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
…Winyo: He’s the current new star from the Ketebul stable. He sang back up for Samba and when he came on he said he was humbled by the extraordinary talent in the room. 50 years of East African music, the hand-off of one generation to the next. Massive respect for each others talent and an amazing evening that only Tabu could pull off. Amazing voice: We recorded video and used the mobile recording studio to record most of the concert. We’ll post t…
The Kalenjin & Kenya’s elite athletes News
…ories. She was also surprised how far some of the musicians had come to perform. She was talking to some of the singers and, for example, the young woman in Ben Kisinja’s group came from Kitale, about an hour’s drive away. She was happy to see that people of all ages were committed to this tribal music. She’s interested in using some of this tribal music in her documentary. She was also impressed by how well the Singing Wells group worked together…
Best of Singing Wells 2011 News
…ance was unique and special – we loved them all – so picking just 10 songs for a ‘Best of’ album was not easy. Here are our final choices….it’s just a small reflection of what was an extraordinary year of recording music in East Africa. We hope you enjoy listening. Please get in touch and let us know what you think. Just send us an email – we’d love to hear from you. Email Victoria You can see and hear more on our YouTube channel : Singing Wells o…
A Year in Review March 2011 – March 2012 News
…tance of capturing the cultural legacy of East Africa with tribal music, before it was lost to all of us forever. We were reminded of the importance of this in December, when one of the most extraordinary musicians we’ve recorded, Okumu K’Orengo, died only weeks after our visit. Ironically, his last recording with us was a funeral song that our team at Ketebul Music felt was the best version they’d ever heard sung. Here it is: But, this journe…
A message from Henry Neza at UOBDU News
…ide their community when they visited the Ketebul Music studios in Nairobi for more recordings. During this trip they were able to interact with the Ford Foundation and benefit from new clothes and shoes, which improved their social status among the dominant tribes here. This gave them confidence and changed their behaviour. Now the non Batwa community agree that the Batwa can compete with others in many different fields if they are given the chan…
Music of the Luo: video playlist News
…In December 2011, the Singing Wells team travelled to western Kenya on the shores of Lake Victoria to record the music of the Luo tribes. To read the daily field reports from this trip, click here . Video Playlist The trip was facilitated by the generous support of donors to our charity the Abubilla Music Foundation. …
Recording the Luo: photos & music News
…Music and photos from the Singing Wells field recording trip to Western Kenya, recording the music of the Luo tribes. …
May 2011 – Jimmy reports back on the pilot phase News
…e entertained by traditional troupes – who shall be reasonably remunerated for their efforts (and not depend on handouts from politicians who use them to spread their own skewed policies or lack of them in the music industry).” To achieve this mission, we are committed to six specific objectives: Record village music in the villages, ensuring that the groups are able to perform as a whole, in their local environment, supported by their families an…
Discovering music roots with SWP News
…e entertained by traditional troupes – who shall be reasonably remunerated for their efforts (and not depend on handouts from politicians who use them to spread their own skewed policies or lack of them in the music industry). It would be with absolute satisfaction to watch these groups outside their tourist hotel runs as occurs with the groups we covered in the pilot phase of the Singing Wells Project at the Kenyan coast. So, when Abubilla Music…
More Ketebul voices…Steve reports from the field News
…The cold tusker s we picked in Voi also helped to while away the hours. Unfortunately for The Leader and The Guide, he was the designated driver, and could only enjoy the sight and sounds of us downing the tuskers. We finally made it to Mombasa a little after 7pm and it was unanimously decided we proceed straight to Malindi, our third and final leg of the trip. Tabu in car number 01 had the pedal to the metal and was almost 45 minutes ahead of us…
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…
Ketebul Music website launched News
…nd 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 tribal music with the best of contemporary artists. And through Bandcamp, listen to or download the inspirational music of K…