The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…Bulawayo, who worked as a senior manager at Kenya Meat Commission, and the Russia-educated Jose Kokeyo, who was a District Officer. The seventies were the era in which Oluoch Kanindo, a former technician with the Kenya News Agency and the Voice of Kenya (KBC) grew into a massive music production guru whose dominance and supreme authority over Benga generated many controversies. One of the first big benga bands of that decade, Victoria Kings, was K…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11: Ketebul Studios, Nairobi Story
…nal Luo music. Nelly worked with his Congolese mentor for a while before joining The Ogara Boys Band in 1962. The Ogara Boys Band also consisted of founding members John Ogara Odondi and Aketch Oyosi. Together the trio started and developed a unique sound that got the name Benga, in 1963. In 1966, Nelly left Ogara Boys Band to pursue his career elsewhere. He briefly collaborated with another Benga legend, George Ramogi. He has a very intricate way…
Naizungwe Drums News
…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 project’s development, which has been under way for a month now. We will be documenting the progress of these drums with pictures and videos here, and more details about the p…
Entenga: Performing twice for the king of Buganda News
We have received wonderful news from Singing Wells partner Prof. James Isabirye that he and the rest of the Entenga players performed for the second time at the coronation anniversary of King Ronald Mutebi. https://youtu.be/HgKF14j5LrM We were first introduced to the Entenga drums in 2015 and have since been supporting James in an initiative to revive the drums and teach younger musicians how to play them (read the field reports here or watch o…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 2 – Muranga to Kangema to Nkubu Story
…e group is led by Jacinta Njoki Mwangi and formed in 2006. The group plays in thee Gitiro style – the dance performed by women during ruracio, a dowry payment occasion. Gitiro: led by Jacinta Njoki. Ndumo (ya iritu): led by Jacinta and Mary Njoki. Kibuthi: led by Jacinta Njoki. Kangema Mwomboko Dancers The group is led by Maina Kirhoro. From the Kikuyu ethnic community. They are from Kiangunyi Village, Muguru Sub-location, Kangema District. The gr…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 1 – Nairobi to Kiongwe to Muranga Story
…(drums). The Music Groups Twone Mbee The group is led by Christine Kisove, using the Itheke dance styles (Mwen-yenyo, Mutundo). The group is part of the Kamba ethnic community (Ukama wa Kitui), from the village of Kiongwe, Ngungi Sub-Location, Thua Location, Nzambani District. They performed three songs: Asyai: they use the Ileve (Tin Shaker) and Vilingi (Whistle). David Kithome performed with the shaker and Christine Kisove and Eliza Musyoka play…
Central Uganda: Day 7 – A Magic Day in Entebbe Story
…p with the idea of doing a combined lullaby involving each of the singers, using a traditional song from their village. James directed the group through rehearsals and Maita played guitar to three separate lullabies: from Jovah, from Passy and from James. We did one with guitar and one version without. Here’s the Lullaby Song: I Hear the Sound: Jacinta had written song inspired from her time with us about hearing the sounds of African music. Last…
A Tanzanian Effort to Salvage the Music of the Past News
A few years ago we learned about a group in Tanzania who, like Singing Wells, is working to preserve traditional music, but for them the act of preservation is quite literal – the Tanzania Heritage Project is scrambling to digitise reams of reel-to-reel tape recorded between the 1960s and 1980s, which has been literally rotting for decades in the moulding archives of the Tanzanian Broadcasting Corporation. Some has already deteriorated to the poi…
Central Uganda: Day 6: Kampala to Entebbe Story
…song. Mulirwana: it means neighbor and the song is about people who don’t trust their neighbors and they believe that anyone that doesn’t trust their neighbors is a witch. Ssewaswa: This is about twins Wasswa and Kato and praising twins. Anamwinganga: This was apiece composed by his father in 1945 and recorded in the 1960’s. It talks about who will attack the king. He has all the security and people are there to protect him so he should be safe. N…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…ighted to find a English football match on the TV (Arsenal vs. Southampton). And we were greeted by Air Conditioning which is most welcome by those of us from the North but feared and mistrusted by those of us from Nairobi. We look forward to recording tomorrow in Kampala. Apparently there is a marathon. We shall provide the soundtrack….
Interview: fusion band Ndoto Afrika News
…tional and modern sounds to create a unique blend of catchy fusion music (trust me, you will be humming their Window Shopping tune all day). We interviewed them to find out more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeRj9BrTT20 Hi Holly. Tell us about yourself and Ndoto Afrika – what’s your story? They say stories live forever and one famous Kenyan writer keeps saying that a story is good, until another is told. We are here to share with the world how…
Discussions with Peter Cooke: ethnomusicologist and Ugandan music expert News
…c. Excitingly, we also learned that Peter knew Musisi, one of the last remaining entenga players from the Buganda Palace, whom we met during our last trip in December 2015. Musisi is now working with James at Kyambogo to implement our entenga restoration scheme to preserve and promote this traditional instrument for future generations. Students practice entenga drum-chime at Kyambogo in 1968 (Musisi is furthest from the camera) Peter’s research in…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…hen of one of our cottage rooms and have the groups either perform on our dining patio or our porch. We had three groups today and the drivers were sent out to round them up from the surrounding areas. The Bigwala Cultural Group One of this group’s primary purposes is to restore the Bigwala, the big Ugandan trumpet, to Ugandan musical culture. According to our local musical expert, James Isabirye, it was close to dead, but a Unesco project has hel…
Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…to keep the food away from the lazy wife and the lazy wife would go complaining to the husband. The message in the song is to not wait for everything to be done for you. Paolo Wawanyera: This is someone’s name, meaning Paul, son of Wawanyera. Paul was a chief. He visited certain places and found they had made him party with lots of food and drink. He actually visited his brother in law who was jealous of him as a chief. So he decided to poison hi…
Before They Pass Away News
…camera at these people, Nelson had to get to know them and to gain their trust. When he met the Chukchi people, the elders told him: “You cannot photograph us. You have to wait, you have to wait until you get to know us, you have to wait until you understand us.” Jimmy managed to gain this trust, spending weeks or months immersing himself in the tribe’s way of life. In Papua New Guinea, for example, Jimmy met with the Kalam tribe who decorate the…
Happy new year from Singing Wells News
…ingdom. 2. We met Musisi and heard his story Musisi is one of the last remaining drummers of the Buganda Kingdom in Uganda. He performed for the King during his time at the Buganda Palace before fleeing in fear when the government arrived to shut the palace down. Here’s is Musisi’s incredible story. 3. We checked in on the preservation of the Bigwala trumpets The Bigwala is a trumpet-style instrument made from gourds. Singing Wells has been suppor…