Steven Sogo, Burundian Musician

Definitely want to let all who are interested know about this great young musician from Burundi. Jake and I saw him perform last week in the basement of a Moroccan restaurant in Savile Row in the heart of London, and we were both very impressed. He's got a great voice, good back-up harmonies, and everyone in the band constantly switches instruments. His music and spirit remind me of Vitali Maembe, who I'm pleased to report is becoming better known in Tanzania. The more the world knows about African artists like these, and the more their voices are heard, the better for us all.

Although it was a shock for us to move to London from Iringa, we're starting to get used to some of the perks, like seeing great concerts and musicals whenever we want to. In the past three weeks we've seen three great African shows - Steven Sogo, Youssou N'Dour and High Priest Safro Manzangi at a Congolese independence celebration. To our delight, both Safro and Steven sang in Swahili - Safro's was an old folk song about Patrice Lumumba that he remembered from his youth, and Steven's song in Swahili was 'Kaza Mwendo,' reminding us to live in harmony with the slow pace of life (maisha ni pole pole). His new album is called 'Il est beau mon pays,' a sentiment to which we can wholeheartedly attest: Burundi is a gorgeous country with wonderful people whose kindness really stood out during our three-week tour of East Africa.

Kaza Mwendo isn't up on YouTube yet, but here's another of his videos, enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Q9UVk8b3g&feature=related