The Key to Sustainable Aid in Africa? Perhaps we should follow the music. News
…rs and sisters of different mothers), and listening to stunning music. We knew then that a strong community and village was the foundation for great music. We now believe great music is the foundation of a strong community and village. And this makes all the difference. Part One: Our Original Mission within the Context of a Host of More Urgent Problems: When Tabu and I started Singing Wells in 2008, we were passionate about its mission: to record,…
What people say about Singing Wells News
…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 a British Library World Collections Programme initiative. It was a great pleasure and it is wonderful to see these fruits of their expertise and enthusiasm….
The New Singing Wells website News
…of East African Traditional Music. Here are some of the added features of the new site: Stories Most of what we do is story-telling, in the music that we record, the pictures we take, the people that we meet 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…
Group of the Month – Watmon Cultural Group News
…Willem and the other guests, we set up a recording studio in the garden. You can join us on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/singingwells and on Twitter here: http://www.twitter.com/singingwells – if you do tweet any links, please use the hashtags – #gotm and #singingwells We’ll update this page with any new items we add to the site over the course of the month. Check out the featured content links below to find the Watmon Cultural Group p…
The Singing Wells supports Ketebul Music’s ‘Kenya at 50’ project News
…rder, which he bought from a fellow serviceman. This brought him work from the BBC around the time of the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya. Colmore spent time working for the Kenya Information Service around this time – possibly as a photographer. He was instrumental in setting up the African Broadcasting service Entertainment unit, which included the guitarist Fundi Konde – said to be the first electric guitarist in East Africa. He also set up Hi Fideli…
The Beat of Kenya News
…011. The instruments now on display at the Manitoba Museum were donated to the museum in 2011 by a Canadian who had worked in Maseno, Kenya in the late 1960s. During the course of his work there, he was often invited to gatherings in the villages around the area where musicians would be part of the evening. At the end of the evening, the musicians would usually sell their instruments to foreigners in attendance. The donor purchased 5 instruments i…
A quick summary of the Singing Wells Project News
…nd of Freedom, some of them playing the Likembe. The government forces in frustration spared the extended band and went to the next village. Again, the elder led the village men in a rendition of Uganda Land of Freedom. They went to village after village and everyone could play the song and everyone was a member of the band. The band leader had learned after the slaughter of the village next door two years before and has spent the months in betwee…
Victoria’s reflections on field trip to Northern Uganda News
…sitive 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 show us your world that is hidden inside Sing us your history and dance us your life In musical words where your heritage lies We travel a road of music discovery The map and the…
A new type of city Story
…dings you could see in the distance. Despite this unconventional type of city,I loved it. There was certainly a lot going on and during the week Akello told us many stories of the vibrant buzz in Kampala. Every night there’s music to listen to somewhere in the packed hub of 180,000 people . The image above of the tin houses and the Uganda House of Commons in the background was one of the first pictures I took on the trip….
The Influences Series from Singing Wells News
…Music album Misery Marmalade and other Spanish Jams. Here is the 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…
The First Singing Wells Influences Session Story
…f Nairobi, and driven to Malindi – a town on the Kenyan coast. The evening rush hour traffic in Mombasa meant we had a night drive up the coast road to Malindi. The next day however, we were treated to the sight of the coast road by daylight. The lush greenery and bustling activity of traders along the roadside not apparent the night before. We turned off the main road, and picked up our fixer Ndeche. We journeyed further from the main road past a…
The origins of Singing Wells Story
…s to preserve, celebrate and share the unique music traditions and heritage of East Africa. Jimmy Allen, Founder Abubilla Music and Trustee of the Abubilla Music Foundation…
Hannah interviews Sabina – Acet, Northern Uganda News
…jok her husband was killed in the war after he was abducted and taken into the bush by the LRA. She has 7 children and 4 of them love to sing and dance, mainly through learning at school. What does this music mean to you? The Acholi often give meaning and purpose to things in daily life. (The name of the primary school in this village translates to ‘The Drunk Huntsman’ and Acet, a town that perhaps used to be a bad place, we were told meant ‘a s…
Returning to Uganda in Autumn 2013 Story
…n and it remains one of our most inspiring tracks… Or the leader singer of the Rubanga Kingom Awach boys of Northern Uganda, Wokorach Walter. Have you ever heard anything like this? 2. The Collective Voices: We will never forget Jovah and Winyo, singing with the Mperwa Dancers in Kisoro. 3. The Exotic Instruments: You’ve heard the Likembe, but what about the Adungu from Kampala? Or the Nanga and other instruments from the Watmon Cultural Troupe. 4…
‘Missing’ – Singing Wells fundraising song for 2013 News
…March 2013 saw the release of an original track from Abubilla Music, re-mixed for the Influences series. The song is called (The only thing that’s) Missing and it was first recorded for the Abubilla Music album Misery Marmalade and other Spanish Jams. Here is the 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….
Day 10: File Management at Ketebul Studios Story
…our reflections on our management of things (elsewhere we will talk about the music, as we did with Tabu yesterday), where we drew 5 main lessons on this trip: Agree the ‘must do’ instruments/song styles at the beginning of trip planning and then make sure we have a group (and a back up group for each). On this trip we came close to missing a couple styles. We work ourselves too hard in the field and don’t leave enough time for file management. S…