John Katokye: vocals, Rujeru Samuel: vocals. Katokye first introduced himself to European audiences at the legendary Le Guess Who? festival. This year, he returns to Europe once again, bringing to Prague a unique vocal tradition from Uganda’s cattle-herding regions.

In Uganda, the word “songwriter” carries a rather different meaning than it does in the West. Katokye combines epic storytelling, improvisation, and spirituality into a singular whole. His singing is not accompanied by instruments, but by one or more human voices. According to legend, he ran away from home as a child, traveled across western Uganda collecting local stories and melodies, and today ranks among the most celebrated singers in his homeland. He released his debut album only shortly before turning sixty, already a veteran artist. His work represents a truly distinctive musical form: a lead voice sings a phrase, a second voice responds, subtly expanding and affirming it, before Katokye continues with another melodic line. The result draws listeners into a hypnotic flow through its delicate balance of repetition and inventive variation. The musical landscape unfolds like a winding path with moments of climax and places of rest. Although this style is unique, it employs methods reminiscent of Christian chant, Jewish liturgical singing, and the trance-inducing songs of Islamic Sufis. This is not fusion music, but rather a historical root from which later genres emerged.

Western Uganda is a region of cattle herders, and this environment has profoundly shaped its musical language. While it may invite comparison to American cowboys or Colombian llaneros, each of these traditions has developed its own distinct style. One example is the song Ekyeshongoro Kyabakazi, a celebration of life in the village of Karengo, located in the heart of the Ankole region where Katokye lives with his family. In the piece, Katokye enriches his singing with dark, resonant sounds that imitate the breath and lowing of cattle grazing on the grassy hills surrounding his home. To say that the people of this region share a deep bond with their livestock would be an understatement. Their culture and sense of beauty are shaped by an aesthetic entirely different from our own. For cattle herders, symbols of perfection include the calming sight of calves and the delicate taste of milk shared during family gatherings and friendly meetings. Critics have compared the structure of Katokye’s songs to chains of Japanese haiku: concise poetic fragments combining fleeting impressions of rural life, local history, and the lived experiences of cattle herders.