Why “Singing Wells”? News
…ells’ is a very good name for our project which aims to preserve, celebrate and share the unique music traditions and heritage of East Africa. More on Kenya’s singing wells BBC World Service video on how the singing wells in the village of Daaba have changed the life of the local community: …
A Year in Review March 2011 – March 2012 News
…Kisoro, Uganda: This visit was partially funded by the Institute for International Education (read more by clicking here). We recorded music from 6 Batwa communities from the Kisoro district and subsequently invited 10 musicians back to Nairobi to record them in the Ketebul Music studios with professional musicians. Below we’ve included three separate videos. The first is a recording of Francis Sembargare with the Birara Dancers. The second shows…
Music of the Luo: video playlist News
…In December 2011, the Singing Wells team travelled to western Kenya on the shores of Lake Victoria to record the music of the Luo tribes. To read the daily field reports from this trip, click here. Video Playlist The trip was facilitated by the generous support of donors to our charity the Abubilla Music Foundation. …
Sad News from Kenya News
…ear to all of those keeping track with the Singing Wells project. Some sad news. Okumu K’Orengo, one of the musicians we recorded in Kenya as part of the Singing Wells trip, had passed away. He was a master of the Nyatiti and performed for us in the village of Aluny, his final track on the day being a funeral dirge. We send our sympathies and condolences to his family and friends at this sad time. Here is an audio excerpt and video from his perfor…
AMF receive grant to fund Batwa recordings News
We have just heard the good news that the Institute of International Education has approved a grant to support the Singing Wells trip to Uganda to record the music and dance of the Batwa people. We are delighted that our proposal was successful and that the IIE agreed with our rationale for taking the project to the Batwa to increase awareness of their unique music and dance traditions. In our proposal, we outlined our rationale as follows: “The…
Singing Wells Project News Update News
…OCTOBER 2011 NEWS: Here is the latest news and itinerary for Phase 4 – the Batwa and Luo music recording trip in November. Click on the image to download the PDF: …
Recording music & dance of the Batwa News
…irunga 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 traditional way of life. They became largely excluded from Ugandan society. Batwa communities suffered from poverty and exclusion and were offered little stake in the tourist industry which has developed in forests where they once lived. The plight of the Batwa in Uganda is now being r…
Abubilla Music release fourth album News
…ng Canasta Club will play tracks to a (hopefully) admiring audience – more news about that to follow. Click on the cover for a sneak preview – the track ‘Breathe’ performed by the Singing Wells Project’s very own Andy Patterson……. Importantly, the album also includes the global remix of an original Abubilla track ’71 Hours to Monday’ which has been released to promote the Singing Wells project and help raise funds for the 201…
AMF News Up-Date News
…There’s some exciting developments happening with all our projects and partners. Take a look at our news update here: …
May 2011 – Jimmy reports back on the pilot phase News
…, Chairman of Ketebul, describes the Singing Wells Mission: “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 crosses borders have their successes deeply embedded in the music of their ancestors. Southern, Central and Western African nations have their modern music genres deeply rooted in the rhythms, harmonies and melodies of their past r…
Lake Turkana Cultural Festival 2011 News
…ed a perfect fit with the objectives of the Singing Wells project and the trustees were happy to approve a grant to cover the costs of travelling to the Festival with the new mobile recording equipment. The main purpose for the Festival, which is hosted by the German Embassy in Nairobi and the National Museums of Kenya, is to ‘overcome tribalism in the region and to promote peace and reconciliation among the local communities around Lake Turkana b…
Reflections on the pilot phase by Pato News
…the place because she belonged to him and only him. The second car was delivered and Maddo, chairman for Ketebul Music would be the pilot for the V.I.P car. He had to leave because he had to drop the owner of the car and left me with his car, but not without detailed instructions on how to handle it and with a stern warning: don’t visit your girls friends with my car! We met them later that evening at a restaurant called Sippers in Hurlinghan, h…
Reflections on the pilot phase by Willie Bembe News
…very important for my generation, the rest of my countrymen and the whole world. This is history…..my history. The history of African communities is in the stories our grandfathers told us which got distorted over time. The safest way to store them was in the music which was passed down from generation to generation. Another five years and all this would be gone since the present generation is not really interested in learning there music. This i…
Discovering music roots with SWP News
…es 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 crosses borders have their successes deeply embedded in the music of their ancestors. Southern, Central and Western African nations have their modern music genres deeply rooted in the rhythms, harmonies and melodies of their past r…
More Ketebul voices…Steve reports from the field News
…ti. Zigidigi Cultural Troupe, led by Matano Mwachiti They had an array of drums and a calabash like instrument that the player blew into through a thick pipe and it produced an interesting bass sound. They also had a flute, the Chivoti and the player played some interesting melodies. The ladies in the group looked very happy as they danced and sang. And as soon as they finished, they were again joined by Winyo for another magical moment as we wait…
£25K donation from Abubilla Music Foundation News
…om the The Abubilla Music Foundation of £25,000 has been allocated by the trustees to the Singing Wells project. This has meant that all expenditure on the development of the Ketebul Music website has been covered and we are now able to go ahead with the purchase of the all mobile recording equipment which will be needed for the village recording sessions. Our resident technical expert and sound engineer, Andy Patterson, has sourced everything we…