Photo series: The Good Ones by Marilena Umuhoza Delli, as part of Hidden Musics

Photo series: The Good Ones by Marilena Umuhoza Delli

Monday Sep 25th 2023

This year, Le Guess Who? presents the fourth edition of Hidden Musics, a project that focuses on deeply localized music and features artists embedded in rich, often centuries-old musical traditions that have been developed with little or no outside influences. The first series was initiated in 2019 by Le Guess Who? in collaboration with Chris Eckman (Glitterbeat Records) and GRAMMY Award-winning producer Ian Brennan.

This year Le Guess Who? is bringing The Good Ones, an accomplished group known for their soulful melodies from Rwanda, to Utrecht as part of Hidden Musics.

Photography by Marilena Umuhoza Delli

Hidden Musics Photo

Emerging in 1978, The Good Ones discovered solace and rejuvenation through music under the guidance of Janvier’s elder brother, who tragically fell victim to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Bound by their intertwined history and an unwavering resolve to uncover positivity amidst challenges, the quartet symbolized the unity of Rwanda's varied tribes, transcending conventional divisions.

<a href="https://the-good-ones.bandcamp.com/album/rwanda-you-see-ghosts-i-see-sky">Rwanda ... you see ghosts, I see sky by The Good Ones</a>

Living in an environment devoid of electricity, their distinctive sound is deeply entrenched in local customs and moulded by individual narratives.

Through their unique instruments, including farm tools used as percussion, their melodies resonate with resilience.

View the full photo series here.

Hidden Musics - Le Guess Who? 2023
This year, Le Guess Who? will bring the following musicians to Utrecht as part of Hidden Musics: Pankisi Ensemble, an all-female traditional music group from Georgia, who preserve and develop lesser-known genres of Chechen music that are rarely heard outside of their own community; Sophie Nzayisenga, the first female master of the Inanga, a traditional stringed music instrument; Rwanda’s The Good Ones, a band that was formed as a healing process after the genocide and with the original members reuniting Rwanda’s Tutsi, Hutu, and Abatwa tribes; and "the man with singing fingers”, Rəhman Məmmədli, whose blazing, psychedelic guitar music sprang from one of the most tumultuous and transformative periods in Azerbaijan’s history.

The Good Ones perform live at Le Guess Who? 2023 on Saturday, 11 November.

Photography by Marilena Umuhoza Delli