Recording, archiving and sharing the traditional music of East Africa Page
…heritage of the region and to help make this legacy relevant and fresh to today’s audiences. As a group of sound and video engineers, producers and musicians, we set out on this mission not to become ‘fossil collectors’ and store the recordings in inaccessible archives. We work with musicians to make sure their music traditions continue to be practiced, can be shared amongst the widest audiences and become a source of inspiration for new musician…
Day Five: February 20, 2020 (DCMA) Story
…oise. It was great we could get them all to come to the hotel unexpectedly today. After this we drove back to Stonetown to record at the DCMA and the Culture Musical Club. The three groups: Kithara – This group was formed by Rajab Suleiman. They have played together for 20 years and all live in the same neighborhood. They play for weddings and festivals in a traditional Taarab style. It was good to see them again on the grounds of the Ngalawa ho…
Day Three: Bungoma Town to Kakamega Story
Tuesday, February 20th, 2018: Today, we returned to record Wilbert Wanyama in Bungoma Town. As mentioned, we met Wilbert on the evening of February 19th, but were unable to record his band due to thunderstorms. So we returned to Santa Maria Resort to record him the next morning. And the weather was sunny and crisp, following the previous evening storms. First, Wilbert told us the history of the band. The band, Bungoma Roots Band, started in 2005…
Pius Wafula Group
…group called “Webuye Jua Kali” up to 2009, when he founded his own group. Today the group counts 5 members who play the following instruments: LITUNGU – a 7-string traditional lyre; ISIRILI – a one-string fiddle; LUENGELE– a percussive idiophone, they use a wooden stool struck with wooden sticks; ENG’OMA – a generic term for drums, they use a plastic water container also struck with wooden sticks; CHISASI – shakers made out of gourds. We recorded…
Sangwamahoro and Royal Burundi Drums News
…r a platform for adults to meet, share experiences, and uplift each other. Today, Sangwamahoro has grown into a vibrant cultural collective, featuring a group of drummers, as well as male and female dancers, who perform at various events, festivals, and concerts across the east African region. The name “Sangwamahoro,” which translates to “May peace be upon you,” serves both as a greeting and a reminder of the possibility of unity, bridging the div…
Singing Wells Stories Page
…et Jovah on the second day of our trip to record the music of the Batwa in South West Uganda. We travelled out of Kisoro to the village of Mperwa. The Mperwa dancers performed in their village in a lush setting in front of cultivated hillsides and the Viriunga volcano. Jovah takes a lot of pride in her music and is full of passion for the traditional music of the Batwa people. She was one of the members of the community who travelled to Nairobi to…
The Revival of the Entongooli Page
…generation and there is no living player of the Entongooli in this region today. Instead, he has worked to learn and teach as much as he can in the hope he can start a new generation of skilled players and builders of the Entongooli. Finding the Materials Finding the correct materials is half of the battle of reviving such a unique and rare instrument. The beginning of the Entongooli building process begins with forming the bowl shaped base, the…
Group 1: Inganzo Ngari Group Story
…r name Inganzo Ngari loosely translates to “Limitless Talent” and based on today, that is the perfect name for them. The group’s manager is Serge and today we had about 50 performers, some fully professional, some with day jobs, but all investing time to rehearse twice a week. We started with the umutagara (the full drumming ensemble), two drum performances – one more traditional, in which the smallest drum “calls” and the other ten drums “respond…
Group 3: Makanyaga Abdul Story
…Hamdan, Mak Junior, joined him in the performances. The entire band we saw today consists of: Makanyaga Abdul – singer and guitar Fataki Hamdan, Makanyaga Jr – singer Wenga Abdul Karim – singer and percussion Tabana David – guitar Nizeyimana Abed – guitar Akimana Methoucela – percussion Ngarukiyintwali Jean de Dieu – singer Lutagengwa Francoise – singer and dancer Songs we heard today: Urukundo rurambuye – meaning Endless Love, a love song Garuka…
Group 6: Sudi Mavenge Story
…om Cuba. He is mainly known for his love songs, some of which he performed today. We had a quick chat with Sudi’s son Shukran, who told us he’s been playing guitar with his father since he was twelve (and indeed was taught by him to play), but who also sings and today he played percussion. Sudi’s other guitarist also used a set of drumsticks as his own percussion, tapping them together for a beat. We recorded the following songs: Ku Minini – this…
Influences songs from Singing Wells Group
…a new generation of musicians and fans who might not consider it relevant today. So, we have developed the Influences series – a fusion of traditional and contemporary styles. Each time the Singing Wells team embarks on a field recording visit we are joined by a talented musician who works with us on ‘Influences’ songs. They work with us in the field and also in the Ketebul Music studios in Nairobi to produce this new material. We believe our Inf…
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…nd songwriters to show how this “traditional” music is still relevant into today’s modern world. Below you will find links to the musical loops we have selected that are available to download for the project, If you are interested in joining the Global Influences Project, you can download the project brief here or get in touch with us with any questions you may have. SUBMISSIONS FOR THIS PROJECT ARE NOW CLOSED. Click here to access the Global In…
Group 8: Abutazi Story
…ut himself. And it goes straight into Amananga (this song is inspired by a South African music style called Amapiano, but they’ve done their own Rwandan version on the inanga, hence “Amananga”). The song Amananga is another ode to the sound of the Inanga and how overwhelming it is. X and Y – this was the last song from the group together and “X and Y” translates to the same in English, talking about two unknown quantities. This is a playful counti…
Day One: The Iteso People and their Music Story
…ussion and the Etwoo. From Adungosi, we travelled to Obekai, to record the South Teso Jazz group. The group started in 1938 by Charles Olado. It is currently led by Patrick Okodoi. We walked through all the band’s instruments first; these are: The Adeudeu: The Six Stringed Bass, that is big enough for bass player and a percussionist who sits on back to play the ‘kick’ drum. You then have the 9 string ‘rhythm instrument, the Seketa and the 9 String…
Group 4: Urugangaze Ballet Story
…st was the Urugangaze Ballet, a group of 55 performers in total (we saw 21 today). They are all made up of locals of different ages, the furthest being from Nyanza. The group was started in 1991 by Tomas Bazatsinda, and since then has only grown, performing at weddings and ceremonies around Rwanda and even touring France, Libya, Egypt and Germany over the last ten years. While the engineers set up, Daisy and Kathy interviewed the leaders: Their le…
Our Sponsors Page
…ly for a grant from the IIE to fund our field recording visit to Kisoro in south west Uganda in 2011. Here we visited 6 Batwa communities and recorded their wonderful songs and traditional dance. We were also able to tell the story of their lives since they were moved from their forest homes in order to create a National Park to protect the mountain gorilla population in the area. We would like to thank the IIE for their generous support of the pr…