Singing Wells in Numbers…. News
…Andy did a litte homework for this one: Number of recordings of groups: 374 (this does not include other recordings like Magic Moments, Influences, etc…) Number of groups recorded: 83 Number of hours of music: 27 hours and 30 minutes. …
ILAM, Repatriation and Jimmie Rodgers/Chemirocha News
…hings: All music is inspired by all music: everyday in Singing Wells, we have to remind ourselves that as we record traditional music, we are listening to music that reflects dozens of influences on village life, from rites of passage that trace back 100’s of years, to record albums accidentally left behind by passers through. That doesn’t ‘dilute’ the music, it makes it abundantly more rich and interesting. We live in a world of musical circles….
James Isabirye and Tabu Osusa Discuss East African Music News
…ome from school. She used to ask me how my English lessons were. I would have to say, ‘Hello. Thank you. Please’ and she didn’t understand a word but she would be so proud and tell the village that I was learning English. That was so important to her. I was praised for aspiring to be an English man, not a Ugandan. She only wanted what is best for me, but this is part of a larger problem we have today. I’ve taught for 20 years now and my concern is…
Ketebul Music: A Year in Review News
…ork with us. We are launching the CD at Kenya 50 in December and we also have video as well. Music without visual doesn’t have the impact we need. Each of us has our favorite song from this. Mr Lenny and Makadem did a song called Harambee, done originally by Daudi Kabaka. The kings of the Baganda performed Kabakawhich we love. We also worked with different producers from different production houses so we brought in all styles. We will release the…
Preserving Threatened Heritage News
…sic heritage of the region and to help make this legacy relevant and fresh to today’s audiences.” And it is always great to hear of stories where others are attempting to do the same, especially in countries so close to our heart, such as Uganda. An article on the website of the Ugandan daily newspaper, New Vision, warns about the need to preserve ‘Bigwala’, the royal music of the Busoga region. Bigwala music is performed at ceremonies such as cor…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…d the result on YouTube – something I am keen to try in the future. The Evolving Markets discussion looked at both the African and Indian markets and how the markets are evolving. India was a particular suprise here – in a population of 1.2 billion, 50 % are under 30 and consuming music. In Africa – 60% have electricity whereas 86% have a mobile phone. This is again another area in which the Singing Wells project may be interested in the future…
SWP Uganda 2013 – our proposed itinerary News
…ch is led by a frail but jovial old man called Lugolole. He is the only surviving member of the original Bigwara Group which featured the ‘Olwendo’, a trumpet made from a hollowed gourd. Lugolole still plays but nowadays with the sons and grandson of his old band members, as well as anyone else who is keen to play. From Nabirere it’s a short drive to Bukona to meet Siraji Kirimungo, a talented vocalist from Bukona village whom Steve and Tabu heard…
Group of the Month – Otacho Young Stars News
…infall of the past hour, in the face from the roof of the tent…. We then moved from our original recording location to the DRC – not the Democratic Republic of Congo, but Dinky’s Resort Club, down the road in Rongo. We set up the recording gear at the back of what looked like an old dance hall – the grass at the rear of the hall forming a natural arena for our groups – one of which was the Otacho Young Stars. We later met the group again, when we…
A recording studio which fits into the back of an SUV Story
…rofessional boom pole 1 K&M telescopic mic stand/boom 1 Canon EOS 7D 1 Canon EOS 60D 1 Canon EOS 5D 1 LED video camera lights 1 Flip HD video camera ThinkTank sun screens (for the laptops) Various Canon zoom and fixed lenses Plus at least 9 Sandisk memory cards and 15 portable back-up drives and a lot of leads and cables!…
The Key to Sustainable Aid in Africa? Perhaps we should follow the music. News
…sic heritage of the region and to help make this legacy relevant and fresh to today’s audiences. The last five years has only re-enforced our commitment. On our first goal, we only have to remember that we were probably the last folks to record Okumu K’Orengo, one of the great Nyatiti players, before he died. On our second goal, we only have to remember Francis and Jessie playing together in Kisoro. And as we plan for our next trip to Kampala this…
The New Singing Wells website News
…have recorded being played. Responsiveness We recognise that a lot of our visitors may be viewing the device on iPads, iPhones, tablets, netbooks, Samsung phones etc, so a lot of work has gone into making our site accessible on these devices. Albums We have now curated 4 albums, representing the music from 4 of our field trips to East Africa. We’ll be updating this as we curate more albums. You can listen to each of the albums in full and then pu…
Group of the Month – Watmon Cultural Group News
…st Africa. Our first 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/singingwe…
The Beat of Kenya News
…toba Museum Andrea Dyck received her Master’s Degree in History from the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba, where her research focused on immigration and ethno-religious history. Andrea is responsible for research, collections, and exhibit development related to newcomers to Manitoba from the post-World War II period to the present. In particular, her interests are focused on the relationship that forms between immigrants and t…
A quick summary of the Singing Wells Project News
…er led the village men in a rendition of Uganda Land of Freedom. They went to village after village and everyone could play the song and everyone was a member of the band. The band leader had learned after the slaughter of the village next door two years before and has spent the months in between teaching all the surrounding villages one song and helping them build and learn to play the Likembe. He is credited with saving thousands. That’s the pow…
73,603 views on YouTube News
…nds of East Africa to an enthusiastic audience. Thanks for watching! Our top 3 video hits In third place, this is the Nyerere Wa Konde Music Club from Sita Village, Gede in Kenya’s Malindi District. It was the very first video we uploaded to YouTube following our field visit to the Coast Region to record the music of the Mijikenda tribes. Is second place is a video from our field visit to Kisoro in south west Uganda where we met and recorded…
A new type of city Story
…n the distance. Despite this unconventional type of city,I loved it. There was certainly a lot going on and during the week Akello told us many stories of the vibrant buzz in Kampala. Every night there’s music to listen to somewhere in the packed hub of 180,000 people . The image above of the tin houses and the Uganda House of Commons in the background was one of the first pictures I took on the trip….