Kochia Traditional Dancers Group
…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 to beseech his spirit to possess them. Some moves of the dance represent the movements of bir…
Page
…ant you to create your own artistic responses using these loops. You could use these loops to create a house track, as inspiration for a dance piece, or as the soundtrack to a painting you create. Whatever your response is, we want to see it! Click here to access the Global Influences Artist Submissions We will be sharing all of the artist submissions on this page so you can keep up to date with the incredible commissions we receive. If you want t…
Day Five: January 22, 2019 Mwanza Continued Story
…ve eight hours to Sigiir. We woke and spend 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 C…
Global Influences Project: Loop Library Page
…es – Rubanga Kingdom Awach Boys 127BPM Rubanga Kingdom Awach Boys – 127BPM The Rubanga Kingdom Awach Boys are from Awach in Northern Uganda. They formed thirty years ago and their goal is ‘Edu-Tainment’, helping African children learn key life lessons through song. You can find out more about the band here. You can watch the full visual performance of this song on our Youtube channel by clicking here. Download the loop Watmon Cultural Group – 154B…
Namaddu Troupe Group
…ularly millet, after the harvest. But the children don’t stay home and are out all the time, so they suffer from bad spiritis. They need to be home in the house for the good spirits. Gradually they return home and all is well….
Kaniini Kaseo Group
…e 16 members and were formed in 1980. They performed 3 songs, all of which use the Ileve (tin shaker, played by Mumbi Wambua) and Vilingi (whistle): Mutambo wa iiu: This means the trunk of a banana tree; it says that the trunk can’t be climbed by boys. Mutongoi: This is a song sung to a political leader in the area. The song praises the politician and asks the people to vote for him – he’s Kyonekana na nengwe. His name means, “if seen give it to h…
Twone Mbee Group
…ormed in 1994 and has 20 members. The songs ‘Asyai’: during this song they use the Ileve (tin thaker) and Vilingi (whistle). David Kithome uses shaker and Christine Kisove and Eliza Musyoka use the whistles. The song encourages parents to invest in education because that is key to success. ‘Mwaki’: This is a political phrase song praising a prospective parliamentarian. It discourages other prospective candidates from attempting the position becaus…
Kirundo Group
…his band has been together for 2 years. Songs: Mwaludeje – Tradition after the harvest. New composition. Mjomba – Uncle, celebrating the good hunt. New composition Uye – Come Back Please, used at a wake after someone is buried. New composition. Uringe – Be Proud. Old Traditional song Kyaso – old traditional Zanzibarian song of celebration Mnyamwana – Respect for women. New Composition. They sang in a combination of Hehe and Kigogo, both languages…
Day Four: January 21 2019 Mwanza Story
…m and the song asks, “So how did it end up?” Magic Moment on a song Ndono. They then did a lot of dances with ‘modern’ music on speakers. https://youtu.be/uRfFn7ZgUrU Group 2: Camera: Camera, who has been performing since 1999, is from Nzega and from the Sukuma community, playing in the Kadete style. Camera plays the Kadete (like the Zeze from earlier and Orutu from Kenya). He is an extremely cool cat, who we actually discovered walking the street…
Bigilia Group Group
…Usalu), hats (Kigarama) shakers (Mbugu), whistles (Firimbi), and ‘brooms’ (Usinga). The group leader was Asha Saidi Kazidi. The style was Unyago. Here is the group: They played 12 songs, including Magic Moments and Influences Sessions: Zakulola: You’ve come to see us play Wake Kwa Ume: Female to male Nataka kusema kasi naogopa: I would like to say something but I am afraid Umpati Ng’o: You’re never going to get them Magic Moment 1 Utalikologa Utal…
Day Zero: February 15, 2020 – Assemble in Zanzibar Story
…try of Swahili. But we had so many artists laughing with us as they told us the meanings of her songs. And with a wink and a smile, they’d all say, ‘Well this one is about a finger, or a chest, or a flower, etc… but you understand what she really meant.’ In Singing Wells, we have celebrated too few woman, who we can say defined a genre, and were at least 50 years ahead of her time. We’ve found a wonderful example with Sidi Binti Saad and wil…
Eridat Makwiri Group
…the food away from the lazy wife and the lazy wife would go complaining to the husband. The message in the song is to not wait for everything to be done for you. “Paulo Wawanyera”: This is someone’s name, meaning Paul, son of Wawanyera. Paul was a chief. He visited certain places and found they had made him party with lots of food and drink. He actually visited his brother in law who was jealous of him as a chief. So he decided to poison him. The…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…Field Notes: It was a smooth drive all the way from Kisumu to Rongo using the newly re-carpeted Katito-Kendu Bay road. We reached our destination in no time, given the vastly improved road network in the region. Along the way, we passed through Rodi Kopany, a small center with an interesting historical background. The name Rodi Kopany was derived from the words ‘Road Company’ because back in the day a campsite for the laborers building the tarmac…
Liwambwe Group
…a long drum called the Msondo, and a very long thin drum called a Neya. In the dance they had a character in a mask called a Lipiko, who wore a vest called a Mjuga. They played five songs: Malala Kujunga: Essentially means ‘be calm and quite, we are about to perform and need you to be quiet’ Nchakacha: A dance with the Lipiko (masked character) Tumpete Mwana: ‘Soothing the baby’ Apelambe: About a doctor who has all the medicines to heal, but the s…
Global Influences Project: Artist Submissions Page
…this particular arrangement. The piano and gaara add more depth to the chorus parts and pull us away from the shakers’ high pace forcing us to lay back some more. I think the end result leans more towards dodo, at least to my ears.” We love what Stefano has done to make this track sound truly his own. If you want to see more of his work, you can follow him on… Instagram: @stefanositanne Twitter: @stefanositanne Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/…
Maisha Bora Suba Group
…2012. They are from the Abhasimbete community. Their style is Rirandi and they play the Zeze/Endongwe (a one stringed instrument similar to the Kenyan Orutu and Ugandan Rigi Rigi), Rirandi (a giant horn, similar to the Uganda Big Wala, but made with 6 gourds, not one), Ekeborogo (flute), the Ekedomwa (drums), Ama’ghorro (huge leg shakers), and Firimbi (whistle). They wore Amahunsho (grasses that are attached to the shoulders, and shake with their…