Day One: January 18, 2019. Assemble in Tanzania Story
…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 sing and dance as they would during a village performance, but there are constraints. Typically we want the group to be seen by our wide camera and many of the musicians have an attached microphone. Whi…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…ucive environment that would enable them to showcase their individual musical talents and unique identities. If we succeed in our efforts, we believe they will rightfully take their place on center stage. To accelerate this process music policies must be put in place for these musicians not to be simply programmed as part of a loose musical troupe, relegated to and delegated with the mundane task of playing ceremonial music to visiting tourists. E…
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…weeks of highlights and memories, East Africa is a treasure trove of musical talent, instruments and styles. The stories that we have heard, through song or interviews, have far exceeded our expectations for the project. What started as a tiny experiment into recording a few groups performing in their villages has grown into something far beyond what we imagined. What we have captured in our videos and audio recordings is extraordinary artistry a…
Day Zero: 6 March 2022 – Travel To Stream Story
…m in Western Kenya was made possible by funds from Hivos, with the additional support from the Abubilla Foundation. Travel to Stream After one week’s training and familiarization with the new software and equipment, we took the road to Western Kenya on the morning of Sunday, 6 March 2022. The Ketebul Music team met at our new offices at the GoDown Arts Centre on Kayahwe Road off Dennis Pritt by 9:00am. It took us an hour to load the van with the e…
Tarajazz Group
…oard, director), Hassan Mahenge (Saxaphone, assistant director), Mahsin Basalama (contra base), Christopher Weston (Cajon and high hat), Regina Juma (singer). There was supposed to be a violin player but unfortunately he couldn’t make it. Songs: Alamina Dura – The orbit of the Gods Pakistan – written by Siti Binti Saad who loved Pakistan when she visited Kasha – Kenyan Taarab love song. A man singing about his “chest being opened and empty” In typ…
Day Five: February 20, 2020 (DCMA) Story
…oard, director), Hassan Mahenge (Saxophone, assistant director), Mahsin Basalama (contra base), Christopher Weston (Cajon and high hat), Regina Juma (singer). There was supposed to be a violin player but unfortunately he couldn’t make it. Kirundo: Lukoa Nenes (sticks), Joshua Muyumovela ( shakers), Nyemo Mopana (guitar, kalimba (hand held thumb piano), lead singer), Heri Kombo (drums) Songs: Mwaludeja – Kirundo group started with this song the…
Day Three: February 18, 2020 (Stonetown, Mpendae, Maungani) Story
…ir own brass bands. This band has been together for 20 years. Performers: Salmin Ali Borafya (trumpet, leader), Ali Borafya (base drum), Fatihi Hassan (trombone), Ali Rajab (trombone), Ahmed Hassan (drum), Mahmud Ali (cymbal), Abdalla Iddi (tabla). Dancers/singers: Pili Idi (lead singer) Aisha Khamis, Zainab Khamisi, Aldeh Jonas, Nafla Khamis. Director: Omar Mohamed – he didn’t play in the band but directed it and spoke with us Songs: Chapapung…
Ketebul Music presents Shades of Benga Online News
…Music have just launched Episode 2 of their online series Shades of Benga Online, to go alongside their book ‘Shades of Benga: The Story of Popular Music in Kenya 1946 -2016’. You can watch the latest episode below, and also find out more at their website here. Shades of Benga: The Story of Popular Music in Kenya delves into the foundations of modern Kenyan music, examining external influences from the English waltz to Afro Cuban Rumba and how…
Meeting Ketebul: an interview with Tabu News
…g but being unique is another. We see a lot of copycats, so when someone comes along that has a genuinely unique sound that is influenced by traditional roots we get very excited. What kind of challenges do you think Singing Wells faces? One of the biggest challenges we face is that we don’t get our artists to perform enough to build their identity. We have great recording material but we don’t get these artists out into the market very well at th…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…resource for traditional music and enables it to have some sort of commercial value, though it is not for profit. It also publishes a magazine, with great articles that supplement the music recordings they have available. For example, the latest issue, Peace, features an article, Coffee, Music, and the Performance of Peace by Jeffrey A. Summit, which explores issues surrounding the music they produce, namely the album Delicious Peace: Coffee, Musi…
Archiving Guidelines News
…for new media or data formats – as in conjunction with OAIS. Chapter 7, Small Scale Approaches to Digital Storage Systems, is of particular use because it contains straightforward information for smaller would-be archives, such as those wishing to archive East African music, concerning both the digitisation of audio or the online storage of the data. It cites two viable options for open repository software, which are basically softwares that allo…
A History of Recording East African Music News
…issued, without modifications, on CD, Tracey’s Music of Africa Series Several albums can be bought on iTunes Klaus Wachsmann 1907 – 1984 Wachsmann was a German born English ethnomusicologist, who travelled in Africa in 1937 as a missionary, serving in several offices in the Office of the Protestant Missions in Uganda. He was to do unpaid work with sacred music at Namirembe and with choral school choirs, before being promoted to more senior roles a…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…visor to the Singing Wells Bill Odidi. The project is to provide an online portal for African musicians to showcase their work, and it looks great. Hopefully we can help the project and work together in some way in the future. Showcases Visited Mike and I were present at the opening concert – curated by Cerys Matthews at the fantastic Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay. The show was a showcase of traditional Welsh music including performance…
The origins of Singing Wells Story
…we have called our project ‘Singing Wells’. The inspiration for the name comes from the real-life singing wells of the Samburu tribes people. During the dry season, Samburu herdsmen (and boys) draw much needed water for their cattle from deep wells which they have dug in the parched river bed. As they pull water from these wells they begin to sing, a different song emanating from each well. The animals appear from the bush, seeming to recognize th…
The Tribal and Musical Structure of East Africa – Worldmap Research News
…his was difficult as information on the subject is fairly scarce and sometimes contradictory. However, the beauty of the map (as with search engines and online encyclopedias such as Wikipedia), it is Open Source and so people from all around the world can add information to make the map a very useful source of information. By creating the basics, as we have, the broad tribal and musical structure of East Africa is there, now we can only add to it!…
Singing Wells – Origins News
…ds.’ We have developed a three year plan to record a wide selection of important tribal musicians in East Africa. We are recording music in Northern Uganda in Autumn 2012 and then we will travel to Tanzania and Burundi in 2013, returning to Nairobi in Autumn 2013 in time for the celebrations for Kenya’s 50 years since independence. In addition to our field visits, we have developed an online Music Map of East Africa that charts the tribes of the…