Buganda Music Ensemble Group
Buganda Music Ensemble: founded in 2004 and led by Albert Bisaso Ssempeke Jr, son of the legendary Dr. Albert Ssempeke Senior. Music style: Kiganda Song Meanings “Ggangalwa”: A king servant tried to play with the princess. All women in the palace, however, are controlled and possessed by the king. He was punished by cutting off his fingers. His friends eventually found out due to all the rumors circulating the palace. They tried to ask him abo…
Here for the Music? Page
…ible team also find moments to take some beautiful photography of our surroundings. Head here to see some images of our time on the field, the people we meet and the stunning scenery. YouTube You can find the full collection of our video recordings on our Youtube channel. With over 500+ videos for you to choose from, delve into the world of East African music and dance with us. “We set out on this mission not to become ‘fossil collectors’… We wo…
Day Five: January 22, 2019 Mwanza Continued Story
…Kagera Bukoba and part of the Wahaya Community, this group was formed in 2000 and performs in the Akasimbo style. Their instruments are: Kangote (Drums), Akafotho (hand whistling), Enganja: Clapper – two wooden ‘bricks’ struck together, and they wear Ebisheshe (grasses). We recorded four performances: Wachumba Walya: A song about someone who is too mean-spirited to support his community even though he has lots of money, it is about a man “who eats…
Elgon Ngoma Troupe Group
…the local mountain) Ngoma (generic term for drums) Troupe and starting in 2009 played all sorts of functions that would bring money in to support the band members, all of which live on the premises. Shortly after, a friend of Julius’s donated some brass instruments and Julius started a brass band, called the Elgon Hero Brass Band. When you combine the two bands, the traditional and the new brass sound, Julius says, they blew audiences’ minds. As t…
The Revival of the Entongooli Page
…rs. Some of the instruments that Mr Mukadisi has in his position are over 100 years old. Once the correct tree has been found that is of an appropriate age, around 10 years old so the wood is fully formed, it is chopped down and into smaller pieces to begin the drying process. When the wood has appropriate time to dry, it is prepared for chopping and shaping, and the next process of preserving the wood through the use of animal dung. More on that…
Global Influences Project: Artist Submissions Page
…lowing Amina Muta on Facebook. ATIENO OLUOCH X ADUNGU CULTURAL TROUPE This newest submission is called Wena and is by Atieno Oluoch. We loved the vocals and the way they complimented the rhythmic musical workings of the Adungu Cultural Troupe. This new version gave us summer vibes and felt incredibly uplifting! “I’m humbled by this opportunity and glad to have participated in the Singing Wells global project. When I picked the loop, I thought of c…
FAQ’s Page
…ideo has a donation button associated with it and you can donate £1, £5, £10,£20 or £50 to help support a music group you particularly like. Find us on YouTube here. If I support you where will the money go? How do I know it will be well spent? Donations to Singing Wells can be made through The Abubilla Music Foundation. Your donation will be restricted for use in East Africa to support the project goals. You can specify just how much you would li…
Privacy Policy Page
…. Why are we telling you this? Well the European Union have introduced a new directive that makes it a requirement for websites to get consent for using cookies. Nothing has changed at singingwells.dev – except for the little cookie triangle in the bottom corner of the screen. The Cookies that we use are very much standard and in the true spirit of Abubilla Music and the foundation, we like to be open with you about our methods and how and why w…
Mission Page
…shared amongst the widest audiences and become a source of inspiration for new musicians. Aims of the Singing Wells Project East Africa is a region with a diverse cultural heritage. Its borders encompass a multitude of different ethnic groups, each with their own unique traditions and histories, languages and dialects, religions and beliefs, ways of dressing, music and dance. We believe the importance of preserving music traditions cannot be under…
Tarajazz Group
…rom Zanzibar) with Singeli (a new tribal rhythm). Taarab came from early 1800’s as Egyptian music. In Zanzibar the Mother of Taarab, Siti Binti Saad, made Taarab more popular in the 1920’s to 1950’s. We spoke to Hassan Mahenge, the assistant director of this band. He is a teacher at the DCMA. He teaches the Oud and plays the saxophone. All the students at the DCMA study traditional music such as Taarab as well as Western music. Members of the grou…
Royal Entenga Drummers Group
…ight of the attack itself (more on this here). James met him and realised that together they could begin to build the drums. Working closely with Albert and Shaban, a professional drummer who now leads the new band, they built a new set of Royal Drums, recruited a team of passionate drummers to learn how to play the drums, learned to tune the drums and ultimately learned to play new music….
Kidedeya Group
From Kagera, Kidedeya was formed in 2005 or 2009, and performs in the Omusingero style. Their instruments are: Ng’oma (Drums) and Nyimba (Shakers). This was a group of wonderful dancing and costume changes. Every song a new and wonderful outfit. We recorded six performances: Omusingero: A song about playing the drums and dancing Nchuma: A song about traditional music that the elders love to play Mrondogomo: A wedding song Kidedeya: A send off son…
Day Four: February 19, 2020 (Maruhabi Palace) Story
…nger), Heri Kombo (drums) Songs: Mwaludeje – Tradition after the harvest. New composition. Mjomba – Uncle, celebrating the good hunt. New composition Uye – Come Back Please, used at a wake after someone is buried. New composition. Uringe – Be Proud. Old Traditional song Kyaso – old traditional Zanzibarian song of celebration Mnyamwana – Respect for women. New Composition. They sang in a combination of Hehe and Kigogo, both languages from ma…
Kirundo Group
…r the harvest. New composition. Mjomba – Uncle, celebrating the good hunt. New composition Uye – Come Back Please, used at a wake after someone is buried. New composition. Uringe – Be Proud. Old Traditional song Kyaso – old traditional Zanzibarian song of celebration Mnyamwana – Respect for women. New Composition. They sang in a combination of Hehe and Kigogo, both languages from mainland Tanzania, as well as Swahili. They had incredible energy an…
2. Naizungwe Drums – progress report 1 Story
…ded to make many because we would like to have enough drums for training a new generation of players. However, the basic number includes: 1 large Uganda drum (played with short heavy beaters) 3 smaller drums (played with long curved sticks) 1 medium drum (played with sticks) 1 long drum (ngalabi – hand-beaten) All together, 6 drums. Therefore, we are making four sets of naizungwe drums mainly to facilitate learning.” Below is a video documenting t…
1. Introducing the Naizungwe drums Story
…ms that James talks about: http://www.singingwells.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Peter-Cooke-naizungwe-recording-1.mp3 http://www.singingwells.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Peter-Cooke-naizungwe-recording-2.mp3 What makes this project particularly exciting, is the difference of approach required compared to the entenga drums. With the entenga we found a surviving old master player (Musisi) who was able to teach a younger generation of musicians…