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Geoffrey Oryema (1953-2018)
(Uganda)
Biography
The music of Geoffrey Oryema, is of particular beauty.
He has a style of his own, using melodies from Uganda, as well as the sound of the Likembe (or Lukeme)
thumb piano. The feel of the music is rootsy, but at the same time accessible. Influences of
Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno can be heard. He sings in Swahili and Acholi, but sometimes also in English and French.
At young age, he learnt to play the Nanga (seven cord harp lute) from his father, and his mother, who was the director of a dance group called The Heartbeat of Africa, taught him to play the Lukeme and the Nyamulere flute. Geoffrey was at the time more engaged in writing and playing in theatre. Things becames complicated for him in Uganda, as he plays were politically engaged, and Geoffrey Oryema left Uganda of the Idi Amin era in 1977 by hiding himself in the boot of a car, after the death of his father, Erinayo Wilson Oryema.
He arrived in Kenya, where he presented his play « The Reign of Terror » at the French Cultural Centre in Nairobi. He was subsequently hired as a musician and singer, in a Circus Company in France. During the 1980s, he was studying and working for a newspaper as system operator, but besides these professional activities he gave occasional music workshops, and obtained a Karate Black Belt in 1988.
After contacts with W.O.M.A.D (World of Music and Dance), Oryema was in the position to record three albums for the British Real World label, « Exile », « Beat the Border » and « Night to Night », albums that encountered considerable success in the World Music scene. He later switched to Sony Music France, and recorded « Spirit » (2000) and « Words » (2004).
Since 2012, he has lived in the small town of Ploemeur in Brittany, France until his death in 2018.
At young age, he learnt to play the Nanga (seven cord harp lute) from his father, and his mother, who was the director of a dance group called The Heartbeat of Africa, taught him to play the Lukeme and the Nyamulere flute. Geoffrey was at the time more engaged in writing and playing in theatre. Things becames complicated for him in Uganda, as he plays were politically engaged, and Geoffrey Oryema left Uganda of the Idi Amin era in 1977 by hiding himself in the boot of a car, after the death of his father, Erinayo Wilson Oryema.
He arrived in Kenya, where he presented his play « The Reign of Terror » at the French Cultural Centre in Nairobi. He was subsequently hired as a musician and singer, in a Circus Company in France. During the 1980s, he was studying and working for a newspaper as system operator, but besides these professional activities he gave occasional music workshops, and obtained a Karate Black Belt in 1988.
After contacts with W.O.M.A.D (World of Music and Dance), Oryema was in the position to record three albums for the British Real World label, « Exile », « Beat the Border » and « Night to Night », albums that encountered considerable success in the World Music scene. He later switched to Sony Music France, and recorded « Spirit » (2000) and « Words » (2004).
Since 2012, he has lived in the small town of Ploemeur in Brittany, France until his death in 2018.
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Geoffrey Oryema (2015)
Born: 16 April 1953 in Soroti, Uganda
Died: 22 June 2018, in Lorient (Morbihan), France
Style: world music
Discography
| Title | Year | Label | Remarks |
| From the Heart | 2012 | Long Tale Recordings | |
| Words | 2004 | Sono CDS 9155 | |
| The African Odysseus (The Best of) | 2002 | Wrasse Records WRASS065 | Compilation |
| Spirit | 2000 | Sonodisc CDS 8840 | Also: Sony Music SAN5005062 |
| Night to Night | 1996 | Virgin 841644-2 | Also: Real World CDRW 58 |
| Beat the Border | 1993 | Real World CDRW 37 | |
| Exile | 1990 | Real World CDRW 14 |
Sources
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Oryema (external link, in French)
realworldrecords.com/artists/geoffrey-oryema/ (external link)
https://coalition-of-heaven.fandom.com/wiki/Geoffrey_Oryema (outdated link)
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Oryema (external link, in French)
realworldrecords.com/artists/geoffrey-oryema/ (external link)
https://coalition-of-heaven.fandom.com/wiki/Geoffrey_Oryema (outdated link)
Page added February 1998