Day Five: February 20, 2020 (DCMA) Story
…ul, dynamic fusion of Taarab, Traditional African rhythms and contemporary Western and African sounds. Performers: Tarajazz: Suleiman Makame (keyboard, director), Hassan Mahenge (Saxophone, assistant director), Mahsin Basalama (contra base), Christopher Weston (Cajon and high hat), Regina Juma (singer). There was supposed to be a violin player but unfortunately he couldn’t make it. Kirundo: Lukoa Nenes (sticks), Joshua Muyumovela ( shakers), N…
The Sega Sega Band Group
…Music of the Luo Rang’ala, Nyanza province, Western Kenya Lead Vocalist: Osumba Rateng…
Tarajazz Group
…the students at the DCMA study traditional music such as Taarab as well as Western music. Members of the group: Suleiman Makame (keyboard, director), Hassan Mahenge (Saxaphone, assistant director), Mahsin Basalama (contra base), Christopher Weston (Cajon and high hat), Regina Juma (singer). There was supposed to be a violin player but unfortunately he couldn’t make it. Songs: Alamina Dura – The orbit of the Gods Pakistan – written by Siti Binti Sa…
Dodo Group feat. Ogoya Nengo Group
…Music of the Luo Rang’ala, Nyanza province, Western Kenya Lead Vocalist: Ogoya Nengo…
Page
…Recording the Mperwa Dancers Recording the Batwa The Batwa of Kisoro Album Promotion of Batwa Culture – UOBDU Report #2 – Finding the Lost Voices of East Africa Letting Voices Be Heard Our mission at Singing Wells has always been to preserve the rich musical heritage of East Africa, whilst also promoting the importance of introducing this music to a wider audience so that this heritage doesn’t get lost. So many of our favourite moments, as you hav…
Group 6: Sudi Mavenge Story
…Rwandan board game) – this is about a Rwandan board game that people would bet their Inyambo cows for. If you won, you’d win two Inyambo cows. But if you lost, you’d donate your son to the King’s Palace to join the army. As the song says, if you’re going to play, be sure you’re ready. Simbi – this is a love song for Sudi’s wife, Simbi. It’s about how back when he was 27, many boys were running after her but they had no plans for marriage – but he…
Upendo Jazz Group
…a Region and their community is Wajita and their style is Vidogori. They were founded in 1999. Their instruments included: Ngoma za Budogori (drums, with a kick) and Njiga (shakers from gourds). It is worth taking a minute on the drums. They were typical African drums, but set up Western Style on a steel rack and they leaned one large bass drum against the rack. The drummer then built a separate wooden kick pedal, so he could play all the drums wi…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…music. The emergent African elite shunned these ethnic sounds in favour of Western music, which was viewed as being synonymous with “progress” and modernity. In later years, Congolese music would come to be viewed as more suitable entertainment for an emergent urban middle-class. These attitudes in part explain why artists who saw themselves as urbanites, preferred rumba, jazz and Western styles. They include Sila Gwada, father to Rocky and Paddy…
Latest Field Trip – Kenya 2018 News
…We’ve returned from our latest field trip, this time to western Kenya. Field reports coming soon….
A Tanzanian Effort to Salvage the Music of the Past News
…tage Project is scrambling to digitise reams of reel-to-reel tape recorded between the 1960s and 1980s, which has been literally rotting for decades in the moulding archives of the Tanzanian Broadcasting Corporation. Some has already deteriorated to the point where it’s unplayable, and the rest will suffer the same fate if nothing is done. The music they’re trying to save, called muziki wa dansi (“dance music” in Swahili), is not just catchy and d…
Kenya’s Amazing Musical Instruments News
…p called The Young Stars in the village of Rongo, not far from Homa Bay in western Kenya. Watch them here: Burkandit The Burkandit is a type of home-made guitar that features in Kalenjin music. We saw one being played in 2012 by the masterful Ben Kisinja in Kapsokwony, not far from Kitale. At the time Ben was joined by a percussionist playing the karachimek, which is essentially two sticks laid on the ground and played by two more sticks. Of cours…
Rediscovering Afropop and its influences News
…ional Benga sound is about 60 years old with its formative years occurring between the late 1950s and the 1960s. Its roots run deep in age-old Luo musical instruments. Singing Wells and the ‘bridge’ between traditional and modern Tracking the story of Sauti Sol’s musical influence excites us, as it’s a reminder of how important the Singing Wells mission is. When we learn that one of the most popular modern African bands is inspired and influenced…
Discussions on music and culture with a young Kenyan News
…e popular! So not all hope is lost for young Kenyans? Look, we aspire to a western life and we enjoy western music, but we have our own way of speaking in Kenya, our own slang – our own twist. There’s still some authenticity but it’s about mixes and making the most of these influences. We can’t go backwards but you could try and ensure that going forwards all is not lost for traditional music. How do you think Singing Wells could engage the youth…
Our top 5 Singing Wells songs for March News
…d the Otacho Young Stars group on a trip to record the music of the Luo in Western Kenya in December 2011. They were later invited to Ketebul Studios in Nairobi to form part of our influences series. I love this song because it’s cheery and upbeat. It’s the kind of song everyone should listen to when they wake up to start the day with positive vibes. 2. Ochieng Nelly – Osare I’ll admit, a few weeks ago I knew very little about the history of Benga…
Current Leading Figures News
…truggling to pay the university tuition fees, he saw how he could create a better life for himself – but most importantly others – through the power of both traditional and Western music. “Do I want another semester of education, with no promise I will be able to fund another, or can I take this money and start to make a difference?” He took the money and invested in the traditional kadodi drum. From only two members with drums, Julius now oversee…
A History of Recording East African Music News
…epted and spent the summer of 1968 at UCLA and then travelling to five Sub-Saharan countries, from Senegal to Kenya in the summer of 1969, with a stop off in Uganda on her way home. Here she encountered Evalisto Muyinda, an out of work court musician playing at the Kampala Museum. She was taken by the endingidi, the one-stringed fiddle he was playing; she made her first recording, using her friend’s recorder, and bought an endingidi from Muyinda….