About Singing Wells
The Singing Wells project (SWP) is a collaboration between Abubilla Music, a record label in London and Ketebul Music in Kenya, a non-profit organisation committed to identifying, preserving and promoting the diverse music traditions of East Africa.
The project is supported by our UK charity, The Abubilla Music Foundation.
Our goal 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 musicians to make sure their music traditions continue to be practiced, can be shared amongst the widest audiences and become a source of inspiration for new musicians.
Aims of the Singing Wells Project
East Africa is a region with a diverse cultural heritage. Its borders encompass a multitude of different ethnic groups, each with their own unique traditions and histories, languages and dialects, religions and beliefs, ways of dressing, music and dance.
We believe the importance of preserving music traditions cannot be underestimated and with Singing Wells we aim to:
- Preserve the rich music heritage of East Africa
- Introduce East African tribal music to a new generation of musicians and music fans
- Offer tangible and lasting benefits to the musicians and village communities we visit
- Encourage the development of village music groups, particularly within the young community, and demonstrate that preserving cultural music heritage will help sustain a vibrant and successful community
- Forge partnerships with other NGOs and corporations to help sustain successful village communities