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…no better than the other Batwa so I thank you for choosing me. I am happy 1000 times over. My message represents the rest of the Batwa people. I listened to the recording of my song – it was so nice, so sweet.’ The day ended with her joyfully dancing to her own record, with her newborn baby in her arms. It was a moment that made so much of the work put in by the entire team completely worth it. And it has inspired us to continue searching for more…
What We Do Page
…w generation of musicians and listeners who might not consider it relevant today. So we have developed the Influences series: new compositions comprising a fusion of traditional and contemporary styles, themes, harmonies and instruments. Influences is led by musicians from Ketebul Music or singer/songwriters from the areas we are travelling to during our field visits. “Singing Wells can’t be just about archiving. We can’t be fossil collectors. We…
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…
Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…his name is a sign of respect – think, ‘Old Man Morris’. He was born in 1920. At two years old, he lost his sight as a result of a bout of small pox. He died in 1999. Throughout his long life he drummed. Here’s Leo Mkanyia , our 2017 Influences Artist, describing his experience listening to Mzee Morris’s music: “He wasn’t normal. He plays his drums like a guitar. You have to listen very carefully to realize not only is he keeping the beat, but h…
Our journey to the Royal Drums: in the words of James Isabirye Story
…are? This matter has concerned a circle of my friends deeply since around 2003 and we’ve all tried to deal with it. I have a circle I talk to all the time about this, including Julius Kyakuwa, Centurio Balikoowa, Haruna Walusimbi, Sarah Mukyala and Cornelius Mwima. We all understand that without intervention, somehow, all this music – all this culture will die. But we also know that the issue will always be resources: how do we bring new resources…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 2 – Flutes Story
…ul Studios: we identified a whole set of extraordinary musicians from our 2013 visit to Uganda and have invited them back to do studio recordings. But today, we focused on two things: 1) Discussing in detail some of our observations from our time exploring the royal instruments of the Kingdoms of Uganda. 2) Recording again Albert Ssempeke’s Buganda Music Ensemble. Given that we first decided to rediscover the Royal Drums after recording Albert’s g…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 1 – Reflections Story
…13 visit to Uganda and have invited them back to do studio recordings. But today, we focused on two things: 1) Discussing in detail some of our observations from our time exploring the royal instruments of the kingdoms of Uganda 2) Recording again Albert Ssempeke’s Buganda Music Ensemble. Given that we first decided to rediscover the Royal Drums after recording Albert’s group in 2013, we wanted to end this field visit with his recordings Part one:…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 2 – Interviews with Musicians of Uganda’s Royal Palaces Story
…s at the palace for generations. I started to play at the palace in the 1940’s and believe I was born around 1929. Sadly, at the time of Hugh Tracy I also wasn’t good enough to be on those recordings. We lived in the palace and when we were needed to play we played for the king. I loved it. During the attack in 1966 my friend and I were at home. After the attack we didn’t go back. But in 1967 they brought us back to pay some wages and thank us for…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 1- Drum Making and Palace Players Story
…the bottom and will wrap up from the bottom of the drum and end up about 50% up the drum’s length. So this piece was about 30% larger than the drum’s bottom, which is smaller than the top. 5. Stage one of stringing the drum In the first stage of stringing the drum, “you tie the top skin and bottom skin together with nylon strings then take the tied together drum and put this into the sun for 24 hours.” This is a hugely skilled job. Essentially, h…
Central and Eastern Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Jinja Story
…dying on the proverbial vine. James Isabirye found James Lugolole around 2005 and set out to restore the tradition. They formed a new group, which we recorded in 2013, and they re-discovered the gourd seeds and started coordinating farmers to grow the next generation of trumpets. There are now four trumpet groups and about 20 trumpets, with many more growing in the fields in different parts of Busoga. Everything about the Bigwala model has become…
Rediscovering the lost Royal Drums of the Buganda Kingdom: Day 1, Uganda Story
…nga. Centre: James Isabirye We have been working closely with James since 2013. During a conversation with James and Albert Ssempeke in 2013, we talked about reviving the Entenga, the Royal Drums of the Buganda Kingdom. Along with flutes, trumpets, strings and xylophones, the Entenga were part of a set of ‘royal instruments’ and much of the music was lost in 1966 when the palace of the Buganda Kingdom was attacked by government troops. The palace…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…African countries—Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania—covering an area of over 68,000 square kilometers. The Luo who live around its shores in Kenya speak a western Nilotic tongue distinctly different from their Bantu neighbours to the north and south, and their Kalenjin distant cousins to the east. The Luo comprise close to 3 million people. Their forefathers migrated south from the Bahr al Ghazal region in what is today know as Southern Sudan in a stead…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11: Ketebul Studios, Nairobi Story
…Osala on guitar and Enos Okola on percussion; they played throughout the ’60’s and ’70’s. Their style was linked to three part harmonies, two finger picked guitars and a ‘fanta bottle percussionist.’ In the 80’s, Shem formed a new band, Les Bunyore , before reforming Abana ba Nasery in the ’90’s. We recorded six songs with him. Muhanna Mulando Obuyanzi Kali Munda Olubo Mary Queen John Nzanze One of the founders of “African Twist”, John enjoyed a m…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 1 – Nairobi to Kiongwe to Muranga Story
We all met at the Fairview at 5:30 AM, packed and departed at 6:00AM, travelling from Nairobi to Kitui, on the Mombasa Road, arriving at 10:00AM. We picked up our local contact, Dominic Mukora, and drove to the Kiongwe Market to record our first group. Here’s our route: The site passed the first Singing Wells test, lots of chickens and children; we find their noises the perfect backing track for all our recordings. The market structures were beau…
Central Uganda: Day 7 – A Magic Day in Entebbe Story
…no better than the other Batwa so I thank you for choosing me. I am happy 1000 times over. My message represents the rest of the Batwa people. I listened to the recording of my song – it was so nice, so sweet.’ But we had one last special treat of music. We then played for Jovah an influences session with Eddie Grey, where he produced Inyange. We played it back to her and she danced with her new baby, Gerald, for the full song. She said that her h…
A Tanzanian Effort to Salvage the Music of the Past News
…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 Heritage Project is certainly a daunting one. But Benson is convinced that once it’s made available, his fellow Tanzanians will rediscover their love for muziki wa dansi. Nor is it just about Tanzania; Benson also has a bigger point to prove abou…