ILAM, Repatriation and Jimmie Rodgers/Chemirocha News
…e music of Cuba, demanding that we look further into the circles travelled between musicians between the Congo and Cuba, and we listen to Samba drumming and particularly the tambourin only to be reminded of the Watmon Cultural Group’s use of the Calabash. Our heads appropriately spin and we’re happy about that. The tribal music of East Africa is forever evolving. It is wonderful that Jimmie Rogers inspired a new song and it is amazing that the Ota…
Promotion of Batwa Culture/Music: UOBDU report Nov 2013 News
…d Mperwa groups extended their sincere gratitude to Abubilla and singwells for promoting their music. While Mukingo, Gatera and Kabahenda requested UOBDU staff that were distributing these uniforms always to promote their talents such that they can benefit from them. Lastly the Kanyabukungu group appreciated all the stakeholders that were involved in this initiative especially Abubilla Music Foundation and requested for more sensitization for the…
Ketebul Music: A Year in Review News
…usic Week. This is an annual event and we are going to support each decade for each day, for our five days, for our 50 year history. This will help solve our identity crisis, to give our people a sense of history. Our partners are Hivos, Phat Magazine, Kiss 100 (every Sunday they host two artists from us and talk about the music, etc..) etc… and we will be the main stand, talking about music through a set of panels. Everyone wants to be involved….
Preserving Threatened Heritage News
…sident of Butongole village, one of the two villages which play Bigwala music, attributes the music’s decline to two main factors: western influence and the 1966 abolition of kingdoms by former president Milton Obote. But, there is hope as the National Council of Forklorists in Uganda (NACOFU) has been helping the villagers to preserve the music, by encouraging them to grow gourd trumpets, teach it to the youth and increase the profile of the musi…
Obuell-Lira and the Macedonia Band Story
…y their blood lust against the next village where 20 men were slaughtered. For three years, the ‘village band’ played for the rebels and were visited by all the leaders. They refused, however, to play rebel songs or support the rebel side. They said over and over again that the music was neutral and only had allegiance to Uganda, not to one side or the other in the war. There were many scary moments when rebels would try to force them to declare a…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…ted that music is their biggest export and so has set up the African Music Forum to make it easier for musicians to make a living – from visas and flights to financial support. It is an exciting time, and seems to chime in with what Eddie Hatitye announced for Music in Africa. Members of the Music Producers Guild led a discussion on ‘What do producers actually do?‘ – the answer seems to be ‘everything’. The role of producer has many meanings, but…
SWP Uganda 2013 – our proposed itinerary News
…tival in Addis Ababa. While chatting to Teshome, I mentioned that I was in Uganda for a recce and he was really interested in what I was doing. He invited me to join him for a meeting the following morning which he thought would be of benefit to the recce. This later turned out to be one of the best leads and contacts I got for someone knowledgeable in Ugandan tribal music……The person Teshome wanted me to meet was James Isabirye, the Selam co-ordi…
Clowns Story
…On our first recording day during the Northern Uganda Field trip 2012 we had the pleasure of working in front hundreds of children who slowly climbed a tree to watch the proceedings. They were delighted by the cameras and we had a lot of fun showing them their smiling faces. This little boy was the biggest show off….
The Birara Batwa Community Story
…he ancestors. This is Bashitsi Bahire, the welcome song which the group performed for us. This was our first experience of the traditional music of the Batwa people and we were all overwhelmed by the quality of the performance, so before leaving the Birara we invited Francis Sembagare and the three female vocalists, Jolly, Paskazia and Vastina, to join us in Kisoro so that we could record more of their songs with the Ketebul Music artist Winyo….
The Batwa Community Story
…in the forests surrounding the Virunga mountains, when everything changed for the Ugandan Bawta. Unable to live and hunt in the forest, the Batwa were forced to live in areas not suited to their traditional way of life. They became largely excluded from Ugandan society. Batwa communities suffered from poverty and exclusion and were offered little stake in the tourist industry which has developed in forests where they once lived. The plight of the…
A recording studio which fits into the back of an SUV Story
…me as we refine our methods, learn new techniques and face new challenges. For our next field recording trip to Uganda (November 2013), this is the list of everything we will be taking with us: 2 Apple MacBook Pro 2 MOTU Traveler MK3 Audio Interface 4 Headphone amps 8 Sony MDR-V600 headphones 2 Shure mics & stands 2 Rode Lavalier omni-directional mics 2 Rode NTG-1 condenser Shotgun mics 1 Matched Pair of AKG C414 XL Microphones 1 Matched Pair of R…
The Key to Sustainable Aid in Africa? Perhaps we should follow the music. News
…ities. And most leading thinkers concerned with African development, argue for efforts to maintain village life, to work with people in a village, with all the support that entails, rather than to work with folks who are already displaced, on the move, entering the big cities for the first time (see the Millennium Village Project and some recent commentary about it – and here) The village is the preferred conduit for aid and support. With good wat…
What people say about Singing Wells News
…I’m also the music editor for our films and now while searching for tracks for our Ugandan film. I’ve found your website – lots of respect for this work!” Josh Courter, Director, The Last Hunger Season “Hi Victoria, a friend, of a friend, of a friend, brought the Singing Wells project to my attention and I decided to reach out. We are producing a documentary film called The Last Hunger Season about 4 Kenyan farmers who are growing their own way ou…
The biggest smile Story
…all women dance troupe led by Evelyn Ojok. The t-shirt she is wearing reads Kikopo Pa Mon, an annual drama competition hosted by Women’s Global Empowerment Fund to address issues facing women in northern Uganda such as inequality, HIV/AIDS, gender based violence and food security. In December 2012 we recorded the group for the Singing Wells project – click here to Discover the Music. …
Group of the Month – Watmon Cultural Group News
…t group of the month is the Watmon Cultural Group. We have videos from our Uganda 2012 trip, as well as recordings made in both Naguru and at the Entebbe Airport Guesthouse, where due to the generosity and patience of the manager Jan Willem and the other guests, we set up a recording studio in the garden. You can join us on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/singingwells and on Twitter here: http://www.twitter.com/singingwells – if you do twe…
Fiona’s story Story
…A special Batwa girl called Fiona…….