Kathy’s reflections on her Singing Wells experience News
…y felt for them if they thought they hadn’t done something right in the performance. For instance if they started singing before the clapper board was out of the shot they had to start again. This unnerved and embarrassed them and they had to regroup before they could sing again. I felt it was important to talk to them before the performances to put them at ease, let them know what was going to happen and ask if they had any concerns or questions….
Kenya (Coast): Day 3 – our final recording day Story
…s of ‘props’ including a baby doll, hay stack and lots of bowls of water and spices. Some final shots at our last village. Enjoy…. Winyo and the kids… That’s enough for now. There’s 150 pictures more for every one we show, but the internet is too slow to keep posting Jimmy…
Kenya (Coast): Day 2 continued…. Story
…n… Katana bin Kalama, with beautiful costume of shells… The Group prepares for their performance… Sengenya The most energetic group by far, brought the house down, with wonderful dancing. Led by Munyaka Chimega, they danced in the style of Sengenya (which bears their name). Non-stop dancing, multiple songs and they didn’t want to stop (but we ran out of video!). Fantastic energetic dancers that we’ve only captured on video…. …and all the kids jo…
Day 1: The very first field recording day for Singing Wells Story
…probably two dozen little kids watching. At close of day we were invited to some coconuts to celebrate the music Winyo with Coconuts Maddo, Chairman of Ketebul during our coconut break That’s it for now. This is only Day 1 of recording… we look forward to the next two days, 6 more groups, 3 more villages and of course 600 kilometres back to Nairobi. Jimmy …
On the eve of our very first field recording trip….. Story
…ing studio to record most of the concert. We’ll post this later. In the meantime, a couple of pictures: Winyo warms up with the Swiss Bone Guitar The Legendary Ayub Ogado …and his legendary goatee …and his legendary Nyatiti From left to right, Joyce, Alfred and Tabu. Joyce is from the Ford Foundation and supports Ketebul. Alfred helped introduce Ketebul and Abubilla This was an evening to represent everything Ketebul is about – bringing new East A…
Reflections on the pilot phase by Pato News
…perform live and they did not disappoint. Later they were joined by Winyo for a performance which in simple words was icing on the cake The second group of the day was Zaire Ndidigwa led by Fundi bin Kalale. Their group had fewer members but their music was good and we enjoyed it. Just as we were winding up my friend Bado asked if he could do some of his own music. Backed by his dad and Winyo, the song they came up with was simply amazing. We wer…
Reflections on the pilot phase by Willie Bembe News
…The guys form Abubilla have just flown in and a small party is being held for them at Sippers Restaurant in Hurllingham with performances from among others Samba Mapangala, Winyo and Ayub Ogada. I say hi to Andy who is at the control desk recording the event with the new equipment. I meet Jimmy a bit later when the event is over. Gosh he’s tall….and very hands on since he was helping take down the mics. DAY 2 We gather at the studio so we can set…
Discovering music roots with SWP News
…e repeated over and over again. I have never been known to refuse an offer for good old Tusker. But I fled. Deche, don’t worry, I’ll buy you one – provided we both start at the same line! By midway through the recordings, the teams were calling me “GPS”. I love gadgetry and had carried a simple dash-mounted locator. Even with its out-dated maps, we could find a place or two (with Steve doing the searches), but off-road, the device pleaded with us…
More Ketebul voices…Steve reports from the field News
…taurant, and shared our best and worst jokes over dinner and a much waited for, cold tusker. Day 5: Recording Day 03 – Kwale Breakfast the following morning was taken leisurely. This was our last day and our set was only 15 minutes or so away, so we could afford to take it somewhat easy. After breakfast it was the same routine again: marshal up the troops to Jimmy’s room for the equipment, and load it onto the cars. We then drove out to Diani, fou…
What we learned from the pilot phase News
…that we are on to something very big here. First, there is an urgent need for what we are doing: the average age of the performers was about 60 and there were NO young adults or kids involved. This music, these traditions are dying fast. Moreover, on three different cases local young men from the villages approached us and said they also had some music for us to hear. In each case they were trying to imitate US artists from 50 Cent to Justin Timb…
More on the launch of the Ketebul Music website News
…vered a great site right on brief and within a tight budget which is a big bonus for the Singing Wells funds. Here are a few words from Wesley Burden about the challenge we gave them…… “Ketebul Music required a website design that delivered a strong sense of the colourful music of East Africa and the traditions that their non-profit organisation aims to help preserve. Using our experience from working with Abubilla Music and Sideways Recordings we…