Group of the Month – Watmon Cultural Group News
…s://www.facebook.com/singingwells and on Twitter here: http://www.twitter.com/singingwells – if you do tweet any links, please use the hashtags – #gotm and #singingwells We’ll update this page with any new items we add to the site over the course of the month. Check out the featured content links below to find the Watmon Cultural Group page from our Musical Map of East Africa….
The Singing Wells supports Ketebul Music’s ‘Kenya at 50’ project News
…nd Ketebul Music on his recent trip to the UK. The purpose of the trip was to research into the archives of the late Peter Colmore, which are now in the possession of the Bodelian Library in Oxford. Andy accompanied Bill to the University library at Rhodes House to help sort through the photographs and documents and take photographs for the ‘Kenya at 50 project’. Who was Peter Colmore? Peter Colmore was born in England on the 22nd November 1919. H…
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
…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…
73,603 views on YouTube News
…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 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 tra…
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
…ce us your life Your history’s a melody, you keep it alive Sing us your memories, there’s volumes to tell And we’ll capture your story, we are Singing Wells On my last day in Uganda, just before I had to leave the rest of the team and travel back to London alone, Akello recorded one of her songs with the Watmon Cultural Troupe, in the gardens of the Airport Guesthouse. It’s one of my favourites and brings back happy memories of an amazing experien…
The Influences Series from Singing Wells News
…ves of the Singing Wells project is to introduce tribal East African music to a new generation of musicians and fans who might not consider it relevant today. So, we have developed the Influences series – a fusion of traditional and contemporary styles. Each time the Singing Wells team embarks on a field recording visit we are joined by a talented musician who works with us on ‘Influences’ songs. They work with us in the field and also in the Kete…
The Boy with the Headphones Story
…Mperwa have settled on a small area of borrowed land just a few kilometres from the town. At first glance the setting appeared to be spectacular, with the lush valley and terraced hills of local farms as a backdrop and the magnificent Virunga volcanos in the distance. But we were quickly struck by the impoverishment of this small community. As we arrived, a group of women were gathered on a muddy terrace, washing their babies in a small plastic…
The First Singing Wells Influences Session Story
…the ‘Influence’ session was born. The recording is here for you to listen to, and to buy on the Mijikenda of Kenya album The father, Nyerere wa Konde was very gracious and offered us coconuts as a thanks for visiting and recording, which he, with the help of other villages prepared for us, using his knife. He was pleased and proud that we had journeyed to his village to record his music with his group. After which, the team packed up the equipmen…
The origins of Singing Wells Story
…t will soon die out, leaving videos and songs in the archives. We also had to work to make this music relevant and important to contemporary artists. A key part of a field visit, therefore, is to bring contemporary African musicians with us to perform with the tribal groups and to write new music influenced by these sessions. Winyo, a wonderful singer/songwriter with Ketebul Music, is one of our Influences artists and has been with us on three Sin…
Hannah interviews Sabina – Acet, Northern Uganda News
…serious operation 4 years ago. I can’t dig, dance or do anything physical, so I play the horn. This is a blessing and a gift from God because I could never play it before the war or before the operation, it is a gift from Him to help me heal. We also have the Rigi Rigi (tube fiddle, similar to the Orutu) the Bul (drums) and the Agwara (similar to a calabash) but mainly, as you saw, we sing and we dance. Hannah December 2012…
Returning to Uganda in Autumn 2013 Story
…ical 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 this? 2. The Collective Voices: We will never forget Jovah and Winyo, singing with the Mperwa Dancers in Kisoro. 3. The Exotic Instruments: You’ve heard the Likembe, but what about the…
‘Missing’ – Singing Wells fundraising song for 2013 News
…March 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….
Day 10: File Management at Ketebul Studios Story
…’ of all and then work with Camera 2 to keep a log of all songs/takes and times. This also requires us to keep all watches and computers/cameras on same time. Agree to do an audio mix in the field and bounce immediately for videos. The ‘field’ audio becomes the input recording for videos (they need to be topped and tailed but no other editing) – we then will go back and do more detailed mixes on audio that we want to include in DVD’s and CD’s. Thi…
Meet our ‘Influences’ artists News
…ng to Winyo an almost heavenly experience. Winyo is also a professional photographer, actor and a TV producer. He is currently the executive video producer for a Kenyan media company called Big Foot productions, which has produced several local TV shows. His goal is to take African music all over the world and enliven people to dance and sing to the sweet and melodic sounds of African songs and music. Winyo’s debut album ‘Benga Blues’ has recently…