Christine Kamau – “The Jazzist” News
…ave checked out you project…it’s great that you are dedicated to keeping indigenous music alive..#very best wishes and I hope we can keep in touch. Christine BBC Africa Beats: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17831507 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thejazzist Reverbnation: https://www.reverbnation.com/christinekamau …
The Batwa Trail News
…striking and moving sense of the richness of this fading culture. This is truly a unique experience for visitors to learn about the traditional culture of the indigenous people. Most Batwa are unable to earn money to provide for their families, as they have no land of their own. This tour is part of the give-back program since part of the tour fee goes directly to the guides and performers, while the rest goes toward the community fund to cover sc…
Samba Mapangala & Orchestra Virunga News
…Records. We first met Samba in Kenya, on a recording trip as part of The Singing Wells project. He sang as part of a ‘Welcome’ concert put together by our friends at Ketebul, along with Winyo and Ayub Ogada. We’ll bring more news on his new album as we have it, but until then you can view his tour dates on the Abubilla Music events calendar – just click here For a profile on Samba Mapangala click here …
Day 4 (later): Recording for ‘Influences’ with the Birara Dancers Story
…at we are putting these fantastic musicians into an alien environment. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. With the Birara Dancers over the three days we worked with them it worked very well. Here they are on the first night. One thing to remember, which will become clear on subsequent videos – every time you see them singing, there is a baby on their back. 90% of the Batwa women we met had a baby on their back. They would sing and dance thr…
Gary Barlow, Ayub Ogada and our very own global song News
…different musical styles, instruments and vocalists – you could call it a truly global song. And talking of truly global songs, here’s one of our very own… The track is called 71 Hours to Monday, an original song from Abubilla Music which tells the story of a girl who hates her job and counts down the hours from Friday evening until the dreaded Monday comes round again. The global remix of the song features musicians from Sao Paulo to London to Na…
Day 4: UOBDU and the Birara Dancers Story
…m town back to her village. Yes, she walks the 46 kilometer round trip 3-4 times a week, often carrying goods to market or returning with food for the village. This was our first introduction to ‘Batwa Fitness.’ Along the way to the village we passed beautiful lakes nestled amongs the green hills – here’s one that we effectively drove completely around to get to the village. This is one of the many views of Lake Chou – 15 of our 23 kilometre drive…
Gary Barlow, Ayub Ogada & the Diamond Jubilee song News
…have added a feature about Singing Wells in their Magical Kenya March 2012 newsletter but the headline article is about Gary Barlow’s visit to Kenya to find musicians from the Commonwealth countries to perform on his song for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. We have to admit to playing a small but hopefully significant part in Gary’s search for talented Kenyan musicians. We were asked by Gary’s production team for some advice about Kenyan music and ou…
Congratulations Singing Wells! News
…mportant. I met Tabu Osusa and Bill Odidi while doing some training on audiovisual archiving in Kenya as part of a British Library World Collections Programme initiative. It was a great pleasure and it is wonderful to see these fruits of their expertise and enthusiasm. Janet Topp Fargion, Lead Curator World and Traditional Music, British Library website: http://www.bl.uk online gallery: http://sounds.bl.uk main catalogue: http://cadensa.bl.uk/cgi-…
Day 3: From Nairobi to Kigali to Kisoro Story
…isions. Kisoro: Located in the Mufumbiro Mountains which are part of the Virunga Mountain range. This range holds all the mountain gorillas and has the national parks Parc Des Volcans and Parc Des Virunga. This becomes important because so many of the Batwa songs are about the ‘Parcs.’ Kisoro is quite a small town, population 12,000. On a map we are about as far west and south in Uganda as you can go. Traveller’s Rest: We stayed at the Traveller’s…
Day 1 & 2: Preparing to leave for Kisoro, Uganda Story
…and bass player and put down great guitar and bass tracks to build on the new version of the song we originally prepared in Abubilla Music’s London Studio. Winyo then added a third verse, changing the song from a Londoner pining for Spain, to a Kenyan longing to return to Africa. The full Singing Wells team was in the studio. It is worth re-introducing everyone again, as we will be discussing them throughout the trip: From Ketebul Music Tabu Os…
Diamond Jubilee Pageant at Windsor Castle News
…Representing Kenya, the show will feature: Performers from the Masai, Samburu, Luo, Kamba and Kikuyo tribes The Nairobi Chamber Chorus considered the topmost choir in Kenya today Cultural Pavilion At the entrance to Windsor Castle there will be a Cultural Pavilion which will contain a backdrop of graphic representations of all the countries that have had a role to play in the Queen’s reign. On the Kenya stand there will be Singing Wells DVDs f…
Kenya (Coast): Day 4 – the road back to Nairobi Story
…ns there and started with music production, music software, starting with Fruity Loops. I remember the first song I was produced was a song called Msewangu, which is slang for my ‘buddy.’ During the time I was in college, I had a friend who was in a band; she knew an Indian singer who had a project with a temple. She wanted to do a fusion between Indian and Kenyan music. A common friend brought her to the studio. She liked what we were doing and s…
News from the Batwa in Kisoro News
…We received a lovely email from our friends at the Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda (UOBDU) this week. Just to re-cap, we visited Kisoro in southern Uganda in November 2011 to record the music and dance of the Batwa people….
Kenya (Coast): Day 3 – our final recording day Story
…tu.be/N14zZK0dMQA Muungano Kayamba The groups is led by Futuma Ali Mwacheruve, dancing and singing in the Kayamba style (which is also the name of the wonderful percussion). It was our first ‘harvest dance’ (Mavuno), which celebrated the harvest and the arrival of the new baby. Lots 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…
Day 1: The very first field recording day for Singing Wells Story
…lived with their families. Bado is the fourth son of Nyerere Wa Konde, who runs the Nyerere Wa Konde Music Club and is the village elder. To reach the village, you go 15 clicks and then another 2 on a dirt road. There are about 7 houses, two cows, lots of chickens, groves of pea trees and lots and lots of children. All smiling all the time. The Music Groups We arrived and set up our tent, our two tables, our recording kit and our six mics. Andy ra…
Kathy’s reflections on her Singing Wells experience News
…he groups as well as the people in the Singing Wells group. A few things struck me about the groups I interviewed. First they were for the most part not professional groups. They usually came from one village and the songs they sang came from everyday village life. Music is used as a form of communication and entertainment. The songs are used in various ceremonies such as weddings, births, funerals, harvesting and circumcision. They are also used…