Page
…and was carrying what I can only say was a magic electric gun. He told me to stop brushing my teeth and lie down and he began to shoot the government soldiers around us. […] I’m telling you all this to tell you that this was the last day I played drums in the palace. I was arrested and I stayed in jail for a couple of weeks. Then, in 1966, I got employment at the Kyambogo music department for Peter Cooke (who was head of the music department at t…
Bigilia Group Group
…gs, including Magic Moments and Influences Sessions: Zakulola: You’ve come to see us play Wake Kwa Ume: Female to male Nataka kusema kasi naogopa: I would like to say something but I am afraid Umpati Ng’o: You’re never going to get them Magic Moment 1 Utalikologa Utalinywa: If you mix it, you’ll drink it. Tueheze Zembwela (local dialect) Bonanza Nataka Kusema: Includes a song with Leo, which is ‘I want to say’ Utalikologa Utalinywa: If you mix it,…
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…
Irimbene Cultural Dancers and Self-Help Group Group
… Irimbene Cultural Dancers and Self-help Group, formed in 2000 with 21 young men, and is led by Edward Kiogura. They play in the Authi style and are from the Ameru ethnic community, from the Irimbene Village, upper Kiungone Sublocation, Abogeta West Division. The group uses Mbere (shakers) worn by Bernard Nkonge, Ginfold Mbae, Amos Munthi and Fraras Ikunda. They also use a flute, Coro, which is performed by John Mwiti….
Otieno Aloka Group
…ka is a musician best known in Kenya for his hit song ‘Kanungo Eteko’. In our session with the Ohangla group he plays the orutu, the second major instrument of Luo music. The orutu consists of a hollow wooden box that has monitor lizard skin stretched over one side. The string used to be made from fibers of the sisal plants but is now made from a variety of repurposed materials, including bicycle brake cables. When played with a bow, orutu creates…
Page
…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…
Kirundo Group
…forming with a well known drummer and teacher of music. This band has been together for 2 years. Songs: Mwaludeje – Tradition after the harvest. New composition. Mjomba – Uncle, celebrating the good hunt. New composition Uye – Come Back Please, used at a wake after someone is buried. New composition. Uringe – Be Proud. Old Traditional song Kyaso – old traditional Zanzibarian song of celebration Mnyamwana – Respect for women. New Composition. They…
Chibite Group
…he Gogo style of music which relies on the Zeze (stringed instruments made from gourds) and Ilimba (a lamellophone, or modified thumb piano). We will spend a lot of time with Chibite over the next two days and meet many different family members. For this first recording in Boma, the line-up was Ndahani Bwani, the older brother, his sister Ndekwa and two daughters Grace and Leah. They played 4 songs: Dunia Nigahira Samamba: St…
Imachina Group
…the wedding. Khuchende Pole: This song is telling everyone to walk slowly to and from the wedding so all the people can gather and honour the bride and groom. The Shishebo process – this is about rites of passage, and specifically male circumcision. The songs include: Bikubanda: This is a song that mocks other tribes and peoples that don’t carry out these rituals and ‘are afraid of the knife.’ Nuli Musata: This is a song that is encouraging the y…
Biluli Dutwa Group
…he band brought up children from the village and taught them about hoeing the soil to the song. Later we saw several videos of how this song is used in the fields to motivate farmers, who hoe to the beat. Throughout Tanzania, we saw school kids walking to/from school with their hoes, where they often tend to small plots at the school. Serengeti: We are near the national park and this is a song in celebration to Tanzanian parks and wild life. Frees…
Maisha Bora Suba Group
…Rirandi and they play the Zeze/Endongwe (a one stringed instrument similar to the Kenyan Orutu and Ugandan Rigi Rigi), Rirandi (a giant horn, similar to the Uganda Big Wala, but made with 6 gourds, not one), Ekeborogo (flute), the Ekedomwa (drums), Ama’ghorro (huge leg shakers), and Firimbi (whistle). They wore Amahunsho (grasses that are attached to the shoulders, and shake with their shoulders’ movement), Enyandusbi (beads) and the men carried O…
The Music of the Mijikenda Album
…ko Raha and 4 the Mzinga, both captured in Kibarani village, further south from Sila, and then further south again, later in the day – Supaki Kalazo and Sengenya recorded in Junda, Mombasa. We then headed to the South Coast and recorded in Vuga, Kwale County. The ZigiDigi Cultural Troupe and Muungano Kayamba providing the music. The album also includes two ‘influences’ recordings – one including Ketebul artist Winyo with Nyerere Wa Konde and his s…
The Northern Tribes of Uganda Album
…k to Kampala. One night in Kampala was 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….
Nyati Muchoya Group
From Nzali, Nyati Mchoya is from the Wagogo Tupu community and was formed in 1966 by the grandfathers of the current performers. Their instruments include: Nindo (jingles), Njuga (Shakers), Mbega (animal Skins), Muheme (drums), Kabati (kayamba-shakers), Manyanga ( Maracas), Madodolo (cow bell), and Pangwa/Kipangwa (a double headed lyre). We recorded four performances, where each of the songs is named after the musical style: Nindo: A medley of so…
Mohamed Uthman Kidumbak Group Group
…eld perpendicular to the box with a string going from the top of the stick to the top of the box. He changed notes by holding the string less or more taut as well as holding the end of the string down against the stick. Pretty amazing bass sounds came out of this. The two dancers danced with almost a belly dancing movement where they moved their hips and buttocks completely independently of the rest of their bodies. They wore a sash around their h…
Matia Kakumirizi Group
…ning sleep and about hard working women. Unlike those days when women used to wait for men to provide for everything, nowadays, they wake up early and go to work. “Olugend’olw’ebukakkata”: He went to visit a village called Bukakkata. He found a girl who was seeing two men who didn’t know each other. She was still in her parents’ home so she was not allowed to be seeing men. One day, the parents found a man peeping through the window and canned him…