Fundraiser for Matthew Watmon News
…s may be able to help us. If you are based in East Africa, please get in touch with Matthew’s brother, Constantine Odida ((MTN) +256-782-236-742 and (Airtel) +256-704-261-037). If you are based elsewhere in the world, we have created a GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-mathew-watmon The donors of Abubilla Music Foundation, who support the Singing Wells project, will match these contributions up to £1000 so we greatly appreciate you…
The Revival of Ohangla Music! News
…’s song Kanungo Eteko is massive on Youtube, and we were lucky enough to record him in one of our sessions in Nyanza here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPaBQwODTtU…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 1- Drum Making and Palace Players Story
…bengwa Drum Makers (P.O. Box Mukono near Colline Hotel, Jinja Highway, opposite the Pork Joint). The shop is run by Abass Mirimu, a gentleman from the famous village of Mpambire which is known for its drum makers. Abass was the maker of some of the Entenga drums (the royal drums of the Buganda King). Above: Abass Mirimu To be specific, in the 15 drum set up we described here, Abass made the three standalone drums on the far right of the set up. We…
Support for the Elgon Ngoma Troupe News
…ckgrounds through performance of traditional music, through breeding and meat production. Donate to Elgon Ngoma’s gofundme page here! And you can watch one of their brilliant performances, recorded on our 2014 field trip, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkyDtBXfunI Watch Julius, the leader of the group, explain who the Elgon Ngoma troupe is, and their mission: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5Wk0YnbByk&fbclid=IwAR27BBeDBEx-5jMqkKxFTL9vtS5Nx…
Remembering Our First Ever Influences Session 8 Years Ago News
…ng as his family and Winyo performed this great improvised session. Stay tuned for exciting announcements about the 10th anniversary of Singing Wells! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8zR1Hq0VXc&lc=z232gt5hrrr5jbjpz04t1aokg3gsm0mrvnsg3wkih113bk0h00410…
Rediscovering the lost Royal Drums of the Buganda Kingdom: Day 1, Uganda Story
November 30: Meeting the professor and his students https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpG0HLNxVQA The Singing Wells team united in Nairobi on November 28th and flew together to Kampala on November 29th. We are: Tabu Osusa, Jimmy Allen, Steve Kivutia, Patrick Ondiek, Hunter Allen and Nick Abonyo. After a night at the Fairway Hotel, we met James Isabirye at his university, Kyambogo University, to record the Entenga. Centre: James Isabirye We have be…
The Return of Bigwala News
…over 100 students have been trained in building the instruments, and have played at two royal celebrations. There seems to be a promising future for this important thread in the tapestry of Uganda’s cultural history. Sources: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ugandan-music-bigwalahttps://ich.unesco.org/en/news/uganda-young-ugandans-mobilized-for-safeguarding-bigwala-music-and-dance-00251https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1333991/bigw…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11:An Interview with Gregg Story
…away they formed a leading party, singing the whole time as we exited the site. It was not a performance. It wasn’t even really thanking us. It was simply their joy. It was very deep. And it made me think back to my village life. When we gathered for big celebrations, the entire village took to the road to walk for miles to a central location. We walked all night. And we sang all night. The old people walking with the children, all of us singing….
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 4 – Nkubu to Mukuuni to Nairobi Story
…ith sequential breakfast order and departed for Mukuuni: We arrived on the site, the playing fields of the Mukuuni High School. We’re here to record one band, the Original Chuka Drummers, led by Eustace Mjuki Bundi. They are 30 males who all play drums except for their banner waver. They were formed in 1930 and have spawned so many imitations that they had to add the word ‘original’ to their name. They are Ameru, of Tharakanithi County. The group…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 3 – Nkubu to Mariene to Murungurune to Nkubu Story
…t will help them with the circumcision. They are then told to march to the site of the circumcision itself – in Steve’s case, this was a hike to his grandfather’s village. Along the way, the boys are shouted at and pushed around by other men. Women and boys are meant to stay back, and if they do get close to the young boys under-going the ritual, the boys are meant to try to beat them up. The boys are naked but have a Chinyimba on their wrist, whi…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 2 – Muranga to Kangema to Nkubu Story
…in Kisoro (SW Uganda), we nonetheless had to take our 44 bags down to the site. We set up under a tree and recording 4 separate groups, all of whom stayed for the day. The 80 or so band members, all in full costume, were scattered across our 100 meter field. Unfortunately, the field was also shared by biting red ants – this created some interesting video moments, trying to keep the camera steady, while large chunks of your lower leg were being ca…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 1 – Nairobi to Kiongwe to Muranga Story
…day we focus on roles/responsibilities of the core team. On arrival at the site, we divide into three teams: Interview Team This team is typically Tabu Osusa, who acts as the on-site Singing Wells representative, formally meeting the band and handling all their questions about the project and their role in it. Tabu is typically joined by our local music expert, in this case Gregg, who took the lead in interviews. Gregg has a worksheet prepared in…
Central Uganda: Day 7 – A Magic Day in Entebbe Story
…away from home. Recording at the Airport Guesthouse, Entebbe The Recording Site: The guesthouse has a lovely garden and we set up in one corner so we could run the recordings from one of our rooms. The setting is generally quiet, but it is in the name really – we are near the airport. Every day for an hour or two, the local military facility likes to start up all their helicopters. This is noisy. We had to shift recording at that point to inside o…
Central Uganda: Day 6: Kampala to Entebbe Story
…ch more drama to the equation.” Here’s their music The Journey to the Next Site We then packed up and left the University Grounds and headed back into Kampala to the Uganda Museum. The Recording Site We set up directly in the Museum grounds and were surrounded by an open air museum which was a collection of traditional grass thatched huts from throughout Uganda. Fairly surprised museum guests stopped to watch us. A slightly miffed grass cutter pol…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…morning, other than to gather in the garden after breakfast. The Recording Site We woke, had an early breakfast, packed the personal luggage and then set up a recording session in the beautiful gardens of the Gately Hotel. The Nile Beat Artists The Nile Beat Artists joined us over the morning and we were ready to record at about noon. There were founded in 1990. The group were voted group of the year in Uganda in 2004. Their leader is Haruna Walus…
Interview: fusion band Ndoto Afrika News
…ndow Shopping tune all day). We interviewed them to find out more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeRj9BrTT20 Hi Holly. Tell us about yourself and Ndoto Afrika – what’s your story? They say stories live forever and one famous Kenyan writer keeps saying that a story is good, until another is told. We are here to share with the world how wonderful it is to be born and raised in Africa. Sadly, the urban African youths are so consumed with the modern…