TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — "Boney" Kross is venturing into new territory with the release of his first book of poems.
To most people, he’s known as a mainstay of Taipei’s music scene, performing regularly at mid-week gigs at local cafes and restaurants, or headlining weekend festivals with his two musical groups, Higher Rootz and Afrobeat act, Kora.
"We have a thing in Africa called ‘sundowns’ where you can see and hear people playing together in all the little villages and even on the hillsides starting from the sunset," he said.
This is one of the fondest memories Kross has of his upbringing in Kampala, Uganda.
He also remembers the freedom of being born to a father who had 18 children, as he frequently went unnoticed and could take day trips to go fishing in the Nile River or play with baboons and hunt mongoose in nearby Mbale.
His family helped cultivate his interest in music by buying him instruments and often singing together.
"Some people called me a musical scientist because of the different types of music that I liked and how I experimented with different instruments. For example, I made my own guitar at 14, but our nanny was looking for firewood, and I never had a chance to finish it as she put it into the fire. I made the frets and everything."
Boney Kross reads poems and performs music this Thursday. (Facebook, Red Room Rendezvous)
Later, at the age of 20, he got his first guitar and started performing music, even teaching dance at a school called the Word of Life in Kampala, Uganda. Kross says he enjoyed this part of his life as both a teacher to young students and playing locally with some popular artists.
"Music is everything in Africa. If you visit, they will sing because a foreigner is coming to visit them, and then they will sing when they are cooking and even after the meal."
Kross believes music is also motivation for people throughout Africa, a continent where many have very little to live on and sharing resources is everything.
"We are not selfish. If a friend wants to borrow my shoes, camera, or gold chain, I will give them to them if they take good care of it. And in a family, if a shirt or some other clothing fits someone, then they can keep wearing it."
Kross says that this act of sharing extends to music. "No one is going to watch you if you play solo. They will think you are too selfish. You have to play with four people to truly communicate the music."
Born Boniface Kross Ssekamwa, his first name is a reference to St. Boniface, and his family name "Ssekamwa" can be translated as the "king’s spokesperson."
After being in Taiwan for only 6 years, the name may be appropriate as Kross finds himself sharing his experiences as an African living abroad, and easily mixing into different parts of Taiwanese society.
And now, Kross is able to witness a growing number of African cultural events pop up like the Djembe Festival, Wow Africa, AfroFest, and the Mama Africa Heritage Festival.
In addition to reading poems from "Tales in a Shadow," Red Room Rendezvous, Kross will also perform on guitar and sing with a live band, which includes Nick Brown and members of Higher Rootz.
