The Birara Batwa Community Story
…st. Our encounter with the Birara Dancers did not end in Kisoro. We left Uganda and headed back to Kenya for a second week of field recordings (Music of the Luo) but we could not forget the beautiful voices of the Batwa music groups. So we decided to invite a group to the Ketebul Music studios in Nairobi to record more Batwa songs and others for the the Influences series. Since our visit to Kisoro we have been in regular contact with the local NGO…
Group of the Month – Otacho Young Stars News
…named Mr Manager and available on YouTube here: You can find links to the field reports below – along with a link to the group page for the Otacho Young Stars. We’ll be posting clips and recordings of the group on the Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages over the course of the next few weeks – so keep an eye out for them!…
The Batwa Community Story
…pulated their homelands, cutting back the forest to provide land for crops and livestock. However, it was in 1991, with the creation of formal conservation areas to protect the endangered mountain gorilla population and outlawing all human activity in the forests surrounding the Virunga mountains, when everything changed for the Ugandan Bawta. Unable to live and hunt in the forest, the Batwa were forced to live in areas not suited to their traditi…
A recording studio which fits into the back of an SUV Story
…pment has been carefully selected so it can easily fit into a few holdalls and four rugged peli-cases which protect everything while in transit, whether it be on a plane from Nairobi or in the back of the van on a bumpy track to one of the remote villages we are heading for. We are adding to our equipment lists all the time as we refine our methods, learn new techniques and face new challenges. For our next field recording trip to Uganda (November…
The Key to Sustainable Aid in Africa? Perhaps we should follow the music. News
…me of the most beautiful music we’ve recorded – from the Batwa of Kisoro Uganda and to the Kel Kar Kwaro of Northern Uganda – was from extremely poor and disadvantage villages. But in both cases, the village structure was strong, the village elders were respected and the teenagers were actively involved in village life. Great music is a proxy for strong social cohesion, not necessarily affluence. One need not go farther than Kilifi Kenya, where th…
What people say about Singing Wells News
…you this morning. Your work is inspiring” Janet Topp Fargion, Lead Curator World and Traditional Music, British Library: “I was so excited to be referred to the Singing Wells Project website. I’ve shared it with a lot of people because these sorts of collaborative efforts at recording, archiving and disseminating music ethically are so important. I met Tabu Osusa and Bill Odidi while doing some training on audiovisual archiving in Kenya as part of…
The New Singing Wells website News
…and the journeys that we make – so we have split our stories into easy to read and find sections. Find them via the menu bar. Podcasts Our podcasts are now displayed with the full track lineup and listen, watch and group links where they are available. Click here to listen. Featured Content At the bottom of each post and story you’ll find a list of related posts so if you find something you are interested in then it’s easy to read more about it….
The Singing Wells supports Ketebul Music’s ‘Kenya at 50’ project News
…time – Coca Cola (featuring the Congolese musician Eduoard Masengo), Ever Ready and Aspro. Through this union, he created the All African Variety shows, which were broadcast live on radio, and later television. He also launched the career of Jean Mwenda Bosco – who toured Kenya promoting Apsro products. He was a friend of, and supporter of Ally Sykes, who was the first person to begin a Jazz Orchestra in Tanzania, and played a part in the drive f…
The Beat of Kenya News
…ned that she was planning an exhibition of traditional African musical instruments and during her research she had come across Singing Wells. We were able to provide Andrea with some information about the instruments and, importantly, some photos and videos of the instruments being played, which are from our field trip to Western Kenya in November 2011. The instruments now on display at the Manitoba Museum were donated to the museum in 2011 by a C…
A quick summary of the Singing Wells Project News
…nd has returned to host villages of peace and music. We met the Macedonia band and the leader told us a long story, which I will do no justice to in a few words. During one of the rebel movements, the rebels came to his village. The typical mode of operation on these visits was to kill the adult males, seize the boys for fighters and hurt and abuse the women. The band leader tried to convince the leaders that he was a man of peace and music and hi…
73,603 views on YouTube News
…Is second place is a video from our field visit to Kisoro in south west Uganda where we met and recorded the wonderful Batwa people. The music is performed by Kamuntu ‘Tiny’ Moses accompanied by our Influences artist Winyo. And in first place with over 21,700 views is ’71 Hours to Monday’- a global track from Abubilla Music featuring musicians from Sao Paulo, Nairobi and London which was produced to support the launch of the Singing Wells pro…
Victoria’s reflections on field trip to Northern Uganda News
…lture will flourish and thrive We travel a road under burnishing sun Green and red landscape, our journey is long Our reward is your welcome, your music, your grace Your inquisitive eyes, your sweet smiling face We travel a road to the beat of your drum The calabash crash and the steel on your thumb The bells and the strings, the whistle and holler The dance in the ring, the leader, the follower So sing us your story and dance us your life And sho…
The Influences Series from Singing Wells News
…e video of the new ‘Influences’ version, featuring musicians from Kenya, Uganda and the UK collaborating in this a unique song to celebrate and support Singing Wells. 71 Hours to Monday Our very first ‘Influences’ song was 71 Hours to Monday. An original song from Abubilla Music re-mixed to include percussion from Sau Paulo and vocals from Nairobi. (Read more about the background to this track here) For more videos from the Influences series…
The Boy with the Headphones Story
…. Gradually more members of the community began to arrive on the ‘stage’ and we were ready to start. The recording session was an extraordinary one, full of energetic dancing and wonderful, joyous singing. By the end of the session everyone was joining in with the performance. We had attracted a large audience of local people who had gathered on the hillside, including, of course, this group of three young Batwa boys who were intrigued with all…
Listen to more ‘Influences’ tracks from Singing Wells News
…ern Kenya to record Luo music. Experts on the traditional instruments the orutu and nyangile, we loved this group and invited them to record at the Ketebul Music studio a few months later. Here they are performing ‘Mr Manager’ accompanied by session musicians and also Winyo with backing vocals. (Click here for blog post) During our field visit to Northern Uganda we travelled with Akello, a singer/songwriter originally from an Acholi village near G…
Music of the Batwa: video playlist News
…ational Education….