Central Uganda: Day 6: Kampala to Entebbe Story
…in Uganda. This is where HIV Aids was first recognized in Uganda. Because of the culture, if someone passed away, the brother had to marry the widow and take care of her immediately. This was devastating for the spread of Aids because the surviving spouses, who were often infected, immediately partners with another and passed on the disease. In late 90’s you could only find little children and very old people because the disease spread so fast be…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…sonal luggage and then set up a recording session in the beautiful gardens of the Gately Hotel. The Nile Beat Artists The Nile Beat Artists joined us over the morning and we were ready to record at about noon. There were founded in 1990. The group were voted group of the year in Uganda in 2004. Their leader is Haruna Walusimbi. They have 4-5 drummers depending on the song, 2-3 flute players, 2 tube fiddle players and 2 thumb pianos. They also have…
Interview: fusion band Ndoto Afrika News
In 2015 I had the pleasure of meeting Holly Rahman, a Kenyan musician of the band Ndoto Afrika. The band blends traditional 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 f…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…arlings. They are trying to reconstitute a group that will lead the savior of the trumpets. There are two old men and the rest are younger trying to learn from the old men, who were master players. The National Council of Folklore for Uganda supports them. The trumpets are royal music, meaning they were performed at the coronation or funeral of the king or any royal ceremony where the king would have guests. The trumpets must lead the procession o…
Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…. The Recording Site We were greeted there by Julius Wolimbwa, the founder of the Elgon Ngoma Troupe. We were recording at his youth centre, which was a fairly large single story building in the middle of a field just off a small road in Mbale. The field was filled with drummers and dancers. The field was also filled with a large tower of red bricks and a separate hill of concrete – clearly there was more construction to follow. We found Julius to…
Before They Pass Away News
…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 it in today’s world. With this in mind, we’ve been following the work of Britis…
Central Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Budaka Story
…homes and a little kitchen cleaning area. On the second level to the right of the houses was a hill, with the school and a couple large trees, under which our two bands rested and changed clothes – each song brought new and more beautiful costumes. Before the performances started we also spent quite a bit of time filming ‘drum tuning’, which involves a lot of fire, a lot of water, some spitting and very careful brick placement. We had two groups….
Central Uganda: Day 1 – From Entebbe to Kidinda Story
…ery loud cow tucked in the back) and one angry bull tethered to the middle of the grounds. Chickens hung about ready to provide backing vocals. Children began to gather as we un-loaded equipment. Most of them smile widely when our cameras turned toward them. Most came running to us to see their pictures show up on our camera screens. The musicians had built a performance hall, with a grass floor and tapestry ceiling and were busy practicing when w…
Central Uganda: Day 0 – Nairobi/London to Entebbe Story
…:45 departure and arrived in Entebbe an hour later. That was the easy part of the trip. We then had to clear all our equipment through Ugandan customs. Everyone was polite and helpful. But it took almost 1.5 hours. By that time we were caught 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…
Rediscovering Afropop and its influences News
…nder of how important the Singing Wells mission is. When we learn that one of the most popular modern African bands is inspired and influenced by traditional musicians it makes our work even more poignant. For example, in March 2014 2014, Ketebul Music and The Abubilla Music Foundation came together to record some of the most important ‘bridge’ artists in Kenya – a group of people who have built a connection between the music of their villages and…
Discussions on music and culture with a young Kenyan News
…lot of western media, so a lot of our ideals are based on western notions of what great life if like. It means that people aspire to western ways of things, and so we don’t embrace our cultural music and heritage… it’s not ‘cool’. Do you think losing the cultural music heritage of East Africa is a shame? It’s a massive shame! But the western style of living is so appealing – just look at how Nairobi is evolving; it’s all coffee shops and Nike tra…
Meeting Ketebul: an interview with Tabu News
…se of my trip, besides hanging out with the team and trying to absorb some of their street cred, was to chat to the main man: Mr Tabu Osusa. Sitting across from me in his office in his bright yellow patterned t-shirt and flat cap he looked laid back as he sipped his cool beverage. His easy smile broke every time I said something that amused him. Here’s our interview: Who are the most exciting modern artists you’re currently working with, and why?…
Our top 5 Singing Wells songs for March News
…rst encountered the Otacho Young Stars group on a trip to record the music of the Luo in Western Kenya in December 2011. They were later invited to Ketebul Studios in Nairobi to form part of our influences series. I love this song because it’s cheery and upbeat. It’s the kind of song everyone should listen to when they wake up to start the day with positive vibes. 2. Ochieng Nelly – Osare I’ll admit, a few weeks ago I knew very little about the hi…
The repatriation of Kenya’s music heritage News
…e in the 1950s by English ethnomusicologist, Hugh Tracey. The repatriation of these recordings began in August, during a two-week pilot project in Kenya’s Rift Valley led by Prof Diane Thram, Director of the International Library of African Music (ILAM) in South Africa and the team from Ketebul Music, supported and funded by The Abubilla Music Foundation as part of the Singing Wells project. Read Bill Odidi’s article about the August project here….
Hitching a ride Story
…Most people seemed to be on foot and many of the Batwa make the arduous journey to town three times a week, without being able to hitch a ride….
Ten More Singing Wells Stories News
…getting these stories out to folks. But we will keep trying… Here’s a few of the 250 stories – pull up a chair: The Batwa: Providing a Soundtrack to the Costs of ‘Simple Solutions’ The Batwa are a forest people living in the dense forests along the base of the Virunga Volcanoes. They were evicted from the forest to make way for the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park near Kisoro Uganda, which was established to protect the Mountain Gorillas that habit…