:Title:    Is Music any use for International Development?
:Author:   Ben Parkinson
:Date:     Sat, 09 Feb 2008 03:25:34 PST
:URL:      http://www.ned.com/group/nigeria/news/4/

John Powers prompted me to develop a thread on this subject and I hope a few people find it stuck out in the cobwebby Kaduna thread, I started.

In the NED Meet and Greet I claimed to be a musician, with a bit of talent.  I have been playing piano since I was 3 and I played trombone to a decent standard.  I played professional piano on a cruise ship and was also pianist for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra for a short time 20+ years ago.  I also studied composition under Oliver Knussen in my teens at the Royal College of Music.  I'm not a technical player, nor am I particularly well qualified in music, but I know I am quite exceptional as a musician.  I'm a jazz musician mainly and although I am interested in world music, I'm nowhere near an expert in this field and would struggle to support in anything other than the basics in this area.  All this means nothing really, because if you have a talent and don't use it very much, then why have it?

Currently I play infrequently in jazz groups and I no longer musically direct any shows. When I went to Nigeria last year to my chagrin I was unable to do any music at all, other than a brief pressured ten minutes on the Butterfly Project (see the other thread).

Nigeria has a number of gospel choirs and there is a massive desire to create vocal music.  One of the reasons I guess is the dearth of musical instruments out there and in lack of reliable electricity for keyboards, amps and the like.  The choirs I heard were enthusiastic, but not very creative and the few musicians there did not impress.  I apologise for the comment here - it's not a criticism, simply a comparative judgement and nothing sparked me, that I saw and I did not have much time on this subject, so my experience was limited. I do know, however, that there is a uniqueness to the style, which is interesting, but this is more often "tainted" by overseas styles. The rural education system isn't going to mend soon in Nigeria, so I doubt that musicianship is going to improve overnight.  Some singers use backing tracks and one in particular did a very good job, although the track she chose was pretty awe-inspiring!

I talk about all of this, because I want some ideas about how I can use my ability as a musician and social entrepreneur to develop a project to make a difference.  I've explored the possibility of training up gospel choirs (Christians, naturally), which is a possibility, and I have developed a concept we call the "Streetkids Theatre Company", which local government seem keen to support.  The type of theatre I am considering is musicals and it is designed more for an outreach to bring the young streetbeggars (mainly Muslims) into doing something positive and encouraging them back to school.  Those who follow what I'm doing know that I am pretty new at this and I am ready to learn what works in Africa.

So, there we have it, at least for starters.  Can anyone help by posting good links, ideas or good practice or simply a hello on the Kaduna group!