Day Three: January 20th, 2019 Story
…orms in the Busumabudo style. Lake the Snake Dances we recorded during our last trip, this group is part music, part circus, part acrobatics. A wonderful crowd pleaser! We recorded five performances: Busumabuno Kulima: A song about farming Watoto wakalime Freestyle on Kulima Magic Moment Busumabudo, focus on percussion https://youtu.be/dHeTdA5m5gQ Group 3: Awilo: The group, which is a comedy circus act, is from Ikungu lya nkoma and performs in the…
Day Four: Ikolomani to Amalemba Story
Wednesday, 21 February 2018 We drove from our hotel, in Kakamega, to Shiriese Ikolomani to record the Super Phoenix Band. The band was founded originally by Jacob Luseno, who mentored the current band leader Julius Intenya. The musical style is Mutibu. They played roughly 8-10 songs, including several goes with our influences artist. These songs included: Shapeless: A song about a women who lost her shape, lost her curves. Alusiola: A song about…
Group 8: Abutazi Story
…to the inanga and its sound and all it does for them. We loved this double number so much we recorded it twice. Makare (“Call Me Makare”) – This is named for Fox Makare, the rapper of the group, who raps the song about 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…
Group 6: Sudi Mavenge Story
…made too much noise. So we decided to move the recording to today, at our hotel in Kigali instead, where we could get the sound quality Sudi deserves. Sudi is one of the last living legends of rhumba, an Afro-Cuban musical style that was brought back by Congolese and Rwandan soldiers after World War 2 from 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 b…
Day Five: February 20, 2020 (DCMA) Story
…Day 3 because of noise. 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 ground…
Kithara Group
…ad 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 years ago Usikhofu – means “Don’t Worry” Composed by Rajab 8 years ago Pen…
Nyota Ze Meremeta Group
…and are led by Professor Mohamed Ilyas, who played at the Serena Zanzibar Hotel for over twenty years and teaches at the Dhow Countries Music Academy. For 50 years he’s taught music in Zanzibar and promotes other musicians. Other members of this group include: Ramadhan Muhidan (accordion), Ali Ibrahim Musa (Kanan or Qanun), Tatu Hamisi Amur (accordion), Asha Khemisi Amur (violin) and Malick Anas (fiddle). Malick is 75 and has played with the Prof…
Day Four: January 21 2019 Mwanza Story
…s group, from the Sukuma community, was formed in 2010 and performs with a number of styles: Bukomia Lume, Buchheye, Wigashe. Their instruments are: Ng’oma (Drums), Pembe (animal horns, large impala), Firimbi (flute), and Njuga (shakers). We recorded five performances: Ntale Atabihyala: ‘The boss, who is always wrong, wants to be always right. Just accept it’ Ba Tanzania (Malima): Praising country, encouraging farmers and hard work – this song h…
Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…I – leg rattles; EFIRIMBI – a metallic whistle; OLWIKA – antelope horn aerophone; LIKHANGO – another aerophone made out of a reed attached to a wild goat horn; MUTINDI – flat two-skin drum played using two wooden sticks. Their props included spears (lifumo), shields (esikhumba), fly whisks (mukia) and clubs (eskong’o). They were wearing hats and tops made out of leather, leaves and feathers, and most original skirts which were in fact recycled umb…
Bigilia Group Group
From our hotel, we drove a short distance to the village of Nia Njema, where we stayed all day recording Bigilia. They were cooking fish under the main tree and the women were sitting on the Mbuzi, which is used to cut the coconut for Wali (Coconut Rice). The dancers all had lovely necklaces (Usalu), hats (Kigarama) shakers (Mbugu), whistles (Firimbi), and ‘brooms’ (Usinga). The group leader was Asha Saidi Kazidi. The style was Unyago. Here is th…
The Batwa of Kisoro Album
…um. The remainder of the field recordings were made at the Travellers Rest Hotel in Kisoro – battling through torrential rain, a storm of locusts and power cuts to be able to record. The Kabahenda, Gatera and Micyingo communities performing for us under the veranda of the hotel. Also included is an influences session where Winyo collaborated with the Mperwa Dancers; a collaboration between Jesse Bukindu and Francis from the Birara Dancers, recorde…
Bigwala Cultural Group Group
…up 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 someone even if they are poor, lame,…
Day Two: January 19, 2019 From Tarime to Buturi to Bariadi Story
…nd the need to protect the environment. Examples included stopping use of plastics and keeping your waste water away from your drinking water. Magic Moment: We recorded the beats of Majirani, percussion only Magic Moment: Majirani again to record slightly differently. https://youtu.be/yQ52ZCL5Gro Group 3: Serengeti Group: This group, formed in 2016, was from the community of Kuria and played in the Ritungu style – this style refers to the form of…
Day One: January 18, 2019. Assemble in Tanzania Story
…and we typically have two general mics for the group and 5-6 specific microphones for singers and musicians, b) we have three video cameras operating – one wide shot for full performance, one close up to capture details of instruments and one roving camera to provide a second angle on the performance and c) we interview all group leaders to understand group musical styles and background, instruments and songs. In almost every village, we struggle…
Day two: From Sirisia to Mabuyole Falls Story
…ed very active and prosperous, playing in the Tindikiti style. The play at hotels, festivals, weddings, funerals, etc.. In terms of instruments they have: Luengere: Drums Eng’oma: Drums Litungu: Strings They performed the following songs: Kuzula Ni Bora: This is a song that emphasizes that prevention is better than the cure. The singer takes us through many illnesses to argue there are ways to recognize the symptoms but there are also ways to prev…
Group 4: Urugangaze Ballet Story
…dance. As with the other Intore we saw, there was a group accompanying the dance on the amakondera (horns). A couple of facts we learned about the Intore today: firstly, the Intore name is derived from the verb “gutora” (to choose/select) as a large number of the trainees originally were recruited from the children of upper middle class families. Secondly, the lion manes that the dancers wear are made of wood that is beaten so fine it becomes hair…