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…
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
…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…
A message from Henry Neza at UOBDU News
…ging and recognition. Through the generation of money by the Abubilla team for the performance of their cultural dance, the Batwa managed to aquire things like goats, clothes, seeds, utensils, bedding and tarpaulins to cover their leaking houses…… Eating good food among the Batwa families was also another priority for them. After the Singing Wells visit to Kisoro there was an opportunity for some of the Batwa to experience life outside their commu…
Recording music & dance of the Batwa News
…The trail will provide an income for Batwa and it is the first initiative to afford them a stake in the conservation and management of the National Park which was once their home. The Batwa love to sing and dance, and often do so spontaneously. The Batwa in these photos are from the Nyakabande region near Kisoro, Uganda. The photos were taken in July, 2011 by Dina Buck for the United Organsation for Batwa Development in Uganda. Ration…
Lake Turkana Cultural Festival 2011 News
…traditional costumes, arts and crafts, dances and music to each other and to visitors. Combined with the stunning geographical characteristics and the very limited general knowledge on the Lake Turkana region, the presentation of the cultural traditions makes the Festival a unique and fascinating experience for everyone involved.’ Steve’s objective is to record the music of all 10 performing groups. All the material will be taken back to the Kete…
Reflections on the pilot phase by Pato News
…rful and beautiful costumes and looked happy dancing to their lovely music together with the men in unity. They were later joined by Winyo and they performed a song together which moved me though I did not understand the words. The last group of the tour was called Mungano kayamba and what was interesting with this group was the props they had on set, I must say I was a little scared because the tribe from this area are the Digo’s and it is allege…
Reflections on the pilot phase by Willie Bembe News
…My goodness…..he snores at +3db…”does he have a girlfriend?” I wonder. We get to talk a lot in the car and I realize that Jimmy is not such a stuck up guy after all….he’s alright. Journey is long and on getting there everyone is tired and a round of tuskers is greatly appreciated. Alas….the restaurant is closed and we have to go out and get some food. DAY 3 We get into the car to go and find the first group we are to record Mwanzere Nyere wa Kond…
Discovering music roots with SWP News
…m mid last century and offer them in easy to read, listen and view mediums to today’s audiences, young and old, we were trying to fulfill our dreams of preserving our music heritage for prosterity. We have so far produced two packages and are currently working on three others simultaneously. Of course the world cannot live in the past and must move on, but there is no future without a past. Countries that have rich music industries and whose music…
More Ketebul voices…Steve reports from the field News
…of us. My guess is finally the hunger had kicked in, and he couldn’t wait to get to Malindi and some food. We made it to Malindi around 9.30pm. No one knew the exact location of Paradise Hotel and The Leader and The Guide’s GPS couldn’t help us either. Luckily for us, while we were refueling car number 02 at Watamu, a friend of Pato’s who lives in Malindi just happened to come by the station for fuel too. He took us to Paradise Hotel (which turne…
What we learned from the pilot phase News
…oung 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 Timberlake. In no case did they build off their own musical traditions even though each of them was proud of their parents’/grandparents’ performances. They just didn’t link these traditions to their own music. Second, we showed the power of bringing a contemporary artists into the vi…
Ketebul Music website launched News
…ew Ketebul Music website. When Abubilla Music and 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, lis…