A quick summary of the Singing Wells Project News
…our mission is to bring this music to the next generation, to inspire them to look to their heritage for inspiration before they look elsewhere. We do this with ‘Influences’ artists… Like Winyo, an unbelievable Kenyan musician that was blown away by the music of the Batwa and couldn’t help but joining Jovah in song: 5. Singing Wells is about bringing together tribal music and wonderfully talented young performers like Akello from Uganda… We brough…
Health and Safety? Story
…eam to avoid it at all costs), but after the accident we had to drive back to Soroti to get it fixed. It was there we were able to find an engineer purely through word of mouth, and had a guy weld our wheel back together on the street while we waited in the car. He was standing right next to the car’s engine, wearing flip flops and no mask during the job (as pictured). But thank goodness for him! We were back on the road in no time. Who needs heal…
73,603 views on YouTube News
…est Uganda where we met and recorded the wonderful Batwa people. The music is performed by Kamuntu ‘Tiny’ Moses accompanied by our Influences artist Winyo. And in first place with over 21,700 views is ’71 Hours to Monday’- a global track from Abubilla Music featuring musicians from Sao Paulo, Nairobi and London which was produced to support the launch of the Singing Wells project in 2011. Keep watching! …
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….
Victoria’s reflections on field trip to Northern Uganda News
…gine your world through your soulful eyes Their silence speaks volumes, a story to tell We’ll re-tell your story, we are Singing Wells We travel a road to a world far apart Your country, Uganda, it captures our heart Your eyes are a window that’s opening wide To tell us your story that’s hidden inside So sing us your story and dance us your life Share with us your memories and don’t let them die Sing us your history and dance us your life And your…
The Boy with the Headphones Story
…oys who were intrigued with all our recording equipment. Andy invited them to listen to a playback of one of the songs through his headphones and this particular boy overcame his shyness to have give it a try. We could see how hard life is for the Batwa, living on small pieces of borrowed land on the fringes of society but the performance of the Mperwa Dancers did not portray this – it was full of pride and happiness. Once again, we witnessed ho…
Man on the Pier Story
…was sitting with his bike. Jimmy asked his permission and took his photo. …
The First Singing Wells Influences Session Story
…ng team sheltered from the blazing sun, under a gazebo, hastily bought two days before in Nakumatt in Nairobi. The recording of the groups went well. After Nyerere Wa Konde Music Club, we moved the set through 90 degrees and recorded Zaire Ndindingwara. We managed to capture special performances from both groups and went on to sample their percussion. One of the members of the Nyerere Wa Konde Music club then played us some of the music he had cre…
The origins of Singing Wells Story
…rdings. In the past, one or two of them might have 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 thes…
Hannah interviews Sabina – Acet, Northern Uganda News
…, it is never for just entertainment. Our first song, ‘Welo Obino’ is sung to welcome visitors, a celebration for new comers in the village. That is why we sang it for you first. We then sang ‘Dug Gang’ which is to celebrate the end of war, to call the people over to tell them we are in peace. ‘Alocaloca’ was our final song: it is all about change. It is mainly sung to mark the end of a dispute or a war. These songs now mean more to us as the hard…
Day 10: File Management at Ketebul Studios Story
We’ve learned to leave a day for file management. As you know from previous blogs, we seem to love this topic. What does a final day involve: Steve works out all accounts Andy works out all audio, including the Ketebul recordings Pato works through all video Jimmy works through all field reports and works with Nick on final spelling Tabu has final interviews with musicians We all agree next steps in terms of updating all our trip reports We have…
Day 9 (AM): Ketebul Studio – Influences session for Cheri Story
…we worked with Mwenzele-Nyerere wa Konde Music Club on five studio songs. Today, we brought them back in to work with Stanley on his song Cheri, featuring Macadem. Here’s how the process worked today: Jaybee first worked with Stanley, Bishop and Johnnie to get the basic song structure down and put on a vocal ‘Chorus.’ Stanley wants the song to be a classic love song and the his vocals are really beautiful and sincere. We then asked Nyerere Wa Kon…
Day 8: Entebbe to Nairobi and Ketebul Studios Story
…the offending husband would kill the adulterer. Whenever the song is sung today in the villages, some audience believes the song is pointing at them, accusing them… Kirori: This is the band leader’s song and is a song in three verses about a girl he met in early days. In verse one, he tries to flatter her but she dismisses him as a little man of no consequence. In verse 2, they meet years later and our hero has a little money. He’s able to buy th…
Promotion of Batwa cultural music: UOBDU report March 2013 News
…ps. It is the same committee which usually selects the Batwa who are to perform to different occasions. All in all the staff performed to their expectations, thanks to them for their seriousness and dedication. BIRARA group This is one of the communities that is still cherishing music and dance as the Batwa culture it is still leading and very creative. The community members also share the knowledge on culture and pass on the knowledge to the youn…
Day 7 (pm): Recording at the Airport Guesthouse, Entebbe Story
…ened: the rebels arrived to his village and asked him to show them the way to town. In a way this was a blessing, because his family was saved (often, on abduction, the rest of the child’s family would be killed, so they’d feel angry, distant and unable to return home). Once they arrived at the town they wouldn’t let Odika go and it was clear he was a prisoner. He only managed to escape once the rebels believed he was one of them, and stopped watc…
Hannah interviews Evelyn Ojok – Acet, Northern Uganda News
…(our style of ‘Apiri’ in Acholi is typically only performed by the women). Today the reason there was a man playing the drums is because one of our women is sick, normally there are no men in the performance. In Gulu when I want to meet with the other women I play drums and they all come, usually in the evening. I want to push the music to it’s highest level so that we can get some sponsorship from NGOs or from the Ugandan Government. I have opene…