Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 3 – Nkubu to Mariene to Murungurune to Nkubu Story
…lected to go through the rite of passage – the full ritual is a major milestone for a boy on his journey to manhood. He enters the ritual a boy and exits a young man. Typically the boys are all from a single village – in Steve’s case, they were all his cousins. They are then taken to another location in a hut built specifically for the ritual. There they are isolated for seven days before the circumcision itself. The boys are then led by 3-4 men,…
Naizungwe Drums News
…James Isabirye about an exciting new project he was hoping to undertake – the revival of the naizungwe drums of the Basoga people in Uganda. James led our revival of the entenga royal drums of the Buganda kingdom starting in 2015 and contacted Singing Wells with the hope that we would support him with funding for his new project. We are excited to announce that we have agreed to support James in his endeavours and will be posting about the projec…
Interview: fusion band Ndoto Afrika News
…and listen to stories. So we will have to transmit these stories to their iPhones and iPads in the form of music, the universal language. Where are you from? From Kenya, in the East of Africa. To be more specific, we hail from a small village in Siaya County where most of the renowned Luo musicians come from. Ever heard of Otieno Aloka (the famous Ohangla artist)? He is our next door neighbour back at the village. We borrow each other’s salt from…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…dle players and 2 thumb pianos. They also have the traditional Ugandan Xylophone. All instrumentalists also sing and are supported by three ladies who sing and dance. The three core members are: Walusimbi Nsibambi Haruna: He the Founding Director of Nile Beat Artists. Walusimbi was once the Global Youth Earth Day Ambassador for Africa after winning the Global Youth Earth Day Ambassadors Competition in Marikina-Philipines. Nabayaza Sumaya Baiga: Sh…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…e, it was close to dead, but a Unesco project has helped to draw attention to the group by pointing out the instruments and its players are threatened with extinction. He also says there is a horn shortage because people don’t grow the right kind of gourds in the right shape – so he has a standing order throughout the area to buy any gourd that can be shaped into the horns (he is also trying to start a gourd revolution so people start using them a…
Before They Pass Away News
…behind. From London to Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro to Cape Town, people flock to the cities and leave behind their cultural traditions. But in some pockets of the world, there are still tribes that have preserved centuries-old traditions. Singing Wells records, archives and shares some of this cultural heritage that is at risk of fading out – East Africa’s music. Not only do we want to sustain the musical heritage of East Africa, we want to promote i…
Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…– they bring the percussion directly on to the instrument. This makes the tone so rich and it is far richer than the skin sound of a drum. The drum sound of the slab, with the hole underneath is actually unique in the world of percussion. They are not limited to 22, because there is no royal role. Anything between 21 and 23 is fine. If they could extend it, they would. The limit is the deeper you go, you can no longer tune the slab. It stops goin…
Happy new year from Singing Wells News
…enya’s music heritage after 50 years and celebrated magic moments – where we’ve found an extra-special artist on our journeys and recorded their work. 7. We spoke to a young Kenyan about the future of traditional music During our outings in Nairobi, we’ve gotten into the habit of chatting to young urban Nairobians about their opinion of traditional music. So, yes, we spend a lot of time speaking to complete strangers. We had a particularly compell…
Central Uganda: Day 0 – Nairobi/London to Entebbe Story
…aught up in a UN group that passed very slowly through customs. We made it to the hotel at around 1630. It was great to see our old friends at the hotel. We had a quick dinner and a few free drinks (we had charmed some flight attendants on the plane to contribute to Singing Wells with a few whiskeys). Most of us then went to bed for the night, deciding to have one final evening free of our London friends. Patrick, however, woke up in time to be a…
Discussions on music and culture with a young Kenyan News
…ple about their music interests, whether the idea of Singing Wells appeals to them and what more we can do to ensure this musical culture is not lost. On a visit to iHub this week – a communal working space for tach-savvy Nairobi entrepreneurs – I got chatting to Edwin Maganjo about the Singing Wells Project. Edwin has lived in Nairobi most of his life and is an entrepreneur currently building a blogging platform. What kind of music do you like? I…
Singing Wells is on Bozza! News
…is available to emerging and established artists from around the continent and can be easily accessed by visiting www.bozza.mobi from mobile phones and PCs.” Thabiso Mohare, Head of Brand & Marketing…
Ten More Singing Wells Stories News
…we loved about Uganda is all the great the instrument bands, from the Xylophone, to the Likembe, to the Adungu to the Calabash. When you hear these bands live you are awash in sound as 5-10 instruments, sized for multiple octaves, overwhelm you. So here are a few of our favourites: The Xylophone: One of the Royal Instruments. Here is a whole village dedicated to the music and dance of their instrument The Adungu: One of the most beautiful Ugandan…
Hitching a ride Story
Nick took this picture on our journey from Kisoro to the Birara community while we were in south west Uganda documenting and recording the music of the Batwa. It’s about 35kms by road, most of which is uphill, following the winding road through the stunning, lush countryside. This guy was lucky enough to have a bike and took advantage of the passing lorry. Most people seemed to be on foot and many of the Batwa make the arduous journey to town th…
Current Leading Figures News
…promoting patriotism, love, hard work, name it. Music for instance speaks to the heart of the person..goes beyond the ears and brain as you might know, science has proved this already. Now, we have a festival annually that singly gives joy to the people in the villages but nobody around here would see value of entertainment in the villages, to the people. Why would anyone conceive support to a cultural project in the face of poor roads, HIV & AID…
A History of Recording East African Music News
…from the Christian missionaries, who forbade the playing of the mbira, due to the pagan themes of ancestor worship and the insurrectional ideas gleaned from spirits that featured heavily in the songs. However, Tracey was able to see past the prejudice and ignorance. He was fascinated by the songs, which were sung by the Shona farmers, with whom he and his brother worked alongside on the tobacco fields. He was said to have been ‘bitten’ by Africa;…
Singing Wells in Numbers…. News
…Andy did a litte homework for this one: Number of recordings of groups: 374 (this does not include other recordings like Magic Moments, Influences, etc…) Number of groups recorded: 83 Number of hours of music: 27 hours and 30 minutes. …