kuimba.com KCD 103 Find the lyrics of these songs at www.kuimba.com