Meet our ‘Influences’ artists News
The Influences series from Singing Wells involves contemporary East African musicians collaborating with the groups and artists we discover during our field recording visits. The result is a unique fusion of contemporary and traditional themes. Here we introduce the artists who have created Influences songs for Singing Wells…… Winyo Shiphton Onyango adopted his artistic name ‘Winyo’, which is a Luo word (a tribe from the Lake Victoria region of W…
Akello sings ‘Influences’ songs for Singing Wells News
…y invaluable acting as a translator when we visited the Acholi communities in the area, but also performed some of her songs for the Influences series, accompanied by the local music groups. ‘Wan Wilobo’ performed with the Rubanga Kingom Awach Boys With just a few minutes to practice, Akello performed this song backed by the Rubanga Kingom Awach Boys playing the ‘likembe’ – a thumb piano. ‘Awinyo’ performed with the Adungu Cultural Troupe …
Day 8: Entebbe to Nairobi and Ketebul Studios Story
…r some chores we all then gather at the Go Down Arts Centre for recording. In the early afternoon, we had a chance to interview Tabu about the Uganda trip: Q: What did you want to get out of the trip?. A: In each of our trips I’m trying to focus on the one or two things the region is know for. In the coastal regions of Kenya, I wanted to make sure we recorded their shakers, the Kayamba (hand shaken idiophones with dried seeds inside), the Lungo (b…
Promotion of Batwa cultural music: UOBDU report March 2013 News
…ctivities such as working as a group on people’s gardens as well as entertaining people at a fee when invited. Some group members are improving their standard of living through purchase of house hold items such as bed sheets and saucepans. The recorded CDs/DVDs and albums for Batwa dancing groups are in place for anyone interested. The CDs/DVDs have started generating some income so far UGX 70,000/= has been raised through sales. Through Albums an…
Hannah interviews Evelyn Ojok – Acet, Northern Uganda News
…as this community has served as a valued resource for the women involved. In the conversation we had below she tells their story.. Tell me about your group: Ume Udoko Mit started to sing together before the war, but we had to stop during the war because most of us were moved to IDP camps where we had little time to rehearse together and the conditions were too bad. Now we sing and dance together all the time, we are only women (our style of ‘…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Kampala (a driving story) Story
…n. We’ve decided night driving in Africa is like child birth. While you’re in the throws of it, you’re swearing to the lord almighty that you won’t go through this again. And then you find yourself right back at it. Well, we’re going for one big happy family because we did it again. (As this blog has been edited with the team, there has been a strong attempt by our female members to point out that our male members have no right to equate anything…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Obuell-Lira to Soroti Story
…ounded in 1982. The group and its song Uganda Land of Freedom is legendary in the Teso region (the name for the collection of villages around us). Joshua While you read the rest of this, why don’t you play the Magic Moment of the band as a good soundtrack to their story? During the civil war these villages were under rebel control from 1989-1992. The rebels came into the village to kills the men and seize the boys to take into the bush to fight. B…
How music archives can help communities News
…a good time to reflect on the importance and relevance a project such as Singing Wells. Why should we record and archive traditional music? Our objectives are not about archiving music for the sake of it. We do not see ourselves as ‘fossil collectors’, merely recording the music and dance performances of traditional groups and then archiving it in sound libraries where it might become largely inaccessible to most audiences, including the…
Northern Uganda: Day 5 – from Pakwach to Soroti (a road trip) Story
…ds in groups of 4-5. We often mistake them for nuns walking along the road in their beautiful white dresses. The white bags are typically crowned with a grass hat to keep them dry. Near Pakwach, this is a pretty simple cover but as you approach Soroti from Lira you get quite elaborate little weaved hats. These bags are sold for about 30,000 Ugandan shillings, but it takes days to fill one bag. In 600 kilometers of driving we have only seen them fo…
Singing Wells – The Story So Far News
…nd share the unique cultural music heritage of East Africa. Support the Singing Wells project and buy a copy! You can buy a copy of the Singing Wells book at the Blurb Bookstore – just click this link: Singing Wells – The Story So Far The profits we receive from the sale of each book go directly to our UK charity The Abubilla Music Foundation which supports the Singing Wells project. Your donation will help give much needed financial support to…
Northern Uganda: Day 4 – night recording at Fort Murchison Story
…ate at night last night, we met and realized we couldn’t record in Pakwach in the morning and Lira by the afternoon. So with a little scrambling we managed to invite our second group of the day, Cieng Dwong, to travel to us from their village Alebtong. All well and good, but our poor travelers didn’t arrive with us until about 1900, by which time it was pretty dark – okay, very dark. The good news is we have good lighting equipment. The bad news,…
ATTA is following Singing Wells News
…lfour and the Kenya Tourist Board continue to be wonderful ambassadors of Singing Wells, introducing us to interesting and interested people who we can talk to about the project. Earlier this month I was their guest at the World Travel Market at Excel and I met representatives from a number of organisations and companies in the travel and tourism industry operating in the East African counties we are visiting during our field recording trips. I me…
Northern Uganda: Day 4 – Pakwach to Widiang’a, Nebbi Story
…rea. Their leader is Cwinyaai Atya, Richard. Their first song was Tambara, in the Osegu style. It is all about a stubborn girl who doesn’t want to marry early. Here they are, dancing in glory: The second song was magnificent, called Oramba, the name of a hunter, in the style ‘Aliku’. This style is traditionally performed around the fire, as a celebration of the hunter’s coming back from a successful kill. The whole story is about the village not s…
Reporting back on recording trip to Kisoro, SW Uganda News
The Singing Wells project in Kisoro was a great success. Over three days in Kisoro, we recorded the songs and dance of six Batwa communities and in doing so learned a great deal about their history and their lifestyle in Uganda today. The following week, we invited ten of the Batwa performers to the Ketebul Music studios in Nairobi to record more songs, and in particular, collaborate with contemporary music artists to generate new material for ‘I…
Northern Uganda: Day 3 – from Gulu to Awach to Pakwach Story
…Here’s a video of their ‘magic moment’: Their first song was Kica Watimon Nining, which is a song of forgiveness. Two men start the song fighting (and it is a pretty good tussle) before they are encouraged by the band and woman dancers to calm down, solve their differences and forgive. Given the recent wars in Uganda and given that we are in formally held Kony territory, this song is pretty important. https://youtu.be/_u4-hVbcVV0 In the same vein,…
A day in the field with Singing Wells News
…ording visit, this time to northern Uganda, Andy reflects on a typical day in the field as part of the Singing Wells team. Andy’s notes are also published in our new book ‘Singing Wells – The Story So Far’, newly available in hardback. Click here for more details. A typical field recording day A Singing Wells day in the field usually starts with an early breakfast after which the team assembles at the vehicles with the mobile recording equipme…