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The Good Ones: Tiny Desk Concert with tags npr, npr music, national public radio, live, performance, tiny desk, tiny desk concert, tony desk, tiny concert

Felix Contreras | January 17, 2024

It is difficult to merely take in a performance by the Rwandan group known as The Good Ones. The pathos of the band and the country’s recent history permeates the duo’s existence and its music.

Adrian Kazigira and Janvier Havugimana were taught music by the latter’s older brother, who then perished during the country’s brutal genocide. They formed a band as a way to process their nation’s trauma and also bring together Rwanda’s three tribes: Tutsi, Hutu, and Abatwa.

From the start, the simple guitar fingerpicking style and very sparse rhythm guide the plaintive vocals into a trance-like meditation. The music is a fascinating mix of guitar strumming that combines the kind of cyclical song form you hear on the West African kora and vocal harmonizing common to many African musical traditions.

The group’s origin story may be tragic, but The Good Ones’ determination to spread its musical message is an inspiration.

SET LIST

“The Farmer”

“Mon Cheri”

“Seraphinne, You are the Prettiest Woman in the World”

“Young People Are the Future”

MUSICIANS

Adrien Kazigira: acoustic guitar, vocals

Janvier Havugimana: percussion, guitar, vocals

Marilena Umuhoza Delli: translator, spokesperson

Marie Reed Elementary School Singers

Choir Director: Sandra Granobles