James Allen Staff Profile
…He has 20 years of experience in international business and has worked in Africa extensively during that time. Jimmy launched Abubilla Music in 2008, a small label dedicated to developing young recording artists. The following year he began developing the idea for the Singing Wells project with Ketebul Music, sharing their passion for preserving and promoting the traditional music of East Africa. Jimmy has an MBA from Harvard University and an MA…
Group 1: Inganzo Ngari Group Story
…da, Uganda, Burundi and parts of Congo). Then the same dancers performed a number about a community, Intwatwa, formerly known as the Batwa, the group we recorded in November 2012. It was a celebration dance with many steps to honour their rich and historic culture. Next we had the Intore – which means a traditional warrior dance. This was a manifestation of each warrior showing the king what he’s made of – his talent, his weaponry, and judging by…
Video playlists from Kenya 2018 Story
…ww.youtube.com/watch?v=WZWLQCNVUtE&list=PL6jxUA468Mq9Pd2xlX3D7Ru2MTTuT8KqS South Teso Jazz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VW0wNmuq8I&list=PL6jxUA468Mq_tVAwWIrPTe9FlbEmAWWBb Obasie Palnyang https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieNi3J-ky4E&list=PL6jxUA468Mq_807_5aRNd5562pLxoHfIl Omong’oluk Traditional Dancers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILMAhvkRtg0&list=PL6jxUA468Mq9LNfV2MxN2k1JwC-xu5n06 Samuel Namatete https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtkGVQFNoPw&l…
Here for Research? Page
…interviews, historical information and first hand accounts of the way East African music has developed and grown. Instruments In depth information and photography of the different musical instruments used in East Africa. This database is constantly evolving as we discover and record more instruments. The instruments are tagged by their ethnicity, their recording location and the type (simply broken down into stringed, percussion or wind at present…
We assemble in Kisumu Story
…ment. She has 8 years of experience in ethnomusicological research in East Africa, with a special focus on dance traditions of Kenya. She possesses comprehensive knowledge of qualitative research methods, data collection and analysis, and is experienced in academic writing, content creation and editorial. Kahithe has a master’s degree (MPhil) in Ethnomusicology and Dance Anthropology from the University of Paris X Nanterre and is currently finalis…
Recording, archiving and sharing the traditional music of East Africa Page
…inging Wells is to record, archive and share the traditional music of East Africa for two important reasons – to sustain and celebrate the extraordinary cultural music 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…
Singing Wells Stories Page
…then to their present home. This group, as with so many others throughout Africa, tell the story of their forefathers through music and dance – the dancers imitating the Nile as it snakes through Africa. To find out more about the day of recording the Marakwet, view the field report. To listen to the music of the Kalenjin, check out the Kalenjin of Kenya. To visit the group page for the Sagat Traditional Dancers, visit their page here. If you hav…
The Kalenjin of Kenya Album
…rs and the Kewamoi Women Dancers both featured. The latter – a nice addition to the lineup, as the field day coincided with World Women’s Day. Eddie Grey was part of the team for the recordings, and he joined a number of groups to join them for Influences recordings. Two of these have been included on the album – his guitar playing accompanying The Elimu Cultural Promoters and the Kewamoi Women Dancers….
Here for the Music? Page
If you are here to experience some of the very best music East Africa has to offer then you are in the right place. For some of our stories, videos and the chance to listen to some of our Singing Wells Albums, head to the links below. Stories Read some of our most memorable stories from the field, featuring stunning photography taken by our team. Learn more about the communities we meet, the instruments that are being played and the background st…
Day 1 – Saturday 1st July 2017 Story
…yatiti’s shape (resembles the traditional Luo hut shape), symbolism of the number (8) of strings of the nyatiti, his tuning techniques and order of string tuning, together with the story of his personal attachment to his instruments collection (owns 14 nyatitis). Upon our arrival to Kisumu City, we had another semi‐formal interview that would birth ideas for other hypothesis and arguments to follow up on. We met Meshack Okoth Okumu, who was to be…
What We Do Page
…Singing Wells ‘Influences’ series (see below). A permanent archive of East African Music During our field visits we collect a vast amount of audio and video recordings. Our mobile studio allows us to record audio via up to 8 different professional quality microphones and video with three HD cameras. Following each visit, this material is post produced to provide an archive of audio tracks and videos. We are in contact with The British Library abou…
Kahithe Kiiru Staff Profile
…ment. She has 8 years of experience in ethnomusicological research in East Africa, with a special focus on dance traditions of Kenya. She possesses comprehensive knowledge of qualitative research methods, data collection and analysis, and is experienced in academic writing, content creation and editorial.Kahithe has a master’s degree (MPhil) in Ethnomusicology and Dance Anthropology from the University of Paris X Nanterre and is currently finalisi…
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…
Elgon Ngoma Troupe Group
…usuf (solo Adungu), Wamumdu Albashir (bass Adungu), Kyasowbayo Joseph (xylophone) and Dkining David (tube fiddle). The songs played were: “Isongja”: a pre-circumcision song and dance where boys are challenged to get ready for the ritual. “Kadodi Imbalu Dance”: this is about the circumcision ritual itself and involves the boy being reluctant and getting help from others to be brave. The song closes with a section about the boy having and surviving…
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…
The Singing Wells podcast #3 Podcast
…Here is podcast number 3. In this podcast, we look at the development of Abubilla Music – one of the partners in The Singing Wells project – from initial idea, to music label. There are interviews with members of the SMCC, and music from the SMCC, Louise Calf, Gus Warriner, Tati Kalveks, Chris Kozlowski and Ketebul artist Winyo. Click here to download the podcast….