Day One: February 16, 2020 (Ngawala Hotel) Story
…bu Uone Aibu: Means ‘witness the shame.’ Wanawaki Afrika: A Celebration of African Women 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, these were all songs that were part of wedding rituals and used to prepare the bride. Songs about girls becoming women. The…
Day Five: February 20, 2020 (DCMA) Story
…wo songs. They produced a wonderful, dynamic fusion of Taarab, Traditional African rhythms and contemporary Western and African sounds. Performers: Tarajazz: Suleiman Makame (keyboard, director), Hassan Mahenge (Saxophone, assistant director), Mahsin Basalama (contra base), Christopher Weston (Cajon and high hat), Regina Juma (singer). There was supposed to be a violin player but unfortunately he couldn’t make it. Kirundo: Lukoa Nenes (sticks),…
Kirundo Group
Kirundo performs in a fusion of traditional African rhythms from mainland Tanzania and Pemba, and contemporary African sounds. The three young men are all students at the DMCA performing with a well known drummer and teacher of music. This band has been together for 2 years. Songs: Mwaludeje – Tradition after the harvest. New composition. Mjomba – Uncle, celebrating the good hunt. New composition Uye – Come Back Please, used at a wake after someo…
Uganda: Music from the Central and Eastern Region Gallery
…Images from the Singing Wells field recording visit to Uganda 2013. Our journey took us from Entebbe to Kampala, Kidinda, Bukada, Mbale, Jinja and the small village of Idudi near Iganga where we recorded music of the Baganda, Bagisu, Bagwere, Basoga and Banyoli. We were fortunate to receive sponsorship from The Mara Group and Gorilla Tours for this visit and many of our photos feature our thank you message to both organisations. …
Global Influences Project: Loop Library Page
…th common focus on using music as a tool for community development. The group promotes traditional African values and acts in both education and local economy. Members also engage in traditional crafts like basket weaving and jewellery making for exhibition and sale. You can learn more about the group here. You can watch the full visual performance of this song on our Youtube channel by clicking here. Download the loop singingwells · SW Samples –…
Influences songs from Singing Wells Group
…e keys objectives of the Singing Wells project is to introduce tribal East African music to 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 al…
Nile Beat Artists Group
…evolve his sound. He plays the Kora, and much of his writing combines West African instruments with an East African writing style. Song Meanings “Ikobo Kobo”: It is a type of herb. It is a song about a girl who is very bitter because her mother will not let her play with her friends freely. The mother explains to her that she was barren but the spirits helper her to conceive so the spirits set the condition that she should never play in the rain….
Page
…preservation of Ugandan cultural heritage through dance. The group is made up of up to 50 members, the youngest members being only seven years old. Matthew lived in Awedi until 1991, when he moved to Kampala, due to the rebel fighting. He started a small group of dancers, performing Acholi traditional dance which he had learnt when he was young, both from grandfather in his village and from watching dancers at village events. He went around his di…
Day Three: February 18, 2020 (Stonetown, Mpendae, Maungani) Story
…there we drove for another half an hour to Maungani to record the third group: Tarajazz – This group was formed by the director, Suleiman Makame, who studied classical piano and music. He became interested in Jazz and created an African fusion of Taarab and Jazz about two years ago. The name of his band changed from Mansule to Tarajazz. He combined African rhythms such as Msewe and Kyaso (both from Zanzibar) with Singeli (a new tribal rhythm). T…
Day Four: February 19, 2020 (Maruhabi Palace) Story
…tic representation of local traditional kidumbak music. Kirundo – this group performs in a fusion of traditional African rhythms from mainland Tanzania and Pemba, and contemporary African sounds. The three young men are all students at the DMCA performing with a well known drummer and teacher of music. This band has been together for 2 years. Performers: Lukoa Nenes (sticks), Joshua Muyumovela ( shakers), Nyemo Mopana (guitar, kalimba (hand held…
Day Two: January 19, 2019 From Tarime to Buturi to Bariadi Story
…nd wanted to capture this as magic moment. https://youtu.be/u7xcXahAlzI Group 2: Upendo Jazz: The group is from the Murangi Village in the Mara Region and their community is Wajita and their style is Vidogori. They were founded in 1999. Their instruments included: Ngoma za Budogori (drums, with a kick) and Njiga (shakers from gourds). It is worth taking a minute on the drums. They were typical African drums, but set up Western Style on a steel rac…
Day Six: January 24, 2019 From Mwanza to Dodomo to Nzali to Nairobi Story
…n trough) Group 2: Nyati Muchoya (also spelt Mchoya): From Nzali, the group is from the Wagogo Tupu community and was formed in 1966 by the grandfathers of the current performers. Their instruments include: Nindo (jingles), Njuga (Shakers), Mbega (animal Skins), Muheme (drums), Kabati (kayamba-shakers), Manyanga ( Maracas), Madodolo (cow bell), and Pangwa/Kipangwa (a double headed lyre). We recorded four performances, where each of the songs i…
Day 1 – Saturday 1st July 2017 Story
…engo, a well‐known nyatiti master previously recorded for SW, Meshack took up the nyatiti after his father’s death. His discussion with Rapasa and Ketebul’s Tabu Osusa brought up several interesting points, including: ‐ Differences between the two most commonly used trees for nyatiti resonator – ngowu (oak tree) and poch ondero (fig tree); ‐ Trees used or arms and head of the instrument – powo, siala (vernacular names, corresponding Latin and/or E…
Day Five: January 22, 2019 Mwanza Continued Story
…the same location (Kagera Bukoba) as yesterday to record three groups: Group 1: Karambi Sanaa Group: From Kagera Bukoba and part of the Wahaya Community, this group was formed in 2000 and performs in the Akasimbo style. Their instruments are: Kangote (Drums), Akafotho (hand whistling), Enganja: Clapper – two wooden ‘bricks’ struck together, and they wear Ebisheshe (grasses). We recorded four performances: Wachumba Walya: A song about someone who…
Winyo Staff Profile
…stening to Winyo an almost heavenly experience. Winyo is also a professional photographer, actor and a TV producer. He is currently the executive video producer for a Kenyan media company called Big Foot productions, which has produced several local TV shows. His goal is to take African music all over the world and enliven people to dance and sing to the sweet and melodic sounds of African songs and music. Winyo is a valued member of the Singing W…
Day Zero: February 15, 2020 – Assemble in Zanzibar Story
…made from coconut shells…” We will meet this style on our second day, group one: Mohamed Othman Kidumbak Group Unyago: This is music by women by women and was used during rites of passage as the women prepared the bridge. Originally, these were ‘secret songs’ and filled with metaphors that would explain about sex and love and all the wonderful and difficult parts of marriage. As this music moved from the secret rites to more public perform…