Video playlists from Kenya 2018 Story
…Omong’oluk Traditional Dancers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILMAhvkRtg0&list=PL6jxUA468Mq9LNfV2MxN2k1JwC-xu5n06 Samuel Namatete https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtkGVQFNoPw&list=PL6jxUA468Mq-RUCpUdIrKZrrZyRF216Mz Pius Wafula https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUa3LzYZ8G8&list=PL6jxUA468Mq-JL9a_FMhl3js2eQdqUBVn Shem Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cewr4zGeAXo&list=PL6jxUA468Mq_qagUS8lrS4ItNX84ceQc_ Peter Awkabi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y…
Bigwala Cultural Group Group
…calist is Nabirye Irene. The group are from the village of Bukoona and travelled to the Gately on the Nile Hotel in Jinja for the recording session. The Bigwala is the name of the trumpets they play. Song Meanings “Muwe Bwobona Asaba”: When someone asks you kindly assist them. “Mperekera Omwana Womurembe”: When you are walking with someone by your side they are the special one and you don’t look at anyone else. “Mwene Wamwenda”: When you love some…
Bigwala Instrument
…a local Bigwala group, the Bigwala Cultural Group, to perform for Singing Wells. Click here to read our report from the field. Here is an extract from the UNESCO website, explaining about the Bigwala which was inscribed in 2012 on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding: Bigwala music and dance is a cultural practice of the Basoga people of Uganda, performed during royal celebrations such as coronations and funerals…
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…and the men are scratching their heads. Following in the footsteps of a Rebel Below are some of the brilliant Taarab groups we met on our 2020 trip to Tanzania, all following in the footsteps of a musical legend. Unyago The group is named after the drums they play and the style. This style is all about ‘Rebels’ and things that women talk about to themselves – very suggestive songs but using innuendo, so all deniable if called out. Traditionally, t…
Singing Wells Stories Page
…o find out more about the day of recording the Marakwet, view the field report. To listen to the music of the Kalenjin, check out the Kalenjin of Kenya. To visit the group page for the Sagat Traditional Dancers, visit their page here. If you haven’t signed up to the Singing Wells mailing list – please do. It is the best way to keep up to date with the project, our plans for recording and our latest content releases. You can do that below in the fo…
Albums Introduction Page
One of the main aims of The Singing Wells project is to record and share the music we record in East Africa and one of the ways in which we can share this music is through our albums series. For each project we undertake, we curate an album of the resulting recordings. In most cases, this will include at least one recording from each group recorded. Where it works artistically, we’ll arrange the tracks on the album in chronological order of the r…
Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…notably bull-fighting (Mayo) songs, funeral (LWIKHULU) songs, wedding (SHISELELO) songs and circumcision (SHISHEBO) songs. Unfortunately, our daily programme was cut short by rain showers. DAY 6 – Thursday 22nd February 2018 On Thursday 22ndof February, in the interest of time, we set up a recording station in a friend’s compound in Ilesi town (location) of Shinyalu sub-county, Kakamega. We have decided to record several groups at that location…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 1 – Reflections Story
…with great new artists and we hope giving them an opportunity to find new listeners that want to take elements of the music forward. With this as background, this is what we discussed on the grounds of the Kampala Museum. I will paraphrase a half a dozen voices and many long and winding conversations: What is it we’re reviving: palace life or music? We can be emphatic here. We are here for the music and are neither romanticising nor trying to rev…
Singing Wells Youtube Channel hits 2.5Million views News
…wn contemporary style. https://youtu.be/gPaBQwODTtU Also at the top of the list is the legend of Mwanzele, Nyerere Wa Konde, performing with his family as the Nyerere Wa Konde Music Club. This was filmed back in 2011, on the very first day of the Singing Wells pilot trip to Kenya. Seeing the generations of Nyerere’s family performing together was a special moment (his son Mr Bado is also a musician). We captured a great fusion of old and new http…
The Return of Bigwala News
…een striving since 2012 to restore knowledge of the instrument, receiving help from UNESCO, on their List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, to preserve the instrument. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ai9y5pkl6E According to Atlas Obscura, this support has allowed the seeds of this unique gourd, which were thought to have been lost, to be rediscovered and grown. Now over 100 students have been trained in building the…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 2 – Muranga to Kangema to Nkubu Story
…Muguru Division, Kamgema District and was formed in 2006 and dedicated to self-help. Their style is Ndumo, an old women’s dance purely for entertainment and preservation of culture. For all their songs, the ladies used the Kigamba (leg shakers). The group played 6 songs: Ndumo: sung by Wambui Mwangi. Ngucu: sung by Charity Muthoni and Grace Njuguini Muthuo: sung by Mary Wambui Kimunya: sung by Grace Njuguini Gitiro: sung by Mary Njeri Njagi Magic…
Discussions with Peter Cooke: ethnomusicologist and Ugandan music expert News
…80s. You can listen to some of those recordings here. Here, too, is a full list of Peter’s work on African music. We asked Peter to tell us a little more about his time working with Musisi in the 60s. “In 1967, as head of Music at Kyambogo and at the suggestion of the wonderful young musician Bulasio Busuulwa, one of the former royal flute players, who was already working with me at Kyambogo, I also recruited his young friend Musisi – a former mem…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…ional materials, are seeking to expand this legacy. Their vast content is relatively easy to search – though of course it helps to know what you are looking for – and one can either search a location or artist in the search bar, or browse through the various collections. The International Library of African Music has many of its albums available to download, under the ILAM collection. As it is a record label, its material must be bought, which is…
The Key to Sustainable Aid in Africa? Perhaps we should follow the music. News
…ainable Support for Africa is a Healthy Village Everyone who works and travels extensively in Africa knows the startling contrast between the beauty of a healthy village and the hideousness of the urban sprawl at the edges of African cities. And most leading thinkers concerned with African development, argue for efforts to maintain village life, to work with people in a village, with all the support that entails, rather than to work with folks who…
A recording studio which fits into the back of an SUV Story
…mid-session which happened to us when we recorded to the Batwa at the Traveller’s Rest Hotel in Kisoro, Uganda!) We can also combine the two recording units into one to increase the number of inputs, while still working off battery power. The laptops use Avid ProTools recording software – an industry standard for recording and music production. The microphones we have chosen are industry standard models used in studios the world over but, most li…
The New Singing Wells website News
…isten. Featured Content At the bottom of each post and story you’ll find a list of related posts so if you find something you are interested in then it’s easy to read more about it. Instruments Library We have been collecting East African instruments since our first trip to the Kenya coast in 2011. Click here to read about the traditional East African instruments we have recorded being played. Responsiveness We recognise that a lot of our visitors…