In the late 1980s, singer Bizimungu Dieudonne, his wife Agnes Uwimbabazi, and a backing band of family and friends self-released a visionary cassette, featuring stuttering electric guitars, loping bass lines, and call and response vocals.
Their combo of 80s studio wizardry rooted in traditional Rwandan praise songs resulted in hypnotic, extended jams unlike anything else released in East Africa at the time. The lyrics praised the beauty of the countryside and the exploits of the ancient gods. On plaintive acoustic tracks squeezed between the electric bangers, Bizimungu and Agnes called for unity in the divided nation.
Their message was an eerie presaging of the coming Rwandan Genocide. Bizimungu and Agnes, along with bandmates BIGIRIMANA AUGUSTIN, and NIYONGAMIJE EMMANUEL were all killed by Hutu militias in 1994. Their music was silenced, any traces almost lost in the ensuing decades.
We first heard this album through music scholar Matthew Lavoie in 2018, and spent years looking for any surviving members of the band. Last year, co-producer and Voice of America host Jackson Mvunganyi tracked down Bizimungu and Agnes’ daughter, Noella, in Kigali. Only 9 years old at the time of her parents’ death, she had taken on the task of reintroducing their work to a new generation in Rwanda. Though her family lost almost everything in the genocide, Noella tracked down a CD containing the master recordings of Inzovu Y’imirindi from one of the band's early producers.
It is stunning to finally hear this music in its fullness and immediacy, beautifully remastered at Osiris Studios. We’re grateful to Noella and our collaborators for helping us share Bizimungu and Agnes’ vital music and message with the world.
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