Day 5 (much later): The Micyingo Group – guitar and bass! Story
…te the green cable). Also, take a look at the shaker in his right hand – a tomato soup can that works as well as any we’ve seen. So, hats off to our wonderful guitarist and his fully home made guitar, with wire strings and frets. And a special thumbs up to the magic bass – a clay pot and a ‘beat boxer’ providing one of the coolest bass lines we’ve ever heard. Here they are in action… https://youtu.be/38uXVC1pEvQ https://youtu.be/-alDBT6_wJw https:…
Day 5 (PM): The ‘Togetherness Group’ from Kanyabukunga Story
…ng and we felt it was a great location to record Kanyabukunga Twifatanye (‘Togetherness Group”) from the village of Kanyabukunga. They are led by Gadensia Kampire. The SWP crew poses next to the road sign with the empty field behind. Soon, however, the area was filled with lovely children, here to watch some wonderful dancing and singing. As we unload the vans, the ‘Togetherness’ group are waiting to greet us on the ‘stage’….. The performance is f…
Day 5: Recording the Mperwa Dancers Story
….be/h_mVjup7_6s https://youtu.be/1zjh68iNClw Jessie leads the first Influences session and Winyo accompanies the lead singer and drummer on another…… …and then serenades one of the women outside her hut! The children like to get involved in what we are doing. These young boys enjoy exclusive access to the sound recording area, keeping a close eye on Andy and Willie and enjoying listening to the live performance through their headphones……
Day 4 (later): Recording for ‘Influences’ with the Birara Dancers Story
…rtists work with a sub-set of the tribe to create a new song. This is an altogether different way of recording and something very new and often scary to the tribal artists. They have to wear headphones to hear other instruments we recorded earlier. They have to sing into a mic. Often they are asked not to clap. Often they are asked not to dance while they sing. We do it to focus on sound quality, but we are fully aware that we are putting these fa…
Day 4: UOBDU and the Birara Dancers Story
…s 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 which took us around the whole lake. Our second introduction to ‘Batwa Fitness’ was on arrival at the village. The road stopped and we were told we’d need to take our equipment ‘up the hill’ another 1,500 metres to the top. It was at least 500 metre rise in elevation. We told yo…
Diamond Jubilee Pageant at Windsor Castle News
…ru, 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 freely available for guests. The DVD is from our ‘Best of Singing Wells 2011…
News from the Batwa in Kisoro News
…t from those photos. The field visits is about to end while showing the photos to all the communities who performed music. Below are there comments None of us were expecting this We are happy to see ourselves and our friends Gasoda holding the pot its real. Gasoda looks exactly the way he always appears The Batwa who went to Nairobi were happy to see themselves in photos once again. Thanks to UOBDU and Singing Wells for sending this Album to us Se…
Kenya (Coast): Day 4 – the road back to Nairobi Story
…: Yes it is relevant and it is working. We’re a good team and like working together (sometimes even without Tuskers). Ketebul knows the music, has a feel for the artists, has full access to people that know the best communities to work with. We have none of that. But we bring different musical backgrounds and that helps. TO: Yes it works. And we’ve got a lot to do to prepare for the next phase! Good team. Diverse team. But a shared passion for mus…
Kathy’s reflections on her Singing Wells experience News
…e up to early 2000’s. That was not long ago yet these tribes came and sang together. They appeared to be at peace with each other although Fifty Cows felt it would have brought up memories of past conflicts. I saw various tribes intermingle and sing spontaneously with each other after their performances. There was also conflict in 2007 in the Rift Valley, in particular in Eldoret where we spent two nights. Some of the people I spoke to felt strong…
Kenya (Coast): Day 3 – our final recording day Story
…illage. 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…
Interview with Fifty Cows – fixer for Singing Wells News
…n it, about the size of peach pit. They did not think the crack would heal together unless they took out part of the skull. Then the skin was brought back together and sewn up. He describes this as the worst pain he as ever felt, much worse than circumcision which he had as a teenager. He did not pass out though and was considered very brave. The wound was healed in four months. There was no problem with post operative infection or other complicat…
Day 1: The very first field recording day for Singing Wells Story
…o when we can, but here was the moment: Winyo, Bado and his dad performing together The Kids & Families This is our first village, but already we are astounded by the hospitality and the fun everyone is having. A taste: This hut is to the left of the hut used with group 2. By end of day there were 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…
On the eve of our very first field recording trip….. Story
…. After all, it is all about the music and the concert that Tabu organised to celebrate the best in East African Music. This was the concert (actually Tabu called it a ‘meeting’ to celebrate the partnership of Ketebul and Abubilla): Kothbiro: Ayub Ogado. This is the song everyone remembers from the Constant Gardner. Written by the legendary Ayub Ogado. He opened the ‘meeting’ and this was his final song. The instrument you hear is the nyatiti (a l…
The Kalenjin & Kenya’s elite athletes News
…mentary. She was also impressed by how well the Singing Wells group worked together, especially when it rained and we had to pack up fast! An interview with Jackie Lebo Jackie works alongside Chela at the Content House Education Trust on the documentary about Kenyan runners. Her book ‘Running’ has been published by the Kwani Trust. Jackie is currently awaiting publication in the UK. She spent six year researching and writing the book spending…
Best of Singing Wells 2011 News
…ecial – 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 on YouTube or on Soundc…
A Year in Review March 2011 – March 2012 News
…rding of Francis Sembargare with the Birara Dancers. The second shows the ‘Togetherness’ group. And the third shows Winyo and Jovah from the Mperwa Dancers singing together in one of our Influences sessions: The Luo Project, Lake Victoria, Kenya: We travelled to the Nyanza region, recording the Luo tribes, capturing the Nyatiti and Orutu in full action. Please read here for more. We also worked hard to find tribal musicians who were creati…