Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…aying music in 1958 and has mastered several Teso traditional instruments. Today he plays with an old friend – Mzee (Edler) Ikobulo (born 1932) and his daughters as back-vocals. Through a series of 8 songs, he showcased three major instruments: ADEUDEU – 5-strings arced harp; AGEREGERE – a one-string traditional fiddle; ACCORDION. All through the session, Obasie was accompanied by a percussionist on a drum called atenus amwatonitand by Mzee Ikobul…
Day Two: February 17, 2020 (Stonetown) Story
…, in Rahaleo. All male group ranging from age 7 up to 40, ten all together today. They sing Islamic and secular songs for weddings and celebrations. Today was mainly an acapello performance with one flute made out of a bamboo stick. The singers included: Ibrahim Ali Hassan (lead singer, flute ), Issa Ali Hassan (lead singer), Mlenge Ali Hassan, Othman Mlenge Ali, Afann Mlenge Ali, Iddi Abdallah Mohd, Abdillah Salum Juma (lead singer), Fesal Sleima…
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…
Here for Research? Page
…n and celebrate the extraordinary cultural music heritage of the region and to help make this legacy relevant and fresh to today’s audiences.”…
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…
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…
Zam Zam Group
…, in Rahaleo. All male group ranging from age 7 up to 40, ten all together today. They sing Islamic and secular songs for weddings and celebrations. It was mainly an acapello performance with one flute made out of a bamboo stick. The singers included: Ibrahim Ali Hassan (lead singer, flute ), Issa Ali Hassan (lead singer), Mlenge Ali Hassan, Othman Mlenge Ali, Afann Mlenge Ali, Iddi Abdallah Mohd, Abdillah Salum Juma (lead singer), Fesal Sleiman M…
Day One: January 18, 2019. Assemble in Tanzania Story
Today is a travel day. The main Ketebul crew (Steve, Patrick, Drix) left Nairobi early to drive to Kisumu, while Tabu flew with Jimmy and Hunter to Kisumu (Jimmy and Hunter arrived from London on the 17th. We all met at the Kenya/Nairobi border and after two hours, cleared the border and drove to Tarime, where we met Jackline Odhiambo Aringo (Jackie Akinyi), a Tanzanian musician who helped organize our trip (see our interview with Jackie here). W…
Singing Wells Stories Page
…rying to help preserve traditional music is to try and make it relevant to today’s audiences and musicians and this goes a long way to helping. Since the field trip, we are pleased to report that Akello has been performing more with the Watmon Cultural Group (our group of the month for September – read more about that here. To read more about Akello and her part in Influences, click here: Akello To hear her collaboration with the Watmon Cultural G…
Aynu Traditional Group Group
…They are traditionally a farming people and are the predominant keepers of guinea fowl in Uganda (locally known as ‘ope’), but their cultural symbol is of a leopard. They also believe in a certain kind of mythology, mainly that man are descendants from the first creatures put on earth by spirit (the creator of men). Spirit created a man (gboro-gboro) and a woman (meme), and then domestic livestock. Meme had wild animals in her womb so that after t…
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…
Day Zero: February 15, 2020 – Assemble in Zanzibar Story
…ands joined the Mainland Tanganyika and were subsumed to form Tanzania. Today, the population of the islands is over 98% Muslim. Second, one of our main partners for our trip was the Dhow Countries Music Academy. The “Dhow” is a traditional sailing vessel. We saw many on the waters around Zanzibar. The “Dhow Countries” are all the countries that have blown to Zanzibar and left their musical instruments, styles and influences. The Dhow C…
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…
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…
What We Do Page
…w generation of musicians and listeners who might not consider it relevant today. So we have developed the Influences series: new compositions comprising a fusion of traditional and contemporary styles, themes, harmonies and instruments. Influences is led by musicians from Ketebul Music or singer/songwriters from the areas we are travelling to during our field visits. “Singing Wells can’t be just about archiving. We can’t be fossil collectors. We…