A Year in Review March 2011 – March 2012 News
…ferent!) Lake Turkana Cultural Festival, Kenya: The Ketebul Music team travelled to Lake Turkana in May 2011 for the Singing Wells project and recorded some wonderful groups at the festival, particularly tribal dance. Read more about the Festival here. The Batwa Project in 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 th…
AMF receive grant to fund Batwa recordings News
…e tide which is threatening to obscure the music traditions of this ethnic group. The SWP will ensure that the unique sights and sounds of the Batwa are fully and professionally documented, preserved for the future and promoted to a wide audience through all media platforms. We also intend that the SWP will provide a positive and lasting benefit for the whole Batwa community. The immediate benefit will be a source of new income as each of the musi…
Recording music & dance of the Batwa News
…e tide which is threatening to obscure the music traditions of this ethnic group. The SWP will ensure that the unique sights and sounds of the Batwa are fully and professionally documented, preserved for the future and promoted to a wide audience through all media platforms. We also intend that the SWP will provide a positive and lasting benefit for the whole Batwa community. The immediate benefit will be a source of new income as each of the musi…
May 2011 – Jimmy reports back on the pilot phase News
…p was Supaki Kalaza, led by Katana bin Kalama, also in the Mwenzele style. Group 5: Supaki Kalaza Our sixth group was Sengenya, led by Munyaka Chimega in the Sengenya style which is also the dance style. They completely captivated us with joyous dancing. By the end, the river bed was filled with dozens of kids dancing with them. Group 6: Sengenya Vuga Kwale County: We recorded next to the main meeting centre in the village – recording sessions…
Reflections on the pilot phase by Pato News
…casionally let me spend time with her if I organized one for him. The next group was Mzinga, this groups lead singer, Aphonce Kazungu was my favorite. He had an amazing voice. I did not know we had search stars hidden in the villages. This was very interesting indeed. Mombasa was our next stop so we packed quickly and left. Time was moving fast and we still had two more groups to record. Fast forward to Mombasa. We got lost briefly but finally met…
Reflections on the pilot phase by Willie Bembe News
…learn a lot from him since now we can see how it is done in real time. The group is amazing. The father and son are very talented. DAY 3 I start to realize that most of the groups we are recording have members who are very old which means that they have been storing this music for a very long time. All this then translates to the project being very important for my generation, the rest of my countrymen and the whole world. This is history…..my his…
Discovering music roots with SWP News
…Coastal region was selected. The strip is mainly composed of the Mijikenda group of culturally related people; the Chonyi, Rabai, Duruma, Kauma, Kambe, Ribe, Jibana and the more known Giriama and Digo whom we focused on at this stage. Their music is relatively well known at the national level and is highly dependent on percussion with vocal solos and harmonies and pretty is rhythmic. Very sexy. There are various styles including sengenya, checheme…
More Ketebul voices…Steve reports from the field News
…ain joined by Winyo for another magical moment as we waited for the second group to arrive on set. Percussion When the second group arrived, we again switched the set for a different backdrop for the video. The final group was called Muungano Kayamba, They came with all manner of props for their performance, including a creepy looking life size baby doll that reminded me of Chucky. Their music was based on the Kayamba, a shaker common in most…
What we learned from the pilot phase News
…do and his father took a Bado composition (yes, sounding like any American group) and turned it into something truly amazing by combining the best of old and new. The Magic Moment on Day 1 when it all seemed worth it. We took a simple (very American sounding song) from Bado and blended it with his Dad’s styles to make something really special 3. And Lessons? What Need to Improve? We were glad we did the pilot because we did learn a lot. Here a…
Testing the mobile recording equipment News
…November. Tabu Osusa is putting together the itinerary and the plan is to travel to the coast, near Mombasa, to record the music of the Mijikenda – a Bantu tribe made up of 9 sub-tribes, the most well known being the Giriama and Digo. Music is prolific in these communities and features superb drumming and athletic dancing. Katana Bin Kalama is a contemporary Giriama musician and his song ‘Nilipata Mzungu’ is featured on Ketebul Music’s Spotlight…
Ketebul Music website launched News
…orary artists. And through Bandcamp, listen to or download the inspirational music of Kenya from artists such as Ontiri Bikundo and Makadem, or the 4 piece women’s group Bismillahi Gargar, whose aim is to remind people of their traditional culture through song. …