Day One: The Iteso People and their Music Story
…ched to the Ageregere and played three songs: Omaune: This song is about a greedy man who eats alone and doesn’t share his food or time. Okitalee He then switched to the accordion and played three songs: Akidaun Ipejok Ore: A song welcoming visitors to the home. O’enera: Alomuni Kitsese Ko Djibouti: A song about the country you came from. Given that we are linking everything to the actual performances, the less words the better – enjoy the music a…
Day 9 – Sunday 9th July 2017 Story
…ists of two arms and a cross‐bar.” Through a group interview, we attempted to compare them in: size (size of resonator; length of arms and per extension of strings); materials of fabrication (types of wood); body parts (any specific additional parts and why); strings number; playing techniques (position of instrument; hands positioning and fingers involved in playing; plucking techniques); tuning and sound (central string, sound spectrum, twin str…
James Allen Staff Profile
…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 in International Economics from Johns Hopkins. He is a dual US-British citizen and has lived in the…
Mumias United Group
…Mumias United was founded in 1997 by Francesca Odour. They have 38 members and 22 showed up for our performance. They perform in the Imbira style. They are part of the Wanga tribe, which is a sub-group of the Lua, known for their Kings (Nabongo). We performed next to the mausoleum where four kings were buried, dating back to 1700s….
3. Background of the Naizungwe drums Story
…administrative units that culminated into the eleven chiefdoms that later united to form Busoga [kingdom]. When the central government abolished kingdoms in 1967, the bigger administrative structures were weakened. Clans remained because they represent people’s birth, life and death. The larger more political structures [ie. the eleven chiefdoms] were demonized by the central government and all meetings at that level stopped. When the top structu…
Our Sponsors Page
…Kalenjin, March 2012 Thank you to Anne for her kind and generous donation to towards our 2012 field recording visit to Kenya. Read all about it here. http://www.annewright.com/index.asp Institute of International Education Type of sponsorship: Field Recording Visit, Music of the Batwa, Uganda 2011 Through our relationship with The Ford Foundation we were able to apply for a grant from the IIE to fund our field recording visit to Kisoro in south…
Day Five: January 22, 2019 Mwanza Continued Story
…We recorded four performances: Wachumba Walya: A song about someone who is too mean-spirited to support his community even though he has lots of money, it is about a man “who eats along, without his brother’ Ntelela Engoma: A song about living with respect to traditional ways Basigazi Fura Emyende: A song about overcoming all of life’s challenges by working together Mwije Tuzane: We filmed this freestyle, where the group encourages the audience to…
Video playlists from Kenya 2018 Story
…utube.com/watch?v=Jz1eILZlyLE&list=PL6jxUA468Mq-FBWk0X39BrJvKiw8sblnH Johnston Mukabi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9XDnObrl2g&list=PL6jxUA468Mq-nstKtQ3QajcsDJmBBv3v_ Mumia United https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPi-qsvbch0&list=PL6jxUA468Mq8_Fi8QkIlmsr9KuVVQQPg2 Dot Com Isikuti https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idHJE6QL_C4&list=PL6jxUA468Mq_ilLuHcABH8vHJri1c8QCE Super Phoenix Band with Julius Itenya https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy4cBwvCpyE&li…
Albums Introduction Page
…ups 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 recordings, wherever possible. CDs may also be available in the future. Join the mailing list to find out when…
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….
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….
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…
Day Five: Ilesi, Khayega to Kisumu Story
…undu: This is about the smell of a decaying body and the song tells people to come toward the smell and honour the man. Don’t run from this, confront it and honour his memory. The Mayo Procession – this is about bullfighting. The songs include: Lukumili: This is about the moment the horns lock between the two fighting bulls and the context really begins. Ing’ombe: This is about the bulls (I can’t read my handwriting here!) Iminyi: This is a type o…
FAQ’s Page
…ording gratuity on the day of the recording. This amount varies based on a number of factors such as the number of members in the group and the number of songs we record. In the event of any music we record making money directly (through sales, sync licensing or performance royalties) we will endeavour to channel this money back to the original performers. Can I buy the music you have recorded? A selection of our music is available to download fro…
Day Three: Bungoma Town to Kakamega Story
…acoustic guitar on another version of Ndirenje. We travelled from Bungoma Town to Mumias (which was a lot longer than it should be as we travelled the wrong direction for 30 Kms, initially.) But we eventually arrived in Mumias to record Mumias United, a very large dance group. The group was founded in 1997 by Francesca Odour. They have 38 members and 22 showed up for our performance. They perform in the Imbira style. They are part of the Wanga tr…
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). …