Ssewa Ssewa’s name might not be as big as his Janzi invention, but his CV is much more than you can think of.
Born Ssewakiryanga James Junior, Ssewa ssewa is a professional musician, multi instrumentalist, Janzi instrument inventor, Instructor, founder of Janzi band and CEO Janzi Band ltd. He was born in Katwe on the 25th – June -1987.
He comes from a music family and was raised in a traditional musical environment which inspired his music journey. His father the Late Ssewakiryanga James Senior was a well recognized master drummer, teacher while his Mother Betty Namata Ssewakiryanga was a dancer, Instructor and actress. In fact, it is his parents that inspired him to be an artiste.
“My Mother and Father the Late, who I grew up watching representing Ugandan traditional music both locally and internationally inspired me so much,” Ssewa Ssewa revealed.
Formation of the Janzi instrument
In 2009, Ssewa Ssewa walked into a music store and a gentleman asked him what he was doing in Germany and he told him he is a musician on tour. He then asked him what instrument he plays. “I told him I play the Adungu (a Ugandan hatched Harp) and said he only knew the Kora from West Africa,” was his reply.
This got him thinking and when he returned to Uganda, he formed Janzi band with the idea of fussing Ugandan instruments with Western instruments to try and promote African traditional instruments and fly globally.
In 2014 while on a European tour with a colleague at Copenhagen Airport, they were denied to have the Adungu on the flight because it had nails which were considered a security threat. To Ssewa Ssewa, this was an embarrassing moment for the African culture and for musicians as whole. This treatment got him thinking.
“When I returned to Uganda, I successfully modified the Adungu and later I was inspired to invent the Janzi, a 22 string music instrument tuned in 2 different scales which was recognized by African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO in Zimbabwe) and Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB Uganda) and granted me a Utility model certificate in 2017.
With the creation of this instrument, he believes the Janzi’s modern look that resembles the Kora from west African can spear head the development, and modernization of Ugandan instruments from all regions like the Enanga, Adungu, Akogo, Endongo, Engoma, Endere etc to meet international standards for export.
His plan and dream is to promote the Janzi find partners, investors to establish music instruments manufacturing factories, workshops and a market for the Janzi locally, Regionally and globally in music schools, music theaters, festivals, concerts, music stores to inspire Janzi players from around the world.