Guy Morley – No Nation News
…Guy Morley is music programmer for the Big Chill festival – one of the highlights of the UK’s cultural calendar, and is the founder of No Nation, an independent arts programming, production and promotion company. No Nation has developed links across East Africa and has recently worked on a project for Sound and Music looking at the influence of early American country music in Africa. …
AMF receive grant to fund Batwa recordings News
…rall aim of the Singing Wells project is to identify, record, preserve and promote the cultural music heritage of East Africa. In taking the project to Uganda to document and record the traditional music and dance of the Batwa, we can help to stem the tide which is threatening to obscure the music traditions of this ethnic group. The SWP will ensure that the unique sights and sounds of the Batwa are fully and professionally documented, preserved f…
Recording music & dance of the Batwa News
…rall aim of the Singing Wells project is to identify, record, preserve and promote the cultural music heritage of East Africa. In taking the project to Uganda to document and record the traditional music and dance of the Batwa, we can help to stem the tide which is threatening to obscure the music traditions of this ethnic group. The SWP will ensure that the unique sights and sounds of the Batwa are fully and professionally documented, preserved f…
Paul Kelemba – Chairman of Ketebul Music News
…Ketebul Music is continuing its documentation and archiving of East African music genres, both past and contemporary. We are now in a strong partnership with The Singing Wells Project (SWP) whose goals are similar to ours in the preservation of the region’s music heritage. …
May 2011 – Jimmy reports back on the pilot phase News
…ber Full Launch: Goal to design and build video recording equipment, train new sound and video engineers, complete the recording of 24-32 village groups and 4-5 new ‘Influences’ sessions. Phase Five: January-March 2012: Goal to complete an addition 3 CD’s, 3 DVD’s and a fuller archive of audio-video recordings and produce 5 ‘Influences’ songs. At the end of Phase Five, we will have developed two full on the ground audio-visual mobile recording u…
Lake Turkana Cultural Festival 2011 News
…approve a grant to cover the costs of travelling to the Festival with the new mobile recording equipment. The main purpose for the Festival, which is hosted by the German Embassy in Nairobi and the National Museums of Kenya, is to ‘overcome tribalism in the region and to promote peace and reconciliation among the local communities around Lake Turkana by giving them an opportunity for cross-cultural cooperation and exchange, both in the preparatio…
Reflections on the pilot phase by Pato News
…much older guy. I had met Andy before. Back to my first encounter with my new love. I had read about her on the internet and I met her before through a friend but he never introduced me to her but he gave me her name [CANON 5D CAMERA] Jimmy kept a close eye on her and he asked me to stop drooling all over the place because she belonged to him and only him. The second car was delivered and Maddo, chairman for Ketebul Music would be the pilot for…
Reflections on the pilot phase by Willie Bembe News
…. 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 of on the road trip to Malindi The tall guy jokes on Jimmy start. He is a little taken a back. He comes back full swing with jokes of he’s own and I say “Good One”. In The Car To Malindi Jimmy…
Discovering music roots with SWP News
…ce at this stage of the project is that the Ketebul team laid its hands on new equipment that they were eager to be exposed to. I’ll take a back seat here (I come from the days of Cool Edit and I’m still firmly embedded there). The boys were thrilled by the simple yet effective outdoor recording suite, the software – Pro Tools 9 – the Mac Book and all that sound capture gadgetry (listed elsewhere). On our first day of recording, Bado – son and bac…
More Ketebul voices…Steve reports from the field News
…we finally left to go home. Jimmy made a point to check with me whether I knew when we were to depart from Nairobi according to my itinerary. Yes, Jimmy can be a funny guy. Day 2: The Road Trip to Malindi On the day of departure, I made a point to make it to the studio way before 9am to avoid the embarrassment of the previous day. Everybody finally checked in and the equipment and luggage was loaded into the two vehicles. Both cars were fuelled…
What we learned from the pilot phase News
…mporary artists into the villages and working on ‘fusion’, the blending of new music with musical traditions. Winyo performed in three villages and in each one the local groups worked with him effortlessly turning the resulting songs into something very special. And the highlight was when Winyo, Bado and his father took a Bado composition (yes, sounding like any American group) and turned it into something truly amazing by combining the best of ol…
Meet the team from Ketebul Music News
…s’ project’. Winyo will lead ‘Influences’ This is an extraordinary team, with huge passion for Singing Wells. Our goal is not simply to ‘archive’ the traditional music of East Africa – it is about making it relevant to new generations and contemporary music. This is the right team to make it happen. Jimmy…
Testing the mobile recording equipment News
…eekend, they recorded Samba percussion on the streets of Sao Paulo for the new, global version of the Abubilla Music song, 71 Hours to Monday. Check out Jimmy’s blog on their progress: Quick report from Sao Paulo Next stop, Kenya. In March, Jimmy and Andy are taking the recording equipment to Nairobi, teaming up with Ketebul Music to fully test everything in the field in advance of the village tour in November. Tabu Osusa is putting together the i…
More on the launch of the Ketebul Music website News
…little note about our web design partners at Nebulo Strata who created the new Ketebul Music site for us. They’ve delivered 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-profi…
Ketebul Music website launched News
…te our first objective and we are delighted to report on the launch of the new Ketebul Music website. When Abubilla Music and Ketebul Music first came together we decided the most pressing need was for a dynamic website which would show the work of the Ketebul artists in their full glory and we think we’ve succeeded in our goal. Take a good look around the site to see how Ketebul Music is working to combine the traditional sounds of East African t…
SWP Launch Day News
Today is launch day – the day we go live with the brand new Singing Wells website. And it’s a very exciting prospect, as the project starts in earnest from here. It’s particularly appropriate that we should launch today, as this week Kenya celebrates the 47th anniversary of independence, which was granted on 12th December 1963. And yesterday, I was very honoured to be a guest at a reception for Kenya National Day hosted by the High Commissioner i…