The Singing Wells podcast #5 Podcast
…Edition 5 of the Singing Wells podcast is here – with a bit of a catch up on the latest news from the past 12 months of the Singing Wells project. Click here to download Podcast 5…
Day 1 – Saturday 1st July 2017 Story
…ch part of the region the instrument first originated in – South Nyanza or Central Nyanza; ‐ Discussion on the nyatiti gender taboo (whether a woman is or is not traditionally allowed to play the nyatiti and the reasons why); ‐ Mention of a Cultural Festival which takes place every year on 27th December and hosts several local nyatiti players; ‐ Discussion on whether a good nyatiti maker needs to be able to play the instrument as well; ‐ Names of…
Arrival to Rwanda, Background and Objectives Story
…y are in action: In first picture below, you see: Further away, Patrick on Central Video, Steve on Audio, Drix on Close Up video, Producer Shunkyz on audio and closest to camera, Jado our local musical expert. Hunter, our Roving Video, is, well… roving. You see him below this first picture in the yellow cap. Below him is Patrick and Steve, the core of Ketebul who have been with us since Day One. In addition to the core tech team, we are delighted…
Kirundo Group
Kirundo performs in a fusion of traditional African rhythms from mainland Tanzania and Pemba, and contemporary African sounds. The three young men are all students at the DMCA performing with a well known drummer and teacher of music. This band has been together for 2 years. 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 someo…
Global Influences Project: Loop Library Page
…common focus on using music as a tool for community development. The group promotes traditional African values and acts in both education and local economy. Members also engage in traditional crafts like basket weaving and jewellery making for exhibition and sale. You can learn more about the group here. You can watch the full visual performance of this song on our Youtube channel by clicking here. Download the loop singingwells · SW Samples – Ekh…
3. Background of the Naizungwe drums Story
…more political structures [ie. the eleven chiefdoms] were demonized by the central government and all meetings at that level stopped. When the top structures died, the clan structures also weakened because clan leaders did not answer to anybody higher. Eventually clans and their values weakened. As a result, clan regalia such as naizungwe became extinct because clan meetings ceased to take place in the original manner. Other factors that eroded tr…
Ekhunjwe Musical Group Group
…the group’s secretary Wilhemina Oduor, this is a very organized group of twenty eight (28) members coming from the different administrative areas of Samia district. Ekhunjwe ya Abasamiawas formed in April 2008 with common focus on using music as a tool for community development. The group promotes traditional African values and acts in both education and local economy. Members also engage in traditional crafts like basket weaving and jewellery ma…
Group 8: Abutazi Story
…self. And it goes straight into Amananga (this song is inspired by a South African music style called Amapiano, but they’ve done their own Rwandan version on the inanga, hence “Amananga”). The song Amananga is another ode to the sound of the Inanga and how overwhelming it is. X and Y – this was the last song from the group together and “X and Y” translates to the same in English, talking about two unknown quantities. This is a playful counting son…
Upendo Jazz Group
…is from the Murangi Village in the Mara 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 p…
Mission Page
…Kenya, a non-profit organisation committed to identifying, preserving and promoting the diverse music traditions of East Africa. The project is supported by our UK charity, The Abubilla Music Foundation. Our goal is to record, archive and share the traditional music of East Africa for two important reasons – to sustain and celebrate the extraordinary cultural music heritage of the region and to help make this legacy relevant and fresh to today’s…
Guy Morley Staff Profile
…nd worked with a host of artists in the UK, Nigeria, Tanzania and Kenya. …
Ketebul Music Group
…ablished in early 2007 with the ambitious vision to carry out research and promote the diverse fusion of traditional sounds of Kenya and East Africa through the documentation and archiving of the work of musicians who have shaped the various genres of music from the region over the past six decades. In broader terms, intensive research carried out by Ketebul Music involves the musicians themselves, their families, industry players such as producer…
Introduction: Project overview and objectives Story
…ing and documenting master players and instrument makers of various Kenyan/African instruments as they: a) Make their respective instruments; b) Tune the said instruments; c) Give master classes to other musicians of those particular instruments; d) Give short brief direction/instructions on how they approach basic training for beginners interested in learning their particular instruments. Thus, the focal areas for research and filming are inst…
Kiplagat Edwin Kwambai aka Fifty Cows Staff Profile
…enjin, which was the focus area for the Singing Wells project at the time. Fifty Cows went on to be the main contact person and “fixer” for the project. In 2014, the Singing Wells again called on Fifty Cows for the first Repatriation Project by the International Library of African Music, which was supported by the Singing Wells. This repatriation project involved retracing and locating surviving musicians who had been recorded and their music arch…
Day Two: February 17, 2020 (Stonetown) Story
…oup include: Mohamed Othman Faki – leader, on violin, Kheri Mizaka Aliy on African Bass, Makame Ali Juma on drum, Buruhami Makame Haji on 2nd drum, Mgeni Seleiman Makame on sticks, Said Ame Othman on shakers, Aikazija Abdala Ame -dancer, Mirianaharus Juma Hamis – dancer. All sang but Mohamed Othman Faki was lead singer. Sanduku , the bass, was a homemade bass made of a large box with a small hole cut out in the front. It had a large stick which t…
Tarajazz Group
…ied classical piano and music. He became interested in Jazz and created an African fusion of Taarab and Jazz about two years ago. The name of his band changed from Mansule to Tarajazz. He combined African rhythms such as Msewe and Kyaso (both from 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 spok…