Day Five: January 22, 2019 Mwanza Continued Story
…January 23rd driving onward to the New Dodoma Hotel. That evening we had a private meeting with Dr. Harrison G. Mwakyembe (MP), Minister, Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, The United Republic of Tanzania. Dr. Harrison G. Mwakyembe (MP) We also met with Mizengo Kayanza Peter Pinda. He was the Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania, from 2008-2015. He is now a Patron of the Cultural Yamnyausi Foundation. That evening …
Kochia Traditional Dancers Group
…es to entertaining guests at countless national celebrations and holidays, private events, as well as internationally as part of the Folklife Festival in the UK and in the USA at the Smithsonian Folk Festival. As well as this they are determined with their performance to preserve the incredible Ramogi dancing, a mainstay of traditional Luo culture. Ramogi was the patriarch of the Luo people, and this centuries-old dance is performed by mature men…
Fadhilee Itulya Staff Profile
…o teach kids music at the neighbouring Soweto slums. He continued offering private guitar lessons even after joining the University of Nairobi, where he is studying International Relations and Diplomacy. His first break in professional music was at the 2008 edition of Spotlight on Kenyan Music, where he represented Nairobi with his song ‘Jawabu’, which features on the compilation album. Other than the guitar he also plays the drums and the chivoti…
Day One: The Iteso People and their Music Story
…o teach kids music at the neighbouring Soweto slums. He continued offering private guitar lessons even after joining the University of Nairobi, where he is studying International Relations and Diplomacy. His first break in professional music was at the 2008 edition of Spotlight on Kenyan Music, where he represented Nairobi with his song ‘Jawabu’, which features on the compilation album. Other than the guitar he also plays the drums and the chivoti…
Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…mainly in Eastern Uganda and in Western Kenya. The Iteso of Kenya are about 500,000, the majority of whom live in Busia County. Their music varies from traditional drums to string ensembles of impressive complexity and we were lucky to both witness and document this variety. The first location of recording was Atapara village of Ong’ariama sub-location within Amongura location of Teso sub-county. Here we visited OMONG’OLUK TRADITIONAL DANCERS foun…
Days 10 to 12 – Monday 10th July to Wednesday 12th July 2017 Story
…l Matara and of Meshack Okoth Okumu; done at Ketebul Studio, GoDown Arts Centre (Nairobi). Day 12 – Wednesday July 12th 2017 (as per team’s report): Recording of a nyatiti class for children, held by Rapasa at a private residence in Karen (Nairobi); including short interviews with 4 students and with the school director, who talked of the importance of including traditional instruments into the curriculum….
Arrival to Rwanda, Background and Objectives Story
…isits and after, recording, filing, creating the videos, writing the blogs. But, we each view this has the greatest privilege of our lives because at the end of the day, we are enjoying the world’s most beautiful private concerts. Our artists and their songs are incredible and the world must know them. In the meantime, we will enjoy our private moments on the world’s greatest stage… Now, let’s enjoy the music……
Here for the Music? Page
…credible team also find moments to take some beautiful photography of our surroundings. Head here to see some images of our time on the field, the people we meet and the stunning scenery. YouTube You can find the full collection of our video recordings on our Youtube channel. With over 500+ videos for you to choose from, delve into the world of East African music and dance with us. “We set out on this mission not to become ‘fossil collectors’… W…
Page
…es to entertaining guests at countless national celebrations and holidays, private events, as well as internationally as part of the Folklife Festival in the UK and in the USA at the Smithsonian Folk Festival. As well as this they are determined with their performance to preserve the incredible Ramogi dancing, a mainstay of traditional Luo culture. Ramogi was the patriarch of the Luo people, and this centuries-old dance is performed by mature men…
FAQ’s Page
…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 administered by The Abubilla Music Foundation. Donors may support specific parts of the project – a particular field visit perhaps. For example, in 2011 we received a grant from the Institute of International Education to record the music of the Batwa in Uganda. Click here to find out…
Day 2: Sunday, 2017 February 19th Story
…her. The women invited Sophie into one of the huts to watch their dance in private. In Uganda and Kenya we have a lot of recordings of rites of passage, mostly around male and female circumcision rituals – happily the songs survive but not the rituals in the places we visited! But we have far less on the theme of ‘women for women’ songs of instruction, or the rites of passages of women preparing for adulthood. We encountered these in three separat…
Recce to Tanzania for our 2020 Field Visit News
…elping us with the information and contacts from their database. Getting a private crash course on the ganun from ganun virtuoso and teacher Rajab. In a few previous instances, the importance of Singing Wells is emphasised when someone we record passes on some time after we record them. We were reminded even more of the importance of Singing Wells when we received the news of the death of a musician who we were set to meet that afternoon, Taarab S…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 1 – Nairobi to Kiongwe to Muranga Story
…ls. The market itself was nestled below a lovely hill of green, which stood 500 meters above us, stuck into the blue skies. We were here to record 4 separate women groups of the Kamba ethnic community, from the same villiage of Kiongwe, each of which would do 3-4 performances. Most of the groups performed with a Ileve (tin shaker) and Vilingi (tin whistle). The final group also introduced us to the Kilumi (drums). The Music Groups Twone Mbee The g…
Happy new year from Singing Wells News
…the Singing Wells project overall. Here’s Tabu’s interview. 6. We surpassed 500,000 YouTube hits! In September 2015 we were delighted to see we had surpassed 500,000 hits on the Singing Wells YouTube channel. Our channel features videos from our trips across Kenya and Uganda, including visiting the tribes of the Kenyan Coast, Central and Eastern Uganda, our work to share the music of the Batwa community and the Luo community. We’ve told the story…
Singing Wells surpasses 500,000 YouTube hits! News
…ra-special artist on our journeys and recorded their work. To celebrate our 500,000th YouTube hit, we’ve put together a selection of our most popular videos. We hope you enjoy, and please keep visiting our channel and sharing the traditional music of East Africa with the world. Recording Nyerere Wa Konde Music Club perform in Gede, Kilifi, Kenya on our Singing Wells Pilot trip in 2011. A brief collage of the story of the recording of the music of…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…its 2700 field recordings and approximately 6300 commercial recordings, or 30000 hours of recorded material. Marilyn Graf, the archivist of ATM, says ‘We receive queries on a very regular basis from individuals and institutions worldwide. Orders for copies of recordings are also quite frequent’, demonstrating how their IUCAT system – which lets researchers know about their holdings – is having a positive impact on access. However, it is of course…