Ketebul Music is the Kenyan base of the Singing Wells project. The studios are located in The GoDown Arts Centre in Nairobi and they serve as the nerve centre for the localised planning of the field trips and post production of audio and video material for the project.
Ketebul means “drum sticks”; the word is derived from the Luo language of Western Kenya. The name was a natural choice for an organization that has a vision of an African society that celebrates its cultural identity and also recognizes the special role that artistes play every day in people’s lives.
Ketebul Music was established in early 2007 with the ambitious vision to carry out research and promote the diverse fusion of traditional sounds of Kenya and East Africa through the documentation and archiving of the work of musicians who have shaped the various genres of music from the region over the past six decades. In broader terms, intensive research carried out by Ketebul Music involves the musicians themselves, their families, industry players such as producers and promoters, media personalities and the market audience.
Memorable archiving is achieved through intensive academic research reports released along with a market-friendly package from each phase of research. The package comprises of a shorter, but succinct, popular version of the academic report and is contained in an attractively designed booklet. To reinforce it is an audio CD featuring re-releases of previous recordings along with a video documentary carrying intensive interviews, analyses, stage performances and archive footage.
The global remix of the Abubilla Music song ‘Missing’ was partly recorded at the Ketebul Music studios and can be seen in the video above.
