Tabu Osusa Staff Profile
…Kenyan Music“ project which seeks to discover and promote young talent, performing a blend of African music. The Kenyan government through its Ministry of National Heritage and Culture also supports this project. Tabu is also the Project Coordinator of Ketebul Music’s Retracing Series. Supported by the Ford Foundation Office of Eastern Africa, the Retracing Series is a research based documentary project whose main objective is to research, archive…
Baseki Group
…gative thing, evoking witch doctors and snake oil salesmen. Simiyu: A song for praise for the region. Bahuni ba ng’wanza: A song referring to local women of questionable virtues Balimi: A song about farming where the band brought up children from the village and taught them about hoeing the soil to the song. Later we saw several videos of how this song is used in the fields to motivate farmers, who hoe to the beat. Throughout Tanzania, we saw scho…
Day Three: January 20th, 2019 Story
…gative thing, evoking witch doctors and snake oil salesmen. Simiyu: A song for praise for the region. Bahuni ba ng’wanza: A song referring to local women of questionable virtues Balimi: A song about farming where the band brought up children from the village and taught them about hoeing the soil to the song. Later we saw several videos of how this song is used in the fields to motivate farmers, who hoe to the beat. Throughout Tanzania, we saw sc…
Imachina Group
…is for weddings. The songs include: Hoya: This is encouraging the groom to forward and be welcome. Mbabo: This is about everyone coming together for the wedding. Khuchende Pole: This song is telling everyone to walk slowly to and from the wedding so all the people can gather and honour the bride and groom. The Shishebo process – this is about rites of passage, and specifically male circumcision. The songs include: Bikubanda: This is a song that mo…
The Music of the Mijikenda Album
…th captured in Kibarani village, further south from Sila, and then further south again, later in the day – Supaki Kalazo and Sengenya recorded in Junda, Mombasa. We then headed to the South Coast and recorded in Vuga, Kwale County. The ZigiDigi Cultural Troupe and Muungano Kayamba providing the music. The album also includes two ‘influences’ recordings – one including Ketebul artist Winyo with Nyerere Wa Konde and his son Mr Bado. The other is Win…
Martin Fredrick Muyeshi Staff Profile
…ry, specifically the episode “Death in Ten Minutes” as a cameraman. In his free time he was freelancing as a music photojournalist/cameraman to gain more experience. He also joined Royal Media Services’ Citizen TV where he worked on the TV programmes Tabasamu, Nairobi Law andMashtakaas a Director of Photography and a Lighting technician. He later joined Ketebul Studio, where he went on to work on several studio projects, among them the studio’…
What We Do Page
…of their music groups. We are committed to supporting traditional music performance in rural East Africa as we believe that this not only serves to promote and preserve the cultural heritage of a community but is also a key indicator of the sustainability of that community. “While fragile, intangible cultural heritage is an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of growing globalization. An understanding of the intangible c…
Eridat Makwiri Group
…ould go complaining to the husband. The message in the song is to not wait for everything to be done for you. “Paulo Wawanyera”: This is someone’s name, meaning Paul, son of Wawanyera. Paul was a chief. He visited certain places and found they had made him party with lots of food and drink. He actually visited his brother in law who was jealous of him as a chief. So he decided to poison him. The singer is trying to warn Paul that his death is comi…
Day Five: February 20, 2020 (DCMA) Story
…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), Nyemo Mopana…
Day Six: January 24, 2019 From Mwanza to Dodomo to Nzali to Nairobi Story
…he most extraordinary set of customs – human shakers! We recorded seven performances: Intro, Freestyle recording of their entrance. Masasi: the celebration song after circumcision completed Nindo: Song on social issues Muhene: Song during girl ceremony where she reaches puberty and now must be hidden from village for 40 days (song acts out how girl learns to reject the advances of men, represented by two men playing shakers) Muziki: A song to gain…
Instruments Introduction Page
…we are at times, recording instruments that we have never seen or heard before. In some cases we manage to purchase instruments for our own Singing Wells instrument collection back in the UK. Where we find an instrument that we have not seen before, we make sure we record it, photograph it and research it. This page features a selection of the instruments we have found so far on our travels. The instruments are tagged by their ethnicity, thei…
Watmon Cultural Group Group
…Eventually he had people coming to him asking to be a part of it, and from that point the group became an institution. In the fallout of the war against Idi Amin’s regime, many people were looking for an escape, and the troupe presented just such an opportunity. The group performed for President George Bush during a state visit to Uganda. They were also recorded in 2012 for the BBC’s World Routes album, presented by ethnomusicologist Lucy Duran. T…
Nyota Ze Meremeta Group
…tel for over twenty years and teaches at the Dhow Countries Music Academy. For 50 years he’s taught music in Zanzibar and promotes other musicians. Other members of this group include: Ramadhan Muhidan (accordion), Ali Ibrahim Musa (Kanan or Qanun), Tatu Hamisi Amur (accordion), Asha Khemisi Amur (violin) and Malick Anas (fiddle). Malick is 75 and has played with the Professor since 1961. All songs were very Arab influenced by all the lyrics are S…
Matende Culture Isukuti Youth Group Group
…essions’ for different ceremonies, so we asked them to play a couple songs for each type of ceremony. They performed the following: Songs around a “Bull Fight” or Mayo Dance Woyo: The song you sing as you move to the venue to watch two bulls fight Ndulu Mumbo: The song you sing to celebrate the winning bull Songs around a funeral (Lwikhulu): Tsimbasi Tsia Mama: A song to console the mother who has lost a loved one. Mwoyo Kulimbila Mwikulu: After y…
Day 5 – Wednesday 5th July 2017 Story
…me in Nyahera location, not far from Kisumu town, and conducted a long yet free of form type of interview. Although a Luo himself, Ayub had never learned how to play the nyatiti in a traditional setting. He picked it up later in his career and studied from a player/teacher at the national cultural centre of Bomas of Kenya in the 1980s. He remembers he had gone for 6 lessons (at a 100 shillings) only and then continued practicing and experimenting…
Get on the Map Page
…the Dropbox – go to: http://soundcloud.com/singingwells/dropbox Note: submission of the form grants The Singing Wells project permission to embed any links contained within the form on the map of East Africa. Submission of the form does not guarantee that your group or music will be featured on the map….