Day Zero: 6 March 2022 – Travel To Stream Story
…s for musicians based in remote areas. Our mission to travel and stream in Western Kenya was made possible by funds from Hivos, with the additional support from the Abubilla Foundation. Travel to Stream After one week’s training and familiarization with the new software and equipment, we took the road to Western Kenya on the morning of Sunday, 6 March 2022. The Ketebul Music team met at our new offices at the GoDown Arts Centre on Kayahwe Road off…
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…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…ur experimental fusion of contemporary elements with traditional sounds of Western Kenya region. Dave and I go back a long way as we worked together on several musical projects under the Nairobi City Ensemble. Other notable projects with Dave were during the period of Spotlight on Kenyan Music, which was a collaboration between Ketebul Music and the Alliance Française in Nairobi. Mention should also be made of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in…
Dodo Group feat. Ogoya Nengo Group
…Music of the Luo Rang’ala, Nyanza province, Western Kenya Lead Vocalist: Ogoya Nengo…
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…
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…mas of Kenya, a national dance troupe tasked with the mission to preserve, promote and showcase Kenyan traditional music and dance worldwide. She has been a scientific advisor with Ketebul Music since 2015 and worked on Ngoma Zetu (2016) and Singing Wells Masters of the Nyatiti(2017) and Signing Wells Western Kenya (2018) projects. We loved having Kahithe on board with us for several of our projects, as her expertise gave a different level of unde…
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
…allen out of fashion in recent years, with most Tanzanian youth preferring Western imports. “My music is no longer on the radio. That’s why people don’t know about it anymore”, he laments. “There needs to be more of an effort to teach young people about the music of the past, so they will like it.” With an estimated 250,000 hours of material on reel-to-reel tapes and vinyl records, some of it in an advanced state of decay, the task of the Tanzania…
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…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…Steve, Patrick, Jacinta, Nick and Robert voted fish and went off the local casino for ‘the best fish in Uganda.’ Tabu was smartest of all, of course, and convinced the kitchen to cook fish in the traditional Kenyan style AND went to sleep early. We loved recording at the hotel so much that we convinced tomorrow’s group, the Nile Beat, to meet us in the hotel gardens tomorrow morning so we could record them before packing up for Kampala. That’s it,…
Rediscovering Afropop and its influences News
…ts – particularly some musical instruments and recording techniques – from Western music. Last week I was in a taxi driving through Nairobi’s Westlands and talking to a girl about Sauti Sol – one of Kenya’s most popular bands. She described their music as ‘Afropop’, a contemporary music genre that combines traditional African music and Western popular music. Afropop influences The Sauti Sol band members have named a musician that influences them a…
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
…– 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 oversees two groups made up of 160 members, of which 100 are performers. With the youth centre, although…
A History of Recording East African Music News
…an out of funding. He became a broadcaster, utilising every opportunity to promote African music. However, he could not stay away from Africa long, and in 1946 realised someone needed to fully dedicate their time to “appraising the social value” of traditional African music, otherwise it would disappear. Tracey would have to step up and be that someone, especially at a time when African radios wanted to broadcast in their own regional vernaculars…