The Boy with the Headphones Story
…g appeared to be spectacular, with the lush valley and terraced hills of local farms as a backdrop and the magnificent Virunga volcanos in the distance. But we were quickly struck by the impoverishment of this small community. As we arrived, a group of women were gathered on a muddy terrace, washing their babies in a small plastic bowl. Rather self-consciously, we began to set up the equipment in amongst the tiny grass huts, the outdoor ‘kitchen’…
A day in the field with Singing Wells News
…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 team is ten people – a mix of technicians from both Nairobi based Ketebul Music and London based Abubilla Music. We are invariably joined by a local ‘fixer’ who will take us to the v…
Northern Uganda: Day 1 – Entebbe to Gulu Story
…with every household item imaginable on their heads and everywhere the magical colors of green grass against terracotta mud that seeps up the walls of every dwelling. Baboons and other monkeys hanging about on the sides of roads. We see these images and we hear the music of past trips. We even have one blog all about what we see on the road on the trip- we will spend a lot of time driving as our locations are spread about the North, but boy, there…
Background on the Music of Northern Uganda News
…n drum around the outside and women dance in the middle without drums (typically in Uganda, drums are only for men). A group of elderly men would perform it during the time of crowning the chief and then when he dies. It is also performed to entertain important personnel on big occasions. Being the only royal dance, it is one of the most important of the many dances of the Acholi: 2. We then plan to record a group performing the Otole war dance, a…
Lugbara Tribe Profile – Music of Northern Uganda News
…had the duty to protect his village hence all able-bodied men were automatically considered a soldier though this was not a permanent duty. Language: They are divided into many mutually intelligible dialects, but mainly they speak their own Lugbara language. Origins: The came into Uganda at the end of the 16th century. They were originally known as the Madi, their current name perhaps came to be used after the intrusion of the Khartoum Arab slaves…
Day 4: the Pokot Tribes Story
…d on our progress and had an extraordinary moment when we received a Skype call from Andy in the UK and he actually joined in a live Influences session! The Location We woke up after a second night in Kitale and drove 56 km to Kapenguria to record the Pokot tribes. The country side was beautiful – very hilly, with round thatch huts peppered along the green and red hills. Like Uganda and Rwanda, the countryside here is green with slashes of deep re…
Victoria’s reflections on the music of the Batwa Story
…e arrive in Kigali and we are all immediately struck by the airport – it’s calm, quiet and clean. There are no delays at immigration. It’s a breeze. It’s hard to believe we are in Rwanda as we are all very aware of the traumatic recent history of this tiny country. Our drivers arrive after a short delay. Arun and John. Jimmy hands me the Canon 60D – Roving Camera 2. I am offered the front seat in Arun’s Toyota van and so begins my role as videogra…
Day 2: Focus on the Nyatiti, Orutu and DRUMS! Story
…Nyatiti. The rest of the band added claps, dancing and wonderful backing vocals. We took a while to set up and the band took a nice break in the sunshine in front of the mud and straw hut. And here’s a close up of Organda: Now, let’s hear and watch him play: https://youtu.be/6Ayrekb9Qm0 https://youtu.be/Mqj8LYmbEJw https://youtu.be/B60npf2yLqU https://youtu.be/BQYtWOBQyBQ https://youtu.be/MJcIi3aY9zI Aloka Ohangla Group Fantastic group featuring…
News from the Batwa in Kisoro News
…11 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 caused their eviction from their traditional forest homes. You can read all about our trip to Uganda and hear the music…
Mufu Ndosi-Luvai – Crave Music News
…“I’m glad I came across Singing Wells. The production team goes all out to unearth East African traditional music, giving account of the people’s past and present through music. The recordings are a valuable treasure, since a lot of traditional African music often goes un-notated. Singing Wells is the much needed portal for ethnomusicology research in East Africa.” Publisher, Crave [music] Magazine. …
Reflections on the pilot phase by Pato News
…girls friends with my car! We met them later that evening at a restaurant called Sippers in Hurlinghan, having drinks and enjoying live music by Samba Mapangala, Winyo and Ayub Ogada. Jimmy was not aware that I kept on peeping to see the images my love was capturing. Day 2: Off to Malindi I was up by 5:00am in the morning, and was all showered and packed shortly after.I had breakfast and by 6:30 I was out of the house. Nairobi has serious traffic…
More Ketebul voices…Steve reports from the field News
…with Jimmy and Andy and headed to Sippers for drinks and dinner and a musical performance by Samba mapangala, Winyo, and Ayub Ogada, that he had organized to welcome our friends from Abubilla. We all joined them later, and I couldn’t believe how late it was when we finally left to go home. Jimmy made a point to check with me whether I knew when we were to depart from Nairobi according to my itinerary. Yes, Jimmy can be a funny guy. Day 2: The R…