Medverkande: Isabella Lundgren, Filip Ekestubbe, Daniel Fredriksson, Niklas Fernqvist, The Zion Care Gospel Singers conducted by Lotta Asplund.
Songs:
- Baba Yetu wa mbinguni (African Folk Song)
- Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho (Marshall Bartholomew & Ralph Flanagan)
- Oh When the Saints (Katharine Purvis & James Milton Black)
- The Lord is My Shephard (Psalm 23, Instrumental)
- The Lord is My Shephard (Psalm 23)
- Oh Happy Day (Edwin Hawkins)
- I Know I'm Lovely (I. Holmberg & Lotta Asplund (swedish lyrics))
- Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen (Trad. Spriritual)
- Deep River (Trad. Spriritual)
- This Little Light of Mine (Harry Dixon Loes)
- Vem kan segla (Trad. Swedish Folk Tune)
- Mungu wetu ni waajabu (Grace Mollel & Tumain Mbuya)
Recording engineer: Jon Allan
Mix & Master: Jon Allan
Piano: Filip Ekestubbe; Bass Niklas Fernqvist; Drums: Daniel Fredriksson
Conductor: Lotta Asplund
Vocals: Isabella Lundgren
Lead Vocals on Tracks 1 & 7: Roda Joseph Nyamuhanga; Tracks 3 & 11: Giveness Legiteng Mollel
Arrangements: Filip Ekestubbe track 5, 7, 9; Niklas Fernqvist 8 & 2
Recorded at Sibusio Foundation, Shangarai
Artwork by Riziki Shayo
It only takes but one step on African soil to know you are on sacred ground. The vastness of the land reminds me of the endlessness of our universe. The arching trees reaching for the sky, of our will to explore it. The roaring wildlife, that it is from nature we are truly sprung.
Africa - the cradle of civilization - is a remarkable continent with remarkable people. The story of this album takes place here. Specifically, in the small village of Shangarai in Tanzania.
Like all good ideas this began as an inconceivable one, impossible to realize. Yet it took form and became a reality. A reality you are holding in your hands.
The premise is this: 26 children from Tanzania that have never had a voice or music lesson in their life, will meet five professional musicians and teachers from Sweden to record an album together.
The children all reside at an orphanage called the Zion Care center and they have all lived lives shaped by loss. Despite this they carry themselves with a gratitude and grace that is rare to find. It only took us five minutes to fall in love.
Electricity is sparse and to find a location to record an actual album was a difficult task, but due to the generosity of the locals we managed to make it happen. Time is relative in Africa - but at the same time nothing is impossible.
We made this album because we believe in the power of creativity, and especially in music. These children taught us that it is a truly transcendent and transformative endeavor to not only pursue and practice music, but to live it. That's what they do, they live music. Every spare moment they sing, they dance, and they rejoice in music. It is not about creating a perfect performance. It is a way to communicate.
I hope you will enjoy this album and the journey it will take you on. It conveys the message that it is not what you have that puts value to your life, it is how you live it.
With Love, Isabella Lundgren
Stockholm, 2018.