Tabu Osusa Staff Profile
…running some of the top recording and performing bands and artists in the country, including the much acclaimed Orchestra Virunga and The Nairobi City Ensemble, and more recently Iddi Achieng,’ Makadem, Suzanna Owiyo, Olith Ratego, Ogoya Nengo, Gargar and Winyo to mention but a few. Together with the director of Alliance Française in Nairobi, Tabu Osusa co-chairs the steering committee of the “Spotlight on Kenyan Music“ project which seeks to dis…
Otieno Aloka Group
…pressure against the central stick. It provides a fast-moving, melodic accompaniment, similar to the fiddle in folk and country music….
Uganda: music of the Batwa Gallery
…record the performances of six Batwa communities from the district of Kisoro – Birara, Mpwera, Kanyabukunga, Micyingo, Gatera and Kabahenda….
Day One: The Iteso People and their Music Story
…lage know this is a man of bad character. Achaung Kakolong: This is a song sung during droughts. Everyone in the village is running out of vegetables, and in the song the performers ask the villages to look for vegetables along the river banks. They need find wild vegetables wherever they can. We asked him about the type of vegetables they can find and they include “Erenge” (dark greens) and “Amudokolo” (vines). During the drought, all the women d…
3. Background of the Naizungwe drums Story
…ief of that clan. The Basoga ethnic society from the Eastern region of the country is organized according to clans. Eleven clans are royal; they are the leaders and the rest are not. One of the clans is the baise muwaya. Their regalia is naizungwe drums. Is there any particular reason they no longer have any players (like with the entenga drums)? The clans organized themselves into bigger administrative units that culminated into the eleven chiefd…
Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…became ery famous and started getting invitations to perform all over the country. His group added dancers, a keyboard and a drum-set, as they started making their livelihoods out of music alone. DAY 4 – Tuesday 20th February 2018 As we waited for the recording team to set up at the Santa Maria Resort, we started the morning of February 20thwith an interview with Fadhilee Itulya – our Influences artist. Born in 1988 in Kakamega town in Western Ke…
What We Do Page
…field visits in both Kenya and Uganda. Our long term goal is to visit each country in East Africa and research, document and record the music and dance of the major traditional music styles of each region. Click on the following links to read our field reports from each of our visits: Music of the Mijikenda – Kenya’s Coastal Region Music of the Luo – Nyanza Province, Kenya Music of the Kalenjin, Great Rift Valley, Kenya Music of the Batwa, Kisoro,…
Day Zero: February 15, 2020 – Assemble in Zanzibar Story
…ay the 14th of February and flew to Zanzibar on Kenya Airways on the first flight on Saturday, making our way to the Ngawala Hotel. Temperature 33 degrees centigrade. Partially cloudy. Saturday was about set up, so we’ll use this ‘Day Zero’ post to fill you in on the purpose of the trip. First, Zanzibar is an island off Tanzania, with a long colorful history. Before it was ‘controlled’ by the Portuguese in 1503, it was a base for traders be…
Day One: 7 March 2022 (Shikangania and Mukumu) Story
…t caused us some delays when the laptop overheated due to the hot tropical sun, resulting in drops in frame rates. We solved this problem simply by avoiding direct sunlight and staying in the shade. Due to the short period assigned for the completion of this project, we did not have time to conduct a recce and for that reason we came to realize rather late that some of the venues chosen for the recordings had no main power outlets. Fortunately and…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…ural and peri-urban based musicians to migrate their shows and concerts to online platforms in order to reach wider audiences and create new revenue streams. As we headed back to Nairobi on Friday, 11th March 2022, we had lively discussions on ways and means of empowering these marginalized creatives and on how to assist them to access global markets. They need a conducive environment that would enable them to showcase their individual musical tal…
Uganda: Music of the Northern Tribes Gallery
…n Uganda, Kampala and Entebbe where we recorded the music of the Acholi, Alur and Iteso tribes. The journey started in Entebbe where we collected two vehicles to take the team to towns and villages in the north of the country including Gulu, Pakwach, Nebbi and Soroti. After 5 days recording in the north we returned to Kampala to record two more groups based near Naguru which perform in the traditional Alur and Acholi styles….
Global Influences Project: Artist Submissions Page
…he rhythm familiar and similar to some of the 6/8 rhythms found in my home country Ethiopia. As the electric bass is my main instrument, I first tried to identify a root note to play along with the song and build a bassline and groove from there. Afterwards, I found that some agogo or cowbell samples and some synths to evolve the track into a more dance/electro track per the prompt.” If you want to hear more of Yohanan’s work, head to www.blackbud…
Day Zero: 6 March 2022 – Travel To Stream Story
…is quickly shifting to a dependence on access to Internet connectivity and online streaming services. This solution works well for urban-based performers where the infrastructure exists and is relatively easy to access, but does not apply to those based in peri-urban areas and villages with limited or no access to the relevant infrastructure. Bearing in mind these challenges facing rural-based musicians, we at Ketebul Music were prompted to recons…
Day 4 – Tuesday 4th July 2017 Story
…ately a rather difficult interview to conduct because of the interviewee’s reservations, as well as for reasons of bad weather that chased us away before we could complete it. However, we did manage to find out several interesting information, notably, on his beginnings as a player and on the instrument manufacturing itself. Alex Ogwe confirmed our two generation theory and said he only started playing once his father was gone. He also gave us an…
Day Two: February 17, 2020 (Stonetown) Story
…Vuai Juma Vuai. Ibrihim Ali Hassan has two brothers and two sons (youngest is 10) in this group. Songs: Mzuri Sana Nabia – About the Prophet Mohamed Yaa Nabia Salamu Alaika – Greeting for the Prophet Mohamed sung in Arabic. Hongera Bwana Harusi – Congratulations to the bride and groom Ilifurahika – The whole world is rejoicing after the battle of the prophets Ndoa Ni Sunna Adhimu – Perfect Marriage…
Page
…ians, British missionaries had travelled with a wind up gramophone playing country music, and that of Jimmie Rogers especially. Here’s Tabu’s telling of the rest of the story in Muzik: “And then the big bomber: the song I consider Tracey’s single most outstanding recording, “Chemirocha,” a paean to Jimmy Rogers (yes, the country singer) by some Kenyan girls. The song is haunting but made more so by Tracey’s introduction on the LP record (not inclu…