Samite Romps With a Natural Rhythm

Ugandan singer-songwriter Samite has been living in Ithaca, N.Y., for the past decade, but his music remains inextricably linked to his homeland. He does it, however, his own way. And on Friday at LunaPark, he performed a set of tunes underscoring his belief in the juxtaposition of lyrical melodies against an undercurrent of surging rhythm.

Some of the material came from the new album “Stars to Share,” on which Samite adds some pop-style instrumentation to his usually conservative tonal palette. But the versions performed by his three-piece ensemble at LunaPark remained within his more traditional-sounding musical dialect, emphasizing Samite’s sweet-sounding voice framed by the pointillistic sounds of his mbira, a thumb piano.

With guitarist M.J. Potter frequently playing rattles and shakers, and percussionist Mar Gueye adding larger drum sounds, the focus was on Samite, singing songs that flowed and grew with a kind of organic naturalness. Most of the pieces were structured around relatively basic melodic content, the phrases repeated over and over again in songs such as the hypnotic “Esawayo” and “Siwa.” Occasionally he switched to wooden flute, but Samite’s creative urgency, his inherent ability to find the inner pocket of the rhythm with the skill of a jazz artist, was constant, whether he was singing or playing.

His impact on the full-house crowd was almost immediate. It took no more than two numbers for bodies to begin swaying and feet to begin to move. “I hope that you’ll dance,” Samite said before the set began. He didn’t have to ask again.