The Influences Series from Singing Wells News
…ch 2013 saw the release of an original track from Abubilla Music, re-mixed for the Influences series. The song is called (The only thing that’s) Missing and it was first recorded for the Abubilla Music album Misery Marmalade and other Spanish Jams. Here is the video of the new ‘Influences’ version, featuring musicians from Kenya, Uganda and the UK collaborating in this a unique song to celebrate and support Singing Wells. 71 Hours to Monday Ou…
The origins of Singing Wells Story
…been invited to a local town for a simple recording. Singing Wells allows for the whole group to perform, singing and dancing in front of ten microphones and three digital cameras.’ Video engineer, Patrick Ondiek, adds, ‘I love producing the final videos and getting phone calls from my friends asking me ‘how did you find these musicians?’ I feel like I’m on the cutting edge of music, bringing these talented musicians to my Nairobi friends.’ In ad…
Returning to Uganda in Autumn 2013 Story
…instruments The extraordinary dance, youth and energy The inspiration A performance or two for each of these… 1. The Individual Voices: Who can forget Francis, the lead of the Batwa musical community, singing with Jessie in the grounds of our hotel. Everyone stopped to listen and it remains one of our most inspiring tracks… Or the leader singer of the Rubanga Kingom Awach boys of Northern Uganda, Wokorach Walter. Have you ever heard anything like…
Meet our ‘Influences’ artists News
…alley). Akello Akello Jackie is a young Ugandan singer who writes and performs both African contemporary and urban music in languages like Acholi (her mother tongue), luganda, abit of Kiswahili and English, among other languages. Akello started her musical journey as a young girl in her junior school leading in school musicals. Later on at 13 years she began participating in church, where she sang during conferences, believers’ gatherings and co…
Akello sings ‘Influences’ songs for Singing Wells News
…erformed with the Watmon Cultural Troupe Akello Biography Akello is an African contemporary and urban music performer who sings in most popular languages like Acholi, Luganda, Swahili and English..After years of working with a few of Uganda’s leading contemporary and world music greats such as Kaweesa, Susan Kerunen, Myko Ouma, Tshila and Kinobe Herbert..she is indeed a rare talent with a rich textured organic voice. Akello begins a new journe…
Promotion of Batwa cultural music: UOBDU report March 2013 News
…l Music Since April 2012, UOBDU started implementing a project responsible for promotion of Batwa cultural heritage, supporting the performance of music and drama to local audience and to allow UOBDU to monitor and update the performance of the groups visited by The Abubilla Music Foundation. During the visit the members met six Batwa dancing groups from different communities which includes among others Birara, Mperwa, Kanyabukungu. Mikingo, Gater…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Kampala (a driving story) Story
…rd. Jimmy and Pato have had this happen too often. Always set up the truck for Vicki before you arrange seating for children. This is a new practice. We’ve found that setting up camera 3 on top of one of our vans gives us a very good new ‘context’ perspective. Equally, it involves solving a rather elaborate puzzle of guiding a truck through a maze of equipment and children, while ensuring it doesn’t end up in ‘the shot.’ Assume two trucks with 11…
An Evening with Mserego Mwatela Group News
…They shouldn’t be jealous or worried – he remains part of the village, but others need to hear his music. It is now almost midnight and we’ve recorded some fantastic music. The hotel restaurants are closed again, so we will be taking this group out for some food and then open up the studio tomorrow for the last day of this trip. We have asked the leader and his grandson back tomorrow for more discussions given they represent exactly what Singing…
How music archives can help communities News
…at beside kings’. Chris Kidd is now working as a Project Officer in Uganda for the Forest Peoples Programme. View of Virunga Volcanoes where Batwa once lived Another inspirational example of how properly archived recordings can help communities comes from the work of Samuel Kahunde, a Ugandan student whose doctoral thesis centred on issues of preservation and musical change. Kahunde accessed the recordings of Klaus Wachsmann which had been made in…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Obuell-Lira to Soroti 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 the music was neutral and only had alligience to Uganda not to one side or the other in the war. There were lots of scary moments when rebels would try to force them to declare alli…
Northern Uganda: Day 5 – from Pakwach to Soroti (a road trip) Story
…as a chicken to sell you and the poor creature is swung around by its feet for hours and days before being sold. Every ninth person is selling nuts or grasshoppers from a bucket or woven basket. Every seventh person is selling fruit of some type from a woven basket,. Every fifth person is sitting next to a blanket that is laid out to display their wares. You get a lot of blankets with eggs, but sometimes sunglasses, nails, electic sockets, rusty t…
Northern Uganda: Day 4 – night recording at Fort Murchison Story
…em to play the song just with their part find it all a bit strange. So too for African village groups. They don’t go into studios and ‘lay down their track’ in some great over-dubbing session. They perform with a troupe, and they feed off of and help drive the dancing and the other instruments. The song Apako Oranga had an amazing Ndara riff and we wanted to capture it on its own. But the subsequent magic moment session lacked something – our frie…
ATTA is following Singing Wells News
…ons and companies in the travel and tourism industry operating in the East African counties we are visiting during our field recording trips. I met Nigel Vere Nicoll, Chief Executive of the African Travel & Tourism Association and explained a little about Singing Wells and our aims to record and celebrate the cultural music heritage of East Africa. It seems Nigel liked what I told him! Operations Manager Lina Vaiksnoriene has been in touch and ATT…
Northern Uganda: Day 4 – Pakwach to Widiang’a, Nebbi Story
…Omiya Charles playing Mbeta. We loved these musicians the fun of the traditional dances. You got mad at the stubborn girl, you got scared when the hunter returned and you celebrated for the new chief. On the way to Fort Murchison where we were staying, we saw some spectacular stormy scenes as we crossed the River Nile:…
Northern Uganda: Day 3 – from Gulu to Awach to Pakwach Story
…outu.be/eH1v-kwvvaQ Their third song was Songa Mbele, a song about ‘moving forward’ symbolized by all the performers swaying their heads back and forth. https://youtu.be/_ViFUMIwN4k?list=PL6jxUA468Mq-LufC_AhbsGyC-pvBWlmTe They did a final song called Kanyaga Mbele. https://youtu.be/zyeH-PvP7-E We loved this group and they rank in our Top 10 so far for Singing Wells. We loved them so much we recorded a ‘magic moment’ with them and also an Influence…
Northern Uganda: Day 2 – from Gulu to Acet Story
…i style. The group is led by Evelyn Ojok and was formed in 1981, disbanded for the war and reformed in 1999. The leader summons the band to practice by playing drums… They are all female dancers, with whistles and Gara (ankle shakers). They played all four of their songs one after another without a break: Oluma Lareku (a war dance celebrating the tribal chief), Talebero Koda Akoda, Odokomi Dek Owic, Lar Wodo Dwok Cen. Here’s a selection: Ribbe Ber…