Singing Wells discovers ‘the voice’ Story
… This is Jovah Nyiramajoro. She is the leader of the Mperwa Dancers – the music group of the small community of Mperwa Batwa living on the outskirts of Kisoro, SW Uganda. She is a beautiful woman, full of joy and passion for the traditional music of her fellow Batwa tribes people. But wait until you hear her beautiful voice – we were blown away……..
Ten More Singing Wells Stories News
…vourite bit of song or dance. Kenya In contrast to Uganda, Kenya’s musical groups are aging and dying out. But we found one extraordinary ‘boy’s group’ and their energy is seductive. They told us the full story of Male Circumcision rites, which this performance shows, here. A word about brass bands: It isn’t every day you discover a brass band in the middle of Africa, but it isn’t every day you meet Julius, an orphan determined to save orphans. Cl…
The story of Anyim Lac Story
…g platform for the younger members of the audience. We recorded four music groups that day, starting with the Rubanga Kingom Awach Boys, champions of the likembe. Two further groups, Kal Ker Kware and Waroco Tewkaro, gave us loud and very energetic performances featuring the pulsating rhythms of the bul (drums) and agwara (calabash drum) and some highly charged dancing. But sandwiched in between these two wonderful dance bands was something truly…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…Americans and millions more around the world with an interest in culture, travel and the arts), and have ensured they have visible presence in the places it matters, such as speciality retailers and record stores, all across America. 20 million CDS sold, with 70 of its collections selling more than 100,000 copies each and several surpassing 400,000 3,000 book, gift, clothing, coffee and other specialty retailers in the US and thousands more inter…
Amone Watmon Matthew Story
…n those that are not his own) the music of his heritage. We are proud to have worked with the Watmon Cultural Troupe and the resulting recordings and videos are a treat. Click here to go to the Singing Wells group page. You can view more videos from the group on YouTube (click here) where you can also make a donation to support the group through our charity, The Abubilla Music Foundation. …
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
…nd here the 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 th…
Promotion of Batwa Culture/Music: UOBDU report Nov 2013 News
…general were very happy to get such unique uniforms that would make their groups visible; in particular the Birara and 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 th…
Ketebul Music: A Year in Review News
…y dear German friend of mine. He was working in Sierra Leone and took the music from the radio station there. During the civil war the radio station as burned down. Thankfully, he had all the archives. Finally, on a personal side, I’ve travelled Doadoa Uganda, where I played the Jovah CD, and the audience cried. I travelled to Zone Franche in Marseille and MaMA in Paris France. “ Thanks for the update Tabu. Ketebul continues its amazing work to pr…
Obuell-Lira and the Macedonia Band Story
…g moment because the band was known to have played to the rebels. Again, a group of soldiers came into their village and again their mission was to kill the men and boys of the village. And again, Johsua rallied the village and started to play Uganda, Land of Freedom and again a small group of the army felt the village should be spared because they all enjoyed the music. Joshua began to say that the band was made up of people from every neighbouri…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…d into reality. The film is also punctuated by stories from members of the group about their experiences in the genocide. It was a great watch and the group would be one we’d be keen to work with if we venture to Uganda. Find out more about the film here: http://www.sweetdreamsrwanda.com/ New Friends at the festival We met a lot of new friends – as that was the point of our being there. We were spreading the word of the project and its aims and…
SWP Uganda 2013 – our proposed itinerary News
…will be spent in Nakisenyi (about 120 kms from Mbale), recording a Basoga group called Muwewesi Xylophone Group. Like their name suggests, they play the traditional xylophone or ‘Embaire’ which can be played by up to 6 people, depending on how large it is. At the end of the session, we will pack up the studio (we are very quick at doing this now!) and head off to a new location – this time the town of Jinja on the shores of Lake Victoria, close t…
The Birara Batwa Community Story
…f the Luo) but we could not forget the beautiful voices of the Batwa music groups. So we decided to invite a group to the Ketebul Music studios in Nairobi to record more Batwa songs and others for the the Influences series. Since our visit to Kisoro we have been in regular contact with the local NGO the United Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda (UOBDU). Their latest report to us included the following information about the Birara group:…
Group of the Month – Otacho Young Stars News
…e 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 invited them to record as part of the Influences series at the Ketebul studios in Nairobi. They recorded two tracks in the studio with Jessie Bukindu. We recorded 5 tracks with the group in the field – one of which was ‘Charles Manager’ sung in English -about the arrival of a new manager…
The Batwa Community Story
…ry however, the Batwa have become a displaced and largely forgotten ethnic group and their traditional culture and way of life is threatened with extinction. The Batwa community first became fragmented as other ethnic groups populated their homelands, cutting back the forest to provide land for crops and livestock. However, it was in 1991, with the creation of formal conservation areas to protect the endangered mountain gorilla population and outl…
A recording studio which fits into the back of an SUV Story
…nda!) We can also combine the two recording units into one to increase the number of inputs, while still working off battery power. The laptops use Avid ProTools recording software – an industry standard for recording and music production. The microphones we have chosen are industry standard models used in studios the world over but, most likely, not seen in the villages of East Africa. The equipment has been carefully selected so it can easily fi…