Macondo Village Band
Collaborative experimental compositional practice with Congolese, Jazz musicians and young refugees.
This spring, mac makes music was thrilled to work with composer Sid Peacock on a revival of the Macondo Village Band. The name is derived from a fictional town in Gabriel García Márquez's novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude, and describes an eclectic, experimental folk band of musicians working across different genres.
Sid Peacock is the Artistic Director of Celebrating Sanctuary Birmingham and an associate artist of mac birmingham. He also leads Surge, a 16 piece Big Band.
The Macondo Sessions were part of a 3 month action research project funded through the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Cultural Engagement Fund to enable Sid Peacock to explore collaborative experimental compositional practice with professional Congolese and Jazz musicians and young refugees. The project grew from the partnership between Sid, mac and the Children’s Society who support young refugees through the My Place project.
Over two months, Sid and the newly formed band worked collaboratively to create new material, introducing Congolese musicians to experimental styles and techniques. Sid also led taster music sessions for over 40 young refugees. A core group of nine young people then joined the Macondo Village Band in order to create and rehearse new material for a performance in mac’s main theatre. The young people had varying music abilities, some having had no experience at all, and were from: Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Mali, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.
The music was composed through a range of conducting, call and response and improvisational activities steered by Sid. Due to the wide range of languages in the group a key part of the music making process involved eye contact, facial expressions, hand gestures and body rhythm, an approach which is intrinsic to the practice of this composer.
The resulting eclectic fusion of African, Latin and Jazz music, with evocative improvised vocals by one young person, was infectious, inciting the enthused, initially seated, audience to join in an impromptu dance.
Follow this link to listen to the podcast by King of the Buttons for insights into what happened:
http://kingofthebuttons.podbean.com/e/macondo-sessions-with-sid-peacock-podcast/
Members of the audience said:
“It’s a shame it wasn’t longer”
“Really fantastic”
“When will the group perform next?”
The young musicians said:
“It makes me very, very happy to be here, makes me forget what happened in Afghanistan”.
“Enjoyed different instruments and experimenting.”
“I want to do it all over again.”
“Nice working with musicians.”
Staff from the Children’s Society said:
“The nicest things that came from it was the friendships developed between the young people involved, language was not a barrier, they developed a bond through the music.”
“The young people couldn't stop talking about what a brilliant time they have had throughout.”
As part of their CPD, two music leaders who deliver the mac makes music programme were also given the opportunity to join the Macondo Village Band. They reflected on their involvement:
Chip Bailey said:
“I saw all of those I was working with develop musically in a short space of time by knowing when to play, how to play, and how to play within an ensemble. Sid was able to mould together a group of top professional musicians through to complete novices in a very inclusive way, allowing each to play an important part.”
Dan Whitehouse said:
“The professional jazz band provided a strong and inspiring musical foundation for me and the participants to explore and improvise over. This project was a great opportunity for absolute beginners to sit alongside consummate professional musicians”