Day 5: Recording the Mperwa Dancers Story
…tators from every generation take a seat for the performance… Here are the videos: https://youtu.be/zFjbdw9j1io https://youtu.be/W_VV8xEYziM https://youtu.be/t8Ui32w_NbI https://youtu.be/QHo5Eb2Az20 https://youtu.be/wxzzC5qcweU https://youtu.be/mhzNpJLsZFA https://youtu.be/h_mVjup7_6s https://youtu.be/1zjh68iNClw Jessie leads the first Influences session and Winyo accompanies the lead singer and drummer on another…… …and then serenades one of the…
Samba Mapangala & Orchestra Virunga News
…nth, in support of Samba’s new album Maisha Ni Matamu (Life Is Sweet) on Virunga Records. We first met Samba in Kenya, on a recording trip as part of The Singing Wells project. He sang as part of a ‘Welcome’ concert put together by our friends at Ketebul, along with Winyo and Ayub Ogada. We’ll bring more news on his new album as we have it, but until then you can view his tour dates on the Abubilla Music events calendar – just click here For a pro…
Day 4 (later): Recording for ‘Influences’ with the Birara Dancers Story
…cary to the tribal artists. They have to wear headphones to hear other instruments we recorded earlier. They have to sing into a mic. Often they are asked not to clap. Often they are asked not to dance while they sing. We do it to focus on sound quality, but we are fully aware that we are putting these fantastic musicians into an alien environment. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. With the Birara Dancers over the three days we worked with…
Gary Barlow, Ayub Ogada and our very own global song News
…different musical styles, instruments and vocalists – you could call it a truly global song. And talking of truly global songs, here’s one of our very own… The track is called 71 Hours to Monday, an original song from Abubilla Music which tells the story of a girl who hates her job and counts down the hours from Friday evening until the dreaded Monday comes round again. The global remix of the song features musicians from Sao Paulo to London to Na…
Gary Barlow, Ayub Ogada & the Diamond Jubilee song News
…have added a feature about Singing Wells in their Magical Kenya March 2012 newsletter but the headline article is about Gary Barlow’s visit to Kenya to find musicians from the Commonwealth countries to perform on his song for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. We have to admit to playing a small but hopefully significant part in Gary’s search for talented Kenyan musicians. We were asked by Gary’s production team for some advice about Kenyan music and ou…
Day 3: From Nairobi to Kigali to Kisoro Story
…isions. Kisoro: Located in the Mufumbiro Mountains which are part of the Virunga Mountain range. This range holds all the mountain gorillas and has the national parks Parc Des Volcans and Parc Des Virunga. This becomes important because so many of the Batwa songs are about the ‘Parcs.’ Kisoro is quite a small town, population 12,000. On a map we are about as far west and south in Uganda as you can go. Traveller’s Rest: We stayed at the Traveller’s…
Day 1 & 2: Preparing to leave for Kisoro, Uganda Story
…lot and Lake Turkana Cultural Festival was that we had under-estimated the video requirements for a shoot. In this round of fund raising, we purchased additional video recording equipment for the Singing Wells Project (SW3) and also brought Abubilla Music’s own video kit (AM2. For the record, AM1, is a similar remote recording kit). Mic Stands/Tripod. We have a big rolling bag for all mic stands, computer shades and microphones. This also carries…
Kenya (Coast): Day 4 – the road back to Nairobi Story
…certain sounds so that we can really capture individual vocalists and instruments. We did an amazing job of archiving the full performance, in video and audio way. Going forward, we should work to use our second studio to capture individual sounds. On the video side, we need a main crew focused on the performance and a secondary crew focused on Selling Wells, archiving the stories of the music and the artists. TO: The pilot was a success and prov…
Diamond Jubilee Pageant at Windsor Castle News
…om the Masai, Samburu, Luo, Kamba and Kikuyo tribes The Nairobi Chamber Chorus considered the topmost choir in Kenya today Cultural Pavilion At the entrance to Windsor Castle there will be a Cultural Pavilion which will contain a backdrop of graphic representations of all the countries that have had a role to play in the Queen’s reign. On the Kenya stand there will be Singing Wells DVDs freely available for guests. The DVD is from our ‘Best of…
News from the Batwa in Kisoro News
…We received a lovely email from our friends at the Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda (UOBDU) this week. Just to re-cap, we visited Kisoro in southern Uganda in November 2011 to record the music and dance of the Batwa people….
Kenya (Coast): Day 2 continued…. Story
…… Sengenya The most energetic group by far, brought the house down, with wonderful dancing. Led by Munyaka Chimega, they danced in the style of Sengenya (which bears their name). Non-stop dancing, multiple songs and they didn’t want to stop (but we ran out of video!). Fantastic energetic dancers that we’ve only captured on video…. …and all the kids joined in… https://youtu.be/m0eG1EcIpNM The kids By now you know, we are surrounded by the child…
Kathy’s reflections on her Singing Wells experience News
…he groups as well as the people in the Singing Wells group. A few things struck me about the groups I interviewed. First they were for the most part not professional groups. They usually came from one village and the songs they sang came from everyday village life. Music is used as a form of communication and entertainment. The songs are used in various ceremonies such as weddings, births, funerals, harvesting and circumcision. They are also used…
Day 1: The very first field recording day for Singing Wells Story
…lived with their families. Bado is the fourth son of Nyerere Wa Konde, who runs the Nyerere Wa Konde Music Club and is the village elder. To reach the village, you go 15 clicks and then another 2 on a dirt road. There are about 7 houses, two cows, lots of chickens, groves of pea trees and lots and lots of children. All smiling all the time. The Music Groups We arrived and set up our tent, our two tables, our recording kit and our six mics. Andy ra…
On the eve of our very first field recording trip….. Story
…nal song. The instrument you hear is the nyatiti (a lyre-like stringed instrument) which he played. Marina, Samba Mapangala: This is the song that Samba opened his piece with. He followed Ayub Ogado who played percussion throughout. There was a lot of dancing, including a drop by from Maddo: Winyo: He’s the current new star from the Ketebul stable. He sang back up for Samba and when he came on he said he was humbled by the extraordinary talent in…
Interview with Fifty Cows – fixer for Singing Wells News
…Merekwet and the Pokot. Today he still goes to a yearly peace negotiation run by the Tegla Lorupe Foundation. Tegla Lorupe is a marathon runner and has won the London Marathon. She uses sport to woo the warriors away from fighting. She encourages using their strength and endurance in sport and not in violence. He stayed at the Seminary for four years but eventually decided this was not the way to bring peace. Even though he is a Christian he did…
Music of the Mijikenda: video playlist News
…In March 2011, the Singing Wells team travelled to the coastal region of Kenya for their very first field recording trip. The team recorded music from various groups representing the Mijikenda tribes. Video Playlist The trip was facilitated by the generous support of donors to our charity the Abubilla Music Foundation. …