It was the moment a dancer set fire to his hat that I realised this was quite a party.
I sat like the Queen under a tent made from a blanket and on a rather incongruous sofa covered with a lace throw and was welcomed as the guest of honour in this remote village in Eastern Uganda.
A gaggle of children gathered around, curious to see any photos I’d already taken on my tablet while others showed off to me, jigging about as the musicians rehearsed and set up.
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A giant seven-man xylophone had been built for the occasion for which the musicians first have to dig a pit and overlay the 21 wooden slats of the instrument. The sound was deep, warm and with a profound resonance straight from the African soil - grounded in every sense.
I felt I had walked into a different world as the people of this village welcomed me and my colleague Martin into their lives for a day.
Our musical guide was James Isabirye, a music lecturer at Kyambogo University. He grew up here and as we drove up the dusty road, James stopped the car to greet people on foot or on bicycles. Everyone knows him and we stopped off to visit his ageing father who still lives here.
Travelling with minimal equipment, sound engineer Martin Appleby got very good at improvising al fresco recording studios with the help of some gaffer tape. One very musical little girl who you can see leading the dancing in the video was so good that we appointed her as our assistant audio engineer for the morning.
She looked terrified when I handed her the microphone but once she understood her new role, she stood proudly and completely still concentrating intensely on the musicians. We became best friends, helped by a bag of toffees from my rucksack.
the BBC's newest assistant audio engineer
As this impromptu concert went on, more people seemed to be arriving from the fields and villages around. The athletic young men of the village strutted their dances and we knew the party had really started when one dancer set fire to his hat and danced around causing whoops of hilarity amongst the women and children.
The highlight of the concert was the appearance of
the gourd trumpet group of Busoga – a rare opportunity to hear this endangered species of instrument, who have been named by UNESCO as important elements of Ugandan heritage in need of urgent safeguarding. Limited to two rather flatulent sounding notes, they nevertheless endear themselves by their rather dramatic and theatrical appearance, and layered with drums, dancers, singers and anyone else who cared to join in, their mesmeric mournful sound grew quite hypnotic.
the gourd trumpet group of Busoga
Memories of that day will stay for a long time, not only for the music but for the sheer energy and joy amongst the children and villagers who danced, laughed and sang their way through the day. I hope someday I’ll go back.
