Day Two: 8 March 2022 (Ilesi) Story
…ding, and just as the previous evening’s session, it started to rain. Luckily we were partially indoors so we did not get too wet. After about an hour the skies cleared and we were able to resume the recording session. However it took a bit of time for the group to get some of their traditional instruments, including the adeu deu, in tune in with the guitars that were to back them up. One of the band members played the harmonica but it was only in…
Day Zero: February 15, 2020 – Assemble in Zanzibar Story
…le (but Swahili) lead female vocal. We also heard the Sanduku, essentially a bass guitar, but actually a single string connect between a pole and a big wooden box which gives the instruments its bass and resonance. A final note before we begin, about the team. We have been helped immeasurably by the Dhow Countries Musical Academy – they helped us find the groups, hosted many of our recording sessions and provided many musicians. They are k…
Global Influences Project: Artist Submissions Page
…making them a perfect fit. My initial intention was for the song to be solely an instrumental, but it felt a bit empty, so I decided to add my vocals to it. It turned out great!!” If you want to hear more of Ashisho’s music, you can follow his facebook page here:www.facebook.com/ashisho254 Or follow him on Instagram & Twitter: @Ashishomusic SOFIA GRANT X WATMON CULTURAL GROUP Our first submission for the #GlobalInfluencesProject comes from the bri…
The Singing Wells podcast #5 Podcast
…Edition 5 of the Singing Wells podcast is here – with a bit of a catch up on the latest news from the past 12 months of the Singing Wells project. Click here to download Podcast 5…
We assemble in Kisumu Story
…d Dance Anthropology from the University of Paris X Nanterre and is currently finalising her PhD in Anthropology (ABD) at the same university. She was recently appointed Head Choreographer for Bomas of Kenya, a national dance troupe tasked with the mission to preserve, promote and showcase Kenyan traditional music and dance worldwide. She has been a scientific advisor with Ketebul Music since 2015 and worked on Ngoma Zetu (2016). This is her secon…
Day Three: Bungoma Town to Kakamega Story
…r 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 tribe, which is a sub-group of the Lua, known for their Kings (Nabongo). We performed next to the mausoleum where…
Day 3: Monday, 2017 February 20th Story
…y only agreed to teach him if Leo promised not to pursue music professionally. It was Leo’s mom that finally intervened to support Leo’s musical ambitions, when Leo turned 20, noting that she had married a musician and loved a musician’s life. Leo calls his style “Swahili Blues” which was inspired mostly by his dad’s music, the music of Salim Abdalah (a great Tanzania guitarist) and his Mzee Morris’s drums. Ketebul Music first met Leo in Nairobi a…
Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…t normal. He plays his drums like a guitar. You have to listen very carefully to realize not only is he keeping the beat, but he’s also carrying a melody. And he uses 10-12 drums, sometimes more. This is not normal. Every drum was a note for him. He picked the skins for the drums and made them himself, finding in each the perfect tone. I have studied his music over years and I still can’t believe what he could do.” In Dar es Salaam we talked to Da…
Our journey to the Royal Drums: in the words of James Isabirye Story
…ary of that conversation, roughly in James’ own words. I use the term roughly for two reasons: 1) These are African roads and James was highly distracted by his own driving during our interview, dodging vans, cows and potholes. 2) I was trying to take notes in a car that seemed to be driving as fast and far left to right on the road as forward. Between interviewee fighting to keep us alive, and interviewer fighting to stay in the car, we’re lucky…
Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…e field where the boys were being prepared for the dance. It was sufficiently hot that the local village kindly set up two tents for us to cover the audio and video engineers. This was most welcome, but our recordings were enhanced once or twice by a gust of wind taking our tents off to strange lands. Nick’s band notes flew as well, and were chased by the village children. One particularly important set of notes was found about half a mile away. B…
Central Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Budaka Story
…comes possessed and rolls around a lot or stabs their spears pretty violently. The lyrics of the song advice the children to be home in the house, with their families, to bring the good spirits. Gradually they return home and all is well. The Namaddu Dance: this is simply a wild dance that half resembled a football match. Lots of romancing, fighting, prancing and general throw-abouts. Lots of fun. James Isabirye said of this group, “This is group…
Ten More Singing Wells Stories News
…can happen when you start bringing these musicians to the studio. If you only have a minute (and by this time you’re probably out of minutes) skip to the middle of these songs to see interesting things start happening: 71 Hours to Monday A silly little song that gets hi-jacked in the third verse and taken lord knows where… Missing A song about Spain that switches to Africa and ends with the Batwa song lamenting the loss of their homelands… That’s…
James Isabirye and Tabu Osusa Discuss East African Music News
…eak not the politicians. And our audiences love it. They learn what it really means to be Ugandan. Tabu: Yes. We talk with one voice. People from the government always want to help me. I tell them simply: the best way to help me is to stay out of my way. Let the musicians talk to their audiences. Let them play. We don’t need a big government program on culture, we need to give the artist the stage and a microphone and an audience. Let people redis…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…ews herself, The Welsh Ballet and The Treorchy Male voice choir. I heard a bit of a day showcase from the Emily Portman trio on the daycase stage at the Motorpoint arena. Louise joined our trade fair neighbours from New Zealand at the Daycase stage to hear a showcase of Maori music. We also managed to pop down to see two performances on the Friday night – again at the Wales Millennium Centre and in a tent erected outside. In the Weston Studio we s…
NME News
…It’s always nice to find your videos featured elsewhere, so when we found quite a few of our Singing Wells videos featured on NME we thought it was pretty cool. Although the content is generated by YouTube, it is always great to have a little bit more publicity for our cause! …
The Key to Sustainable Aid in Africa? Perhaps we should follow the music. News
…st five years has only re-enforced our commitment. On our first goal, we only have to remember that we were probably the last folks to record Okumu K’Orengo, one of the great Nyatiti players, before he died. On our second goal, we only have to remember Francis and Jessie playing together in Kisoro. And as we plan for our next trip to Kampala this Autumn, we can’t wait to publish new songs, new dances and new stories from East African music. But, w…