Day 7 (am) – back to Kampala: Naguru to Entebbe Story
We have decided there is a spirit of the night road. If you pay enough homage to it, you will be rewarded. After the massive contributions to the spirit last night we were given two great troupes in Naguru. Naguru is a suburb of Kampala and we forced our two big vans through the crowded urban streets to a little square where we set up for recording. Exactly 24 hours ago we set up to record in Northern Uganda in the village of Obuell-Lira. This wa…
Hannah interviews Evelyn Ojok – Acet, Northern Uganda News
…tion was the town of Acet, where Joseph Kony was born and raised. The name of their group refers to a water well: a very relevant symbol, 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…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Kampala (a driving story) Story
…add that it’s just Jimmy who’s obsessed with the charcoal bags). For most of the places, folks just want to keep the charcoal dry. A good handful of grass is enough and you get the nun look with the green crown. But around Soroti, they take this hat stuff seriously and the charcoal is covered with a beautiful crown of woven straw. It goes beyond function. These guys want their nuns properly helmeted. As we travel east, we seem to have found a com…
An Evening with Mserego Mwatela Group News
…y School. In the group, my role is percussionist and I play the four drums of the Sengenya. I also dance and wear the shakers . And also I play the Chapuo, this is the small drum and the Upatsu (cymbol). I don’t feel ashamed to play this music. I don’t feel ashamed that I have an amazing teacher, my grandfather. He’s taught everyone, including Kaboge Chagalla (a famous Nairobi percussionist) and Mwatela Kamanza (pictured in the far right of the gr…
How music archives can help communities News
…end of this week we will be on the road in Uganda, travelling to the north of the country for our latest field recording visit. It’s 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 trad…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Obuell-Lira to Soroti Story
…a long, nightmare journey to Kampala. The Macedonia Band We met the leader of the Macedonia Band at the Soroti Hotel and he led us to his village, Obuell-Lira, a 30 minute drive down rich clay roads. On the way, Joshua told us about the history of the group, which was founded 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…
Singing Wells – The Story So Far News
…lished a beautiful hardback book about Singing Wells which tells the story of the project to date, starting with our launch in 2011 when we travelled to Kenya’s Coastal Region to record the music of the Mijikenda. Full of stunning photos and excerpts from our field reports, the 110 page book is a detailed representation of our mission to celebrate and share the unique cultural music heritage of East Africa. Support the Singing Wells project and…
Northern Uganda: Day 5 – from Pakwach to Soroti (a road trip) Story
…rmed with knives and machetes cutting down the tall grasses on either side of the road. The long grasses are then laid down to dry, looking like long carpets. They are then bundled up into long packets, about 6 feet long and 18 inches thick. The bundles are tied with ropes made of other plants. Each woman then pops one on her head and marches into the local market to sell a packet for about 2,000 Ugandan shillings ($1). By our calculation, that is…
Northern Uganda: Day 4 – night recording at Fort Murchison Story
…ternoon. 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, good lights attract bugs. These are Nile bugs, mind you, so in addition to the millions of little moths you’…
ATTA is following Singing Wells News
…during our field recording trips. I met Nigel Vere Nicoll, Chief Executive of the African Travel & Tourism Association and explained a little about Singing Wells and our aims to record and celebrate the cultural music heritage of East Africa. It seems Nigel liked what I told him! Operations Manager Lina Vaiksnoriene has been in touch and ATTA are now following our progress on our website and Facebook. We are delighted that Singing Wells is feature…
Reporting back on recording trip to Kisoro, SW Uganda News
…ry 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 ‘Influences’ – a series of new songs influenced and inspired by traditional themes. Our aim is to provide a lasting benefit for the Batwa community in Uganda and we are doing this through our contin…
Northern Uganda: Day 4 – Pakwach to Widiang’a, Nebbi Story
Another amazing start to the day. Today it was all about music of the Alur tribe. We drove from Pakwach across the Albert Nile Bridge into the Nebbi district to the village of Widyanga. The Music Alur Kingdom Troupe We set up amongst the ‘five layered’ thatched roof huts, settled down around the cows, goats and a really music loving chicken and recorded one single band, The Alur Kingdom Troupe, with every instrument imaginable: The Flute (yep, a…
Northern Uganda: Day 3 – from Gulu to Awach to Pakwach Story
…led in the beautiful village of Paibona Tuga, which is known for the music of the Likembe, the thumb piano. As yesterday, we settled under a big tree in the middle of the village, about 30 metres from some homes, and became surrounded first by goats and then by children. The musicians gradually arrived over the next forty minutes, usually by bike, with either a Likembe or some other percussion. Most of the children settled under the same tree our…
A day in the field with Singing Wells News
…me 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 equipment. Typically the tea…
UOBDU report on Singing Wells visit to the Batwa, Kisoro Uganda News
…year since we took the Singing Wells project to Kisoro to record the music of the Batwa. Since then we have been pleased to hear news updates from our friends and hosts at UOBDU about the Batwa communities we visited. This week UOBDU Coordinator Zaninka Penninah sent a detailed report to us with feedback about all the music groups who performed for the Singing Wells project. The good news is that being involved in the project seems to have given t…
Northern Uganda: Day 2 – from Gulu to Acet Story
…was up by 6:20AM but about half the group suffered through bad music most of the night. We tucked into a breakfast of fruit, bread, potatoes and sausage and then headed off to Gulu (via a trip to pick up a generator, a bunch of electric cables and Big Jimmy our Acet Coordinator, below). It was a beautiful day with stunning blue skies and we drove for about 80 kilometers in glorious sunshine through village after village until we reached Acet, whe…