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…nt village musicians, British missionaries had travelled with a wind up gramophone playing country music, and that of Jimmie Rogers especially. Here’s Tabu’s telling of the rest of the story in Muzik: “And then the big bomber: the song I consider Tracey’s single most outstanding recording, “Chemirocha,” a paean to Jimmy Rogers (yes, the country singer) by some Kenyan girls. The song is haunting but made more so by Tracey’s introduction on the LP r…
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….
Nyangile Instrument
…A resonating box – hit by the player with a wooden stick, who often holds ongeng’o rings in their hand and feet to add more rhythmic potential. We heard the Nyangile, also referred to as the Sanduk (Swahili for Box), played by a member of the Otacho Young Stars, when we recorded them at Dinkys Resort Club, Rongo, as part of our field trip to record the music of the Luo in Western Kenya….
3. Background of the Naizungwe drums Story
…ded 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. People who have a healthy life are energetic and they often express that through music and dance and more. How are the drums played? The…
Mchele Mchele Sanaa Group Group
…This 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). …
Day Four: January 21 2019 Mwanza Story
…with his instrument during the RECCE. We recorded five performances: Changamoto: This is about life’s challenges Mawazo Gakwira: About deep worries Nkewane nsanja: girlfriend got pregnant and came to singer for papers Tudumishe mila: about honouring our culture Raisi Ametamka: politicians must support education https://youtu.be/Hmp4zM3kSaM Sadly, we then got rained out and went back to hotel. We scheduled additional groups for same location the ne…
Conclusion: Challenges and Recomendations Story
…and easier data collection and create a certain familiarity and proximity to them); more extensive interviews with interviewees on filming day (even if the space for interviews within the final programme’s structure is limited, the information, especially on endangered practices and skills, should be gathered); additional time to research archive materials (texts, photographs, audio and video materials that could complement individual stories and…
Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…est hits, songs that any Kenyan can easily identify with: “Kweli Ndugu”; “Mtoto si Nguo”; “Sengula Nakupenda”; “Kunywa Kidogo” and “Watu Wanasema Uongo”. Fadhilee’s reaction to this last session was worth the wait, as he discovered the author of “Kweli Ndugu”, a song he had done a cover of years ago. Therefore, we recorded one last Influences with Fadhilee playing the song alongside Mukabi. The day was closed with a photo session ringing together…
Day 9 – Sunday 9th July 2017 Story
…ontact and exchange between neighbouring communities that would give birth to common tunes or influence instruments’ shapes and music styles, etc. 1. Source: Wikipedia 2. The most widely used instruments classification system first devised in 1914 by musicologists Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs; English version published much later in 1961; most current updated version: “Revision of the Hornbostel‐Sachs Classification of Musical Inst…
Discovering the lost music of the Ugandan Kingdoms Gallery
…for The story of Musisi – a drummer from the royal palaces and the fall of the Buganda Kingdom Some information on the progress of the Bigwala trumpets – an instrument we restored on a previous field trip Interviews with the palace players and a great deal of information on the art of drum making…
Day 1 – Saturday 1st July 2017 Story
…ht 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 English names TBC); ‐ Dispute over which part of the region the instrument first originated in – South Nyanza or Central Nyanza; ‐ Discussion on the nyatiti gender taboo (whe…
Hunter Allen Staff Profile
…irected and edited Singing Wells’ first Lost Song Books documentary, which told the story of our repatriation project in 2014. The project involved the returning of recordings by Hugh Tracy to the Kalenjin and Luo communities from which he recorded in the 1950s. Hunter graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2015 and aspires to continue a long and fruitful relationship with Singing Wells. Most recently he joined the rest of the team in filmi…
The Northern Tribes of Uganda Album
…followed by a recording in Naguru, recording the Adungu Cultural Troupe and the Watmon Cultural Group, before heading back to the Entebbe Guesthouse to record more with the Watmon Group and Akello – our influences artist….
Day One: January 18, 2019. Assemble in Tanzania Story
…fish’ and crashed. This, our second major field visit to Tanzania, begins tomorrow. The Tanzania Team, with Jackie Akinyi A couple of quick background facts: This is our second Field Visit to Tanzania. (Please go here for the first trip) For Singing Wells, a field visit is when we visit a specific region of East Africa and record musical groups in villages. On average, we do one field visit a year, recording roughly 20-25 groups, and a 100-125 pe…
All field reports have now been published and provide links to youtube videos! Story
…You can now see all Field Reports for February 2018 trip to Kenya. If you want to link directly to youtube videos you can do in field reports or go direct here. A detailed account of the trip written by Kahithe Kiiru is available here….
Albums Introduction Page
…Influences’ sessions – where a popular musical artist has joined us on our trip to collaborate with the groups we record. In the event that we have invited one of the musicians back to the Ketebul Studios in Nairobi to record, we will also include these recordings. The albums are available to download through our Bandcamp store in your choice of formats. The proceeds from the sale of our albums will be fed back to the musicians involved in the rec…