Day Three: Bungoma Town to Kakamega Story
…hn helped fund a second CD and from that they had a big song in Kisumu, Chapailale. This was 2011. They recording the song in Soundcheck in Kisumu and had a big local hit. This made them stars and allowed each band member to buy their own home. Wilbert said at this point they were too big for the small bars and were invited everywhere to preform. They brought in other musicians to form a much bigger band. They then produced their third CD in 2013,…
Day One: January 18, 2019. Assemble in Tanzania Story
…p musical styles and background, instruments and songs. In almost every village, we struggle with spellings of songs and instruments as these can differ by village and by band. We fully recognize that there are multiple spellings out there, but we defer to the band leader in almost all cases. During a recording session, we will also capture alternative takes; these are called: ‘Freestyle’: We work hard to give our groups the space and freedom to s…
Day 2 – Sunday 2nd July 2017 Story
…We started day two with a visit to Meshack at his late father’s home in Umala village, Alego constituency (Siaya County). His setting up for playing brought about a discussion and interesting notes on the accompanying “equipment” traditionally used when playing the nyatiti. These include: badiz (a piece of cloth tied to the player’s ankle as background for bells); gara (series of bells; should be a minimum of 8 in a string) and oduong (a foot ring…
Andy Patterson Staff Profile
…eld. He also works on the post production back in the UK and is responsible for the Singing Wells podcasts. For more information, please check out Andy’s site at: http://www.andypatterson.co.uk or follow him on Twitter – @aandypatterson…
Kochia Traditional Dancers Group
…nied by drumming, and the Tung’, the Luo horn. You can contact the Kagan Kochia group for bookings on +254 700 600881 Sources: www.hivisasa.com www.allafrica.com Homa Bay, Kenya Leader: William Odero Ondiek…
The Revival of the Entongooli Page
…of the Entongooli, and didn’t teach all the skills he needed to learn to play. In fact, none of the great players passed on this knowledge to the next generation and there is no living player of the Entongooli in this region today. Instead, he has worked to learn and teach as much as he can in the hope he can start a new generation of skilled players and builders of the Entongooli. Finding the Materials Finding the correct materials is half of th…
Watmon Cultural Group Group
…in Kipgum district, Awedi village in the north of Uganda. He was fond of playing music as he grew up, playing the nanga (a harp) in the field as he tended the family cattle or worked on the farm. He lived in Awedi until 1991, when he moved to Kampala, due to the rebel fighting. He started a small group of dancers, performing Acholi traditional dance which he had learnt when he was young, both from grandfather in his village and from watching danc…
Here for Research? Page
…on about the group, videos from our visit, recording information and any related content we have about them on the site. Group Map The groups we have met, presented on a map so you can see each region that the group is from. A brilliant resource and great for comparing musical styles amongst groups that are local to each other. “Our goal is to record, archive and share the traditional music of East Africa for two important reasons – to sustain and…
Day One: 7 March 2022 (Shikangania and Mukumu) Story
…stom, we dutifully went to commiserate with the family of the bereaved. We paid our last respects to the unknown dead in the sealed coffin and donated some money to the family to assist with the burial activities on the following day. Seeing that we had appeased the spirit of their departed, the mourners quieted down and allowed us to continue with the recording successfully, ending shortly after 9:00pm. After a night photo session – thanks to our…
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….
Contact Page
…sing, publicity, volunteering or anything else, please contact Victoria Denison Email Victoria: victoria@abubillamusic.com Our business addresses Abubilla Music Wey Court West Union Road, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7PT (A Limited Liability Partnership. Registered no: OC354221) www.abubillamusic.com Abubilla Music Foundation Valiant House 12, Knoll Rise Orpington, Kent BR6 0PG (Registered charity no:1142173) www.abubillamusicfoundation.org.uk Ketebul Musi…
FAQ’s Page
…rs. Can I buy the music you have recorded? A selection of our music is available to download from our site. We have one album of music from each trip, and we hope to curate albums of particular styles and instruments soon. To browse our albums, head over here. Where does the money to support Singing Wells come from? We invite financial contributions from private donors and corporate sponsors and seek grants from NGOs. Donations and grants are admi…
Day Five: January 22, 2019 Mwanza Continued Story
…onderful outfit. We recorded six performances: Omusingero: A song about playing the drums and dancing Nchuma: A song about traditional music that the elders love to play Mrondogomo: A wedding song Kidedeya: A send off song, a marriage song Kidedeya: Freestyle Magic Moment: Omusingero again https://youtu.be/AtwkoD3sDFo From recording we then drove eight hours to Sigiir. We woke and spend January 23rd driving onward to the New Dodoma Hotel. That…
Our Sponsors Page
…rest homes in order to create a National Park to protect the mountain gorilla population in the area. We would like to thank the IIE for their generous support of the project which has resulted in a wonderful catalogue of Batwa songs and dance traditions. We continue to support the Batwa communities we visited through our strong relationship with the United Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda (UOBDU). http://www.iie.org Soundcloud Type…
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…s Cookies help to let us see (via Google Analytics) how many people have visited the site and what content is popular, and what isn’t. This is anonymous, so be rest assured that we’re not snooping on your browsing. You can opt out of Google Analytics (with certain browsers) – info on which you can find here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout There is also the chance that other services on our site – such as embedded videos from YouTube, may…
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…try and musicianship, reflecting years of training and practice in the ‘village classroom.’. Each of these musicians has learnt from the traditions and stories that have gone before them., often starting their own training as toddlers dancing and singing along to the village music. Whether young or old, keeping to the rules or creating new fusions, what is a common thread tying all of these experiences together is the longing to remain true to the…