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…w those from the most marginalized communities within East Africa continue to find joy with their musical heritage and traditions. Of the many groups we have met, the Batwa community in Kisoro, Uganda have faced significant hardship and yet create such beautiful and hopeful music. Their spirit and energy is infectious and our meetings with the Batwa community have always been memorable. One man we simply cannot forget is Francis Sembagare, the mus…
3. Background of the Naizungwe drums Story
…clan regalia such as naizungwe became extinct because clan meetings ceased to take place in the original manner. Other factors that eroded traditional value systems that had come with foreign civilization also took their toll, causing erosion of the traditions. Can you describe the style of this tradition? It is percussive. The central concept is polyrhythms interlocking. Drums play loudly. The louder the better because loud is power, strength. Pe…
Upendo Jazz Group
…(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 rack and they leaned one large bass drum against the rack. The drummer then built a separate wooden kick pedal, so he could play all the drums with his hands and kick with his feet. We had not seen this before and it meant the group has a very traditional sound but a very modern feel,…
Day Two: January 19, 2019 From Tarime to Buturi to Bariadi Story
…freestyle recording’ – what we mean here is we allow our three camera operators to ‘roam’ and to ‘release the band’ to dance. We are trying to overcome the somewhat artificial nature of ‘archiving’ where the band is constrained into a single shot. Magic Moment: We loved the percussion and 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 c…
Kika Boys Cultural Troupe Group
…to collect the Mbidde (bananas) Zitandikwe: this means the bananas are now to be buried into a hole dug in the group so they can ripen Siwa Siwa: This talks about grinding the millet on a stone while other people bring gourds in which the local brew will be poured and served Mbereju: This is the name of the drunkard who drinks excessively. He starts to abuse people and pee himself. Sivve Wano: This song is sung by the town drunk and it means, “I w…
Day Zero: 6 March 2022 – Travel To Stream Story
…he musicians via M-pesa and Pay-Pal contributions. Another possibility was to sell tickets with the use of online access codes that admit ticket holders into the virtual performance. The result was that a number of live streaming studios where performers book sessions to perform and stream their concerts sprung up in Nairobi. Some venues also adapted to hosting online performances, directly streaming shows to mobile devices and computers of audien…
Support Singing Wells Page
…is funded by the Abubilla Music Foundation, the below link will direct you to make a donation to the Abubilla Music Foundation: — CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW — Donate your time, products or services We are always keen to hear from people who are happy to offer their time to help the project and from companies which may be able to support us with products or services free of charge. If you can help out in this respect please contact: info@singingwells…
Day Five: Ilesi, Khayega to Kisumu Story
…here!) Iminyi: This is a type of bird that hides in roofs and is difficult to find, but is a strong bird. The song tells the story that the best fighting bulls are not the ones preening around the village, but rather they keep to themselves until the fight. And then they win. The Shiselelo procession – this is for weddings. The songs include: Hoya: This is encouraging the groom to forward and be welcome. Mbabo: This is about everyone coming togeth…
Day 4 – Tuesday 4th July 2017 Story
…er 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 idea of the current purchase conditions (order completed in approx. 2 weeks, price of 6000 Kenyan shillings per nyatiti), wh…
Singing Wells Sampler 2011 – 2013 Album
This is a special sampler album put together, which contains some of the best recordings and tracks we have made as part of the project. It includes field recordings, influences recordings made in the field, influences recordings made in the Ketebul studio in Nairobi and a special collaborative effort between Abubilla Music and some of the musicians recorded by The Singing Wells project.
Singing Wells Stories Page
…f trying 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 Cultura…
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…s and 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…
Here for Research? Page
…stain and celebrate the extraordinary cultural music heritage of the region and to help make this legacy relevant and fresh to today’s audiences.”…
Day One: January 18, 2019. Assemble in Tanzania Story
…ravel 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). We arrived at…
Conclusion: Challenges and Recomendations Story
…and economise on filming time. From a methodological point of view, for us to be able to build on the original concept of the series and remain scientifically both pertinent and correct, a proper research preparation should be put in place as a standard. The ideal approach to pre‐recording preparations should thus include: short pre‐interviews with identified interviewees (this would later allow better and easier data collection and create a certa…
Kithara Group
…nd motorbikes going by occasionally. We managed to record one song but had to stop after that due to noise. We hope to have this group come to the hotel on our last recording day. We felt bad that they only were able to perform one song but they took it graciously. Performers: Rajab Suleiman (qanun and director), Mohammed Hassan (accordian), Fum Faki (bongo and tabla), Tatu Khamis Haji (singer) Songs: Chungu – means Pot, composed by Said Ali 10 ye…