Day 6: The Studio @ Traveller’s Rest Hotel, Kisoro Story
…m villages far way. We had sent two vans early in the morning to pick them up and suggested that each group bring up to 8 people to sing and dance. They each brought over 20. In two vans. Both groups were fantastic, the first was the Gatera Community: https://youtu.be/ab4ZEqPNYpE https://youtu.be/yMq_r9XSXM0 https://youtu.be/lrowXUbwTSU https://youtu.be/lu1YXMKnJts https://youtu.be/BulZceL6gXs Kabahenda Batwa Community We now think we know where…
Day 5 (much later): The Micyingo Group – guitar and bass! Story
…fe is for the Batwa today – a very hard life, but a life full of spirited song and dance… and this lady is their wonderful lead vocalist… https://youtu.be/pZzgr2PXZ3s https://youtu.be/gt4_CaZNN2c Then the guitar and bass took to the stage….if you are wondering where the bass is, the plastic bag turn out to be significant. We were bemused by this magic plastic bag, but it turns out it was covering a clay pot that supplied the song. The musician s…
Day 5 (PM): The ‘Togetherness Group’ from Kanyabukunga Story
…as a delightfully empty field. The purpose of the field is as a UN evacuation and refugee centre if there are troubles in Rwanda or the Congo. The fact that it has no tents, has no refugees, is a wonderful thing and we felt it was a great location to record Kanyabukunga Twifatanye (‘Togetherness Group”) from the village of Kanyabukunga. They are led by Gadensia Kampire. The SWP crew poses next to the road sign with the empty field behind. Soon, ho…
Day 5: Recording the Mperwa Dancers Story
…ere 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 women outside her hut! The children like to get involved in wha…
Day 4 (later): Recording for ‘Influences’ with the Birara Dancers Story
…e region. Most of the music is ‘trapped’ in remote villages – everyday in 100’s of villages across East Africa wonderful performances occur as the community celebrates, mourns and remembers through music. But few peopele are there to listen and each performance runs the risks of being forever lost. With our mobile studios, we are able to take the studio to them, working in their environment to capture as best we can the music and dance of their co…
Day 4: UOBDU and the Birara Dancers Story
…and we were told we’d need to take our equipment ‘up the hill’ another 1,500 metres to the top. It was at least 500 metre rise in elevation. We told you about ‘our gear’ but forgot to mention that it is NOT light. There were 10 of us and 7 heavy bags, plus the generator. We tried to take the equipment up but were quickly done in my altitude and the slippery red mud of the region. Several young Batwa boys came down, grabbed our equipment and ran u…
Day 3: From Nairobi to Kigali to Kisoro Story
…a 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 Rest, a hotel famed for being a meeting place for gorilla observers. They write about this on their website: “In 1955 Travellers Rest was bought by Walter Baumgartel, and quickly became a meeting place for people interested in the mountain gorilla. Amongs…
Day 1 & 2: Preparing to leave for Kisoro, Uganda Story
…on the new version of the song we originally prepared in Abubilla Music’s London Studio. Winyo then added a third verse, changing the song from a Londoner pining for Spain, to a Kenyan longing to return to Africa. The full Singing Wells team was in the studio. It is worth re-introducing everyone again, as we will be discussing them throughout the trip: From Ketebul Music Tabu Osusa, Founder Steve, Project Manger Jesse, Chief Sound Engineer Willi…
Photos from the pilot phase Story
…We promised a final set of pictures and some further reflections. And we deliver. …
Kenya (Coast): Day 4 – the road back to Nairobi Story
…nted to be a pro studio engineer. He agreed and I joined as apprentice in 2005 and I was 23. The cultural side started in 2007. We started the spot light on Kenya music and other initiatives with Ketebul Productions, the Ministry of Culture and Alliance Francaise. We picked artists from all over Kenya to create an album. This is first move to culture things. Tabu was on the committee for Spot light and he would go out to select folks for the later…
Kenya (Coast): Day 3 – our final recording day Story
…central meeting place. Throughout recording, clothes were being washed, iron and hung to dry, meetings were being held, grain sifted, chickens chased about… We felt very much in the middle of things. The corner of the ‘meeting place’, with the rich red earth gradually moving up the light blue walls By this time, we were using the back of the truck as the studio as often as we set up the tent. Folks are gathered around for the second group. Birds…
Kenya (Coast): Day 2 continued…. Story
…ikes that seemed to wait until we pressed record)… and very beautiful. As 100’s gathered to watch us, we realised all our fears were misplaced … another wonderful village of East Africa, simply loving their music. Supaki Kalazi Our first group was Supaki Kalazi led by Katana bin Kalama playing in the Mwenzele style. Wonderful dancing, costumes and percussion… Katana bin Kalama, with beautiful costume of shells… The Group prepares for their perform…
Kenya (Coast): Day 2 – recording in the village of Kibarani Story
…utine is now established. We drive into a village and meet the musicians and begin setting up. We are about 10 folks and the musicians are another 10-15. We then start the first song and by the end of the session we are generally surrounded by 50-100 kids… Behind the Scenes We have good routines now: We set up our little tent (right) We set up mic stands We set up mics and while folks are setting up, Pato interviews the group leaders That’s it. We…
Day 1: The very first field recording day for Singing Wells Story
…and has been ‘discovered’ by everyone including Chinese Emperor’s in the 1400’s. Sita is a very small village with about 200 people; we recorded in a subset of the village, where all of Bado‘s brother’s and sisters 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…
On the eve of our very first field recording trip….. Story
…most of the concert. We’ll post this later. In the meantime, a couple of pictures: Winyo warms up with the Swiss Bone Guitar The Legendary Ayub Ogado …and his legendary goatee …and his legendary Nyatiti From left to right, Joyce, Alfred and Tabu. Joyce is from the Ford Foundation and supports Ketebul. Alfred helped introduce Ketebul and Abubilla This was an evening to represent everything Ketebul is about – bringing new East African artists to th…
Nick Abonyo (the ‘clapper-man’) News
…cause it’s much simpler, clean and safe. He graduated from High School in 2006 from Mirogi Boys High School and then went to University at the MOI Southern Nyanza Campus, graduating in 2010 in Information Technology. In 2008, he moved down to Nairobi and therefore had to travel back and forth over next couple years to finish his degree in Information Technology. While in Nairobi his first job was a three month internship with AirTel. His goal was…