By Ibrahim S.Bangura
Telem Uncommon Sound, a popular music group in Freetown, on Saturday February 17, 2024, has released their first album, titled ‘Strong Team’ at Aqua Club in Aberdeen in the west of Freetown.
The launching was attended by entertainers: including musicians, music makers, music lovers etc.
The album was a compilation of original music composed at the 2023 Telem Week Songwriting Retreat, a retreat which had a global blend of music genres from singers and instrumentalists from Sierra Leone, Jamaica, Nigeria and the U.S.A. The album is made up of ‘Afrofusion’, ‘Afrobeat’, ‘Jazz’, ‘Rhythm and Blues’, among others.
According to Solo’s Beat, the co-founder of the organisation, the launching was aimed at bringing people, music makers and music lovers together. He said that since they believed in the strength of unity, the launching enabled partakers to meet with old friends and make new ones. “To make this happen, we first incorporated the international artists into our music-making retreat where we exchanged cultural and innovative ideas. Exchanging ideas with those international artists greatly helped us as a non-governmental organization and the country with healthier ideas about creative arts especially the music sector,” he explained.
Reacting to the event, Hamid Anderson, said that the event was indeed organized by entertainment experts. “All the music played at the concert was 10/10 in my rating. I never wanted the event to come to an end. I will like to be attending such an event all the time. Telem members, you guys are incredible. Keep up the good work and keep on inspiring aspiring musicians. I love the way you are playing your music,” Anderson said.
Telem Uncommon Sounds was founded in 2021 to bring about a brilliant new era in music in Sierra Leone. It aims to create a platform where there will be more viable opportunities for Sierra Leonean musicians to make, perform, and share experimental music that are still locally rooted; and to help more Sierra Leonean musicians to share their music in global music channels, performance stages, and influence culture.
The group was founded by three local singer-songwriters, and it is working with a team of extended musicians and performing artists.
Telem offers training in songwriting and music production, stage concerts and other live events, and works to develop the vibrant Sierra Leone music ecosystem.