Christine Kamau – “The Jazzist” News
…ge of support from Afro-Jazz trumpeter and composer, Christine Kamau….. Hello Victoria! Thanks for getting in touch! I have checked out you project…it’s great that you are dedicated to keeping indigenous music alive..#very best wishes and I hope we can keep in touch. Christine BBC Africa Beats: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17831507 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thejazzist Reverbnation: https://www.reverbnation.com/christi…
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
…very hard life, but a life full of spirited song and dance… and this lady is their wonderful lead vocalist… https://youtu.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 p…
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
…nces’ sessions with her. Until the music is ready, with think this village is best described through pictures: We arrived, greeted by lots of men and boys going back and forth to market, including this chap (later we’ll write on a blog on all the things folks carried on their head and bikes). And there’s always the wonderful backdrop of the Virunga Mountains. And the inevitable narrow path leading up to the village…. And after a relatively short…
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
…s hotel was an oasis to many scientists who came here before me.”. Fossey visited the hotel many, many times in the sixties, to do paperwork, to relax or to meet people. She defined the hotel as her “second home.” The photo shows us ‘on the road’ between Rwanda and Uganda, about to climb the second mountain range, just as the rains hit. We arrived safely, obviously, but hydro-planed a little too often, a little too close to 1,000 foot drops. We ar…
Day 1 & 2: Preparing to leave for Kisoro, Uganda Story
…ecording equipment: Because the ultimate goal of the Singing Wells Project is to helpother groups set up to expand the recording of tribal music in East Africa, we also use these blogs to also document our ‘way of working.’ The Gear: Let’s summarise what a the Singing Wells Kit is for a location shoot. We bring 7 bags to a site (the picture shows most of it); these are: SW1 and SW2: These are identifical Pelicases with Apple Laptops, Motu Mixer, H…
Diamond Jubilee Pageant at Windsor Castle News
…ifferent parts of the world, reflecting the countries which The Queen has visited during her reign. Representing Kenya, the show will feature: Performers from the Masai, Samburu, Luo, Kamba and Kikuyo tribes The Nairobi Chamber Chorus considered the topmost choir in Kenya today Cultural Pavilion At the entrance to Windsor Castle there will be a Cultural Pavilion which will contain a backdrop of graphic representations of all the countries th…
News from the Batwa in Kisoro News
…ion for Batwa Development in Uganda (UOBDU) this week. Just to re-cap, we visited Kisoro in southern Uganda in November 2011 to record the music and dance of the Batwa people. The Batwa are historically a nomadic tribe of forest dwellers who inhabited the mountainous regions across the borders of Uganda, Rwanda and DRC. They are now a largely marginalised group of people since a conservation programme to protect the mountain gorillas of the region…
Photos from the pilot phase Story
…We promised a final set of pictures and some further reflections. And we deliver. …
Kenya (Coast): Day 4 – the road back to Nairobi Story
…o do a fusion between Indian and Kenyan music. A common friend brought her to the studio. She liked what we were doing and she told us about Tabu Osusa. There was a function that Tabu attended and I went as well to me. I brought a demo CD and he listened to it . This was a Friday and on Monday I went to Ketebul and was hired. Told Tabu that I didn’t have experience but wanted to be a pro studio engineer. He agreed and I joined as apprentice in 200…
Kathy’s reflections on her Singing Wells experience News
…lso used as a way of passing on information and telling stories about the history of the tribes. Some songs were influenced by the Christian missionaries and had a gospel quality. Some of the stories in the songs were quite funny and I wish I could have understood all of the songs in more detail. The one singer who told his songs in detail was Ben Kisinja. For example his song about Sigerer, the bull, was actually more about how the miracle dog, J…
Kenya (Coast): Day 3 – our final recording day Story
…ast village. Enjoy…. Winyo and the kids… That’s enough for now. There’s 150 pictures more for every one we show, but the internet is too slow to keep posting Jimmy…