How to Map 1: Housekeeping News
Before we get down to the real business of map-making, there are some things you should know that’ll save you time later. A couple of bits of housekeeping, let’s say. Point 1: Get your files organised For some technical reason I don’t understand, ArcMap doesn’t like it when you save your files in My Documents – I think of it as ArcMap being too busy to faff around sifting through all your old school work to find shapefiles and the like, so we mak…
Day 4: Discovery of the Young Stars… Story
…the Young Stars… From our home base of Homa Bay, we drove to Rongo, passed the town of Rodi Company (named because it was first populated by a Road Company). We started in the morning at the compound of Jose Kokeyo, a legendary Luo Benga guitarist, but the rain attacked and we had to move. We ended up at the DRC Rongo in the back garden, recording three very different groups: the Otacho Young Stars, The Kanindi Jazz Band and Jose Kokeyo himself. T…
Day 3: Homa Bay and the Kochia Dancers Story
With Lake Victoria as the backdrop to the studio we recording the visually spectacular Kochia Dancers. We drove from Kisumu to Homa Bay; we’re on Lake Victoria now at Homa Bay (still 1PM on your Lake Victoria dial) but a little more south and a little more west, on the south shore of the Winam Gulf. After a long drive, we set up at the hotel in a beautiful field against the lake – we’re surrounded by camels and pelicans, which is frankly a bit of…
Day 2: Focus on the Nyatiti, Orutu and DRUMS! Story
…This is the view of Lake Victoria we face in the morning before we set out to the next village, Saiya: As we will do six times on this trip, we pass the equator. We can’t help ourselves: Left to Right: Steve, Winyo (with Bone Guitar), Andy and Tabu. After this shameless tourist stop we head out towards Siaya. We’re still roughly 1 PM on the Lake Victoria clock, 90 minutes NW from Kisumu, but on a slightly different road than Rang’ala. We’re here t…
Day 1: The music of the Luo – starting at Rang’ala Village Story
…ribes, as they gradually built on the percussive/bass sounds of the Nytati to form something more bluesy; it morphs later into Rumba, which combines Benga and also Congolese music which is in turn heavily influenced by Cuban music. The big guy in Luo Benga was Daniel Owino Misiani who developed the style in the 60’s. A big reason to return to Luo-lands is to trace back to the origins of Benga, understanding in more detail the core instruments. Her…
Christine Kamau – “The Jazzist” News
…stine BBC Africa Beats: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17831507 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thejazzist Reverbnation: https://www.reverbnation.com/christinekamau …
From Kisoro to Nairobi to Lake Victoria Story
…e focus of these blogs to be about the music. So we’ll keep travel updates to the minimum. In this blog we combine all the fun of travelling from Kisoro back to Nairobi and from Nairobi to Kisumu. Kisoro to Nairobi: Passport Control, Genocide Memorial and Planes We left the Traveller’s Rest at 6.30 AM (we told the boys 5:30AM to ensure promptness – and they arrived promptly an hour late, on time. Get it?). Our goal was to hit the Uganda-Rwanda bor…
Day 6: The Studio @ Traveller’s Rest Hotel, Kisoro Story
…dies for the full ‘Influences’ set. And all the time the babies stay close to their mothers and are perfectly behaved during the long session. A favourite photo – note the baby and the lapel mic. We are fairly certain this is a rare occurrence. Then we shifted to an ‘Influences’ session with Francis. He started by teaching Jessie the chords to a song and then Jessie played while Francis sang.. Gatera Community We then had two groups ar…
Day 5 (much later): The Micyingo Group – guitar and bass! Story
….be/pZzgr2PXZ3s https://youtu.be/gt4_CaZNN2c Then the guitar and bass took to the stage….if you are wondering where the bass is, the plastic bag turn out to be significant. We were bemused by this magic plastic bag, but it turns out it was covering a clay pot that supplied the song. The musician simply ‘beat boxed’ into the pot. And we soon figured out how to mic it (note the green cable). Also, take a look at the shaker in his right hand – a toma…
Day 5 (PM): The ‘Togetherness Group’ from Kanyabukunga Story
…of Kanyabukunga. They are led by Gadensia Kampire. The SWP crew poses next to the road sign with the empty field behind. Soon, however, the area was filled with lovely children, here to watch some wonderful dancing and singing. As we unload the vans, the ‘Togetherness’ group are waiting to greet us on the ‘stage’….. The performance is fantastic… here the group are singing ‘Waratsinze Sikota’ in praise of God, but lamenting that the Batwa people ha…
Day 5: Recording the Mperwa Dancers Story
…ckdrop of the Virunga Mountains. And the inevitable narrow path leading up to the village…. And after a relatively short climb this time, we reach our destination… The small village consists of a handful of traditional thatched huts, some with fires burning inside…. More and more people arrive….and find our cameras and recording equipment interesting… The Singing Wells audio team – Nick, Andy & Willie – start to set up the mixing desk while Patr…
Day 4 (later): Recording for ‘Influences’ with the Birara Dancers Story
…four of the performers (Francis and the three lead female vocalists) back to the Traveller’s Rest Hotel in Kisoro. Jennifer who manages the hotel is brilliant. She allowed us to set up a recording studio, under the verandah of her hotel, just outside the bar. We were able to record there over the next three days, rain or shine, night or day. Which was good, because it rained a lot. https://youtu.be/c1XBVlNQL6E We continued to use this ‘hotel stud…
Day 4: UOBDU and the Birara Dancers Story
…ing our Singing Wells t-shirts We picked up the UOBDU generator and headed to the Birara Dancers, 23 kilometers up in the hills. Along the way, we picked up an 80 year old member of the tribe who was walking from town back to her village. Yes, she walks the 46 kilometer round trip 3-4 times a week, often carrying goods to market or returning with food for the village. This was our first introduction to ‘Batwa Fitness.’ Along the way to the village…
Day 3: From Nairobi to Kigali to Kisoro Story
…on. We were met by our drivers Arun and John and drove through heavy rains to the Rwanda-Uganda border crossing near Kisoro. After a rather lengthy crossing, we then drove on to our final desitination – the Traveller’s Rest in Kisoro. Five quick things: Rwanda: Beautiful country known positively for its gorillas, green hills and beautiful lakes. What strikes you immediately is the deep terracotta of the soil, which covers the roads, and seeps up t…
Diamond Jubilee Pageant at Windsor Castle News
…that have had a role to play in the Queen’s reign. On the Kenya stand there will be Singing Wells DVDs freely available for guests. The DVD is from our ‘Best of Singing Wells 2011‘ and features music videos from our field trips to the Coastal Region and Nyanza Province. We are grateful to our friends at the Kenya Tourist Board and Hills Balfour for arranging this for us and giving Singing Wells a presence at this wonderful cultural celebration. …
Day 1 & 2: Preparing to leave for Kisoro, Uganda Story
…been working on, or one inspired by the visit. This is extremely important to the Singing Wells philosophy – we are not simply trying to record/preserve the musical legacy of East Africa; we are trying to make it relevant to today’s artists. Our ‘Influences’ sessions seek to demonstrate the extraordinary power of this tribal music in relation to today’s music. Chief Sound Engineer: Commands the audio team and is in charge of input for all sessions…