Day 1: The very first field recording day for Singing Wells Story
…en we can, but here was the moment: Winyo, Bado and his dad performing together The Kids & Families This is our first village, but already we are astounded by the hospitality and the fun everyone is having. A taste: This hut is to the left of the hut used with group 2. By end of day there were probably two dozen little kids watching. At close of day we were invited to some coconuts to celebrate the music Winyo with Coconuts Maddo, Chairman of Kete…
On the eve of our very first field recording trip….. Story
…s from the Ford Foundation and supports Ketebul. Alfred helped introduce Ketebul and Abubilla This was an evening to represent everything Ketebul is about – bringing new East African artists to the world, but rooting them in the generations of music that came before. This seems a perfect send-off to record village music. We leave tomorrow at 9AM. Jimmy …
Nick Abonyo (the ‘clapper-man’) News
…f writing and recording his own music but ultimately decided that he loved the world of video, photography and computer animation. He first heard of Ketebul Music in 2008 when they were working on their compilation Retracing the Benga Rhythm. Ketebul were in southern Nyanza to record Benga music and Nick went to the sessions. His primary school teacher Paul Wau was an artist (we recorded him on a Singing Wells visit to Nyanza). Paul told him to ch…
The Kalenjin & Kenya’s elite athletes News
…four years. The programme follows two main runners – David Rudisha who won the 800m in the Beijing Olympics and Edna Kiplagat who is the world cross country champion. They are focusing mainly on their coaching and what it takes to get to the Olympics. Both athletes will be running at London 2012. Most Kenyan runners come from the Rift Valley, in particular the town of Itan where there is a strong culture of running. The high altitude enables runne…
Why “Singing Wells”? News
…have had their fill the herdsmen climb from their wells and disappear into the bush. The songs tell stories of Samburu traditions and help the herdsmen keep a steady rhythm while they lower and raise their buckets. The singing wells illustrate the importance of traditional songs in the life of the Samburu tribes people. We think that ‘Singing Wells’ is a very good name for our project which aims to preserve, celebrate and share the unique music tr…
A Year in Review March 2011 – March 2012 News
…Great Rift Valley to record the music of the Kalenjin tribes. The majority the world famous Kenyan athletes are from this tribe and we will be capturing the traditional music of their region as they prepare for Olympic gold at London 2012. To date, we have recorded roughly 150 songs, across 25 tribal groups, with roughly 20 high quality performance videos, and hundreds of hours of local interviews. All of this is gradually moving ‘on line’ in ou…
May 2011 – Jimmy reports back on the pilot phase News
…rld), 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 pa…
Lake Turkana Cultural Festival 2011 News
…or cross-cultural cooperation and exchange, both in the preparation and in the course of the Festival. During the three days Festival, representatives of the Rendille, El Molo, Pokot, Samburu, Turkana, Gabbra, Dassanech and Borana present their respective customs and living conditions, spectacular traditional costumes, arts and crafts, dances and music to each other and to visitors. Combined with the stunning geographical characteristics and the v…
Reflections on the pilot phase by Willie Bembe News
…im 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 history. The history…
Discovering music roots with SWP News
…ckages 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 pa…
More Ketebul voices…Steve reports from the field News
…d some food apart from Tabu. I have known Tabu since 2005, and I can count the number of times I have seen him having a meal on 1 hand! After refueling car number 02 (it must have been guzzling the fuel because of the AC), we set off for the second leg of our journey, Voi to Mombasa. Salif Keita’s ‘M’bemba’ CD and Winyo’s in production CD ‘Benga & Blues’ proved to be the favorite cruise music as we kept on switching between the two. Though I must…