Katokye, who has dedicated his life to traditional songs from the Bahima (Western Uganda), performed live at Le Guess Who? 2025 following the release of his first studio album Obuhangwa bwa Banyankore na Bahororo via Nyege Nyege Tapes. Relive the performance with our recording of this international premiere:
Ever since being a young boy, Katokye has roamed his homeland to refine his art and now—in his mid-50s—he is one of the most talented traditional singers in the region. Katokye improvises disarticulated short poetic sentences conveying morsels of impressions, reflecting on family, the history of the region, or its landscapes where the iconic longhorn cows graze gracefully. Backed up by a second singer who improvises on his verses, Katokye overlaps his voice with theirs to provide a continuous vocal flow that could well stretch beyond 20 minutes, transforming the moment into a long meditative experience.
Le Guess Who? Recordings
The publication of this recording is part of Le Guess Who?’s ongoing expansion of the festival’s recordings archive, with 150+ recordings from past editions now freely available online.
This archive contains audio and/or video recordings of performances by The Dwarfs of East Agouza, The Cosmic Tones Research Trio, Ali Sethi & Nicolás Jaar, aja monet, ASA-CHANG & Junray, DARKSIDE, Meshell Ndegeocello, Kamilya Jubran, Alan Sparhawk, Stereolab, Tom Skinner, Selda Bağcan, clipping., Aldous Harding, Deerhunter, Art Ensemble of Chicago, The Microphones, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Arooj Aftab, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, and many more.
Captured at Jacobikerk on Saturday, 8 November 2025.
Audio recording by Philip ten Brink; mix by Marc Broer
Photography by Maarten Mooijman
