Day Four: February 19, 2020 (Maruhabi Palace) Story
…is group 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. Performers: Lukoa Nenes (sticks), Joshua Muyumovela ( shakers), Nyemo Mopana (guitar, kalimba (hand held thumb piano), lead singer), Heri Kombo (drums) Songs: Mwaludeje – T…
Day 7: Friday, February 24th, 2017 Story
…hile at Nafasi Art Space, we met Rebecca Corey, who is the Director of the Tanzanian Heritage Project. This project is similar to Singing Wells, but as she said, the ‘preservation role’ is more physical – she is working to preserve all the physical recordings of Tanzania musicians, many of which are rotting away on dusty reel to reel recordings. And that is it. We then rushed to the airport to depart to Nairobi for a weekend of recording at Ketebu…
Day 6: Thursday, February 23rd, 2017 Story
…Moment 4: Daudi Fernando Joseph plays the drums in style of Mzee Morris We then interviewed Daudi about Mzee Morris: “I met Mzee Morris when I was younger and saw him play. I loved his style from the first moment I heard it. I also listened to him on the Tanzania Broadcast Corporation, because his drums was used hourly to announce the news. I spent three months trying to learn the drum riff he used. I could never understand how a blind drummer…
Day 3: Monday, 2017 February 20th Story
…, which will be launched tomorrow night. Leo is very rooted in traditional Tanzanian music and his band features the Marimba (Tanzanian Xylophone) and a modified version Morris drums. He noted, “I want to play in the Morris style, but I can’t use his drums. They require fire for tuning and this isn’t practical as a gigging artist. So I have modified congas and bongos to replicate his drums. I’ve changed the skins to cow skins. When you combine the…
Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…reath-taking. This form of performance is new to us (but, of course not to Tanzanians) and we’ve not seen it in Kenya or Uganda. In fact, ‘clown’ acts are quite central to Tanzanian dance as are acrobatic acts. We spoke to Leo about this. “Yes, we love to bring comedy to our music. If you look at most circus troupes that are touring in the world today, a huge number of the acrobats and clowns are Tanzanian.” https://youtu.be/C-4PdHne3Jc We’ll leav…
Recce to Tanzania for our 2020 Field Visit News
The Singing Wells team has been travelling through Tanzania in search of the best groups to record during our upcoming field visit in February. We are struck once again by the amazing talent this country has to offer, and can’t wait to capture some amazing moments with these artists when we visit again with the full team in a few weeks time. Thanks to the good people at Dhow Countries Music Academy for helping us with the information and contact…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…rated by his polemical, often anti-establishment lyrics. Despite him being Tanzanian, he always immersed himself in Kenyan politics to the chagrin of the Kenyan government, which on several occasions tried to have him deported. It was the cruel hand of death that finally silenced the man, achieving what the authorities had failed to do. Misiani died on May 17, 2006 in a road accident in Kisumu. His body was repatriated to his hometown of Shirati i…
Tanzania 2017, Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo News
…We’ve just returned from our latest field trip discovering the music which took us to the eastern side of Tanzania. We witnessed an amazingly rich offering of music and met some extremely talented musicians. Read our field reports here to learn about our experiences with a snake dance, an amazing performance of a female initiation ceremony ,and recording members of the extraordinary Zawose family….
A Tanzanian Effort to Salvage the Music of the Past News
…cool music.” We wish them all the best, and hope one day to take a trip to Tanzania for a few recording sessions of our own! Check out the Tanzania Heritage Project here. Here too are a few YouTube videos of their catchy music: Mziki wa dansi- Zilipendwa Sikinde- Shemeji Issa Mziki wa dansi – Zilipendwa – Super rainbow – Hidaya Mziki wa dansi – Zilipendwa – Kimulimuli – Chiku lala salama peponi Mziki wa dansi – Zilipendwa- Marijani- Fanya kazi Mae…
Before They Pass Away News
…ross the land searching for new plains for their cattle, and the Maasai in Tanzania. Singing Wells too has travelled extensively across Kenya, meeting remote tribes like the Pokot Tribe, the Marakwet Tribe and the Ameru Ethnic Community. In a Ted Talk, he shared some of the fascinating rituals that he came across on his travels. Nelson’s objective, he says, was to reveal ‘beauty’. “I believe that I had to choose the most beautiful people on the pl…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…regional emphasis on Ethiopia, Ghana, Cameroon, Congo, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania. Dr Hauke Dorsch is currently the Director of the Archive and stated that currently only material needed for academic work within the University is available in digital form, but they have hopes to secure funding to digitise more of the archive. Access to the AMA is currently predominantly available to researchers on site in Mainz, but, mostly African, musicians an…
The Singing Wells supports Ketebul Music’s ‘Kenya at 50’ project News
…orter of Ally Sykes, who was the first person to begin a Jazz Orchestra in Tanzania, and played a part in the drive for Independence in Tanganyika. Colmore appointed Sykes as his agent in Dar es Salaam for Hi Fielity promotions. In later life, he was involved less in music and his business interests widened to include that of the Photo Me franchise in Kenya. His daily diaries between the years of 1970 and 2003 are comprehensively written and prove…
African Strings: The Nyatiti and The Adungu News
…an ethnic group now situated in Western Kenya, Eastern Uganda and Northern Tanzania. They were originally from the Nile River Valley and migrated down the River Nile to the Lake Victoria region after the Nubian peoples. In Egypt (particularly around the valley) you can find many instruments that date back over 5000 years, many, like the nyatiti, are also found in Egyptian hieroglyphs (right). The Luo people are related to the Acholi people of Ugan…
Singing Wells – Origins News
…cording music in Northern Uganda in Autumn 2012 and then we will travel to Tanzania and Burundi in 2013, returning to Nairobi in Autumn 2013 in time for the celebrations for Kenya’s 50 years since independence. In addition to our field visits, we have developed an online Music Map of East Africa that charts the tribes of the region, their music, their instruments and influences. The map also shows where we have travelled with the Singing Wells pro…
Day 3: From Nairobi to Kigali to Kisoro Story
…s a completely land locked country. It shares Lake Victoria with Kenya and Tanzania. Crossing the Border: Rwanda was colinised by the Germans and Belgians, Uganda by the British. The result? As you cross the border between the two countries you switch sides of the road. Our drivers had left hand side drive, which was fine in Uganda, but meant that those in the passager side were left in the ‘middle of the road’ driving around Rwanda. Everyone seem…
Matthew Morin News
…music and civil society in Kenya based on fieldwork conducted in Kenya and Tanzania during 2010 and 2011. He currently lives in Japan and is continuing research on music and civil society from a global perspective. Matt has been following the progress of the Singing Wells project since March 2011 when he met the team in Nairobi. He has praised the project for its ‘value to academic fields like musicology and anthropology in addition to the broader…