Day Six: January 24, 2019 From Mwanza to Dodomo to Nzali to Nairobi Story
…rom the Dodoma Hotel, we drove about 90 minutes to Nzali to record four groups: Group 1: Makunga: This group is from Dodoma and the Wagogo Community, which they argued is the main indigenous community of Tanzania (always from the land, never migrated into Tanzania. The group was formed in 2018, but was built on a much older group. They perform in the Wuyina style. Their instruments/costumes include the: Ndulele (Horn), the Nindo (Shakers), the…
Day Zero: February 15, 2020 – Assemble in Zanzibar Story
…made from coconut shells…” We will meet this style on our second day, group one: Mohamed Othman Kidumbak Group Unyago: This is music by women by women and was used during rites of passage as the women prepared the bridge. Originally, these were ‘secret songs’ and filled with metaphors that would explain about sex and love and all the wonderful and difficult parts of marriage. As this music moved from the secret rites to more public perform…
Day Three: January 20th, 2019 Story
…gic Moment Busumabudo, focus on percussion https://youtu.be/dHeTdA5m5gQ Group 3: Awilo: The group, which is a comedy circus act, is from Ikungu lya nkoma and performs in the Bununguli style. They are from the Sukuma community and were formed in 1981. They played the Ng’oma and entertained the kids with circus acts involving fire, razor blades, knives, etc… It wasn’t really part of the Singing Wells Field Visit but we were thrilled to stumble acros…
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
…g Magic Moment 3: Francis singing ‘Alelewani’ solo. Alelewani with full group Mikocheni Makongwe Malowe Magic 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 ne…
Day 3: Monday, 2017 February 20th Story
…brother, his sister Ndekwa and two daughters Grace and Leah. Here’s the group: The group is a family group, with all members related to Msafiri Zawose, a very famous Tanzanian singer. He plays in the Gogo style of music which relies on the Zeze (stringed instruments made from gourds) and Ilimba (a lamellophone, or modified thumb piano). We will spend a lot of time with Chibite over the next two days and meet many different family members. For this…
Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…d, doing our best to record traditional groups, songs, and stories. All groups and songs mentioned here will eventually turn up on YouTube (see our current video collection here), as we prepare each of the videos. We will go back to these reports and provide hot links to all of these, but that will take a couple months or so, so please be patient. This is our first trip to Tanzania. For those of you that have followed Singing Wells, you will know…
Recce to Tanzania for our 2020 Field Visit News
…g 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 contacts from their…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…ruitment of Nelson Ochieng’ Orwa two years later, Ogara transformed his group into a three-piece acoustic and vocal group. Ochieng’ Orwa was a young and extremely talented guitarist who would come to be known by the stage name of Ochieng’ Nelly. He must be distinguished from another accomplished performer bearing a similar name, Ochieng Nelly Mengo, who was one of the founders of the 1970s Victoria Kings Band. Other pioneers and contemporaries of…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 2 – Muranga to Kangema to Nkubu Story
…away. We recorded four groups. The Music Groups Gacharaigu Gitiro Women Group The group is led by Fidelia Nyambura Mwangi. They are from Munuga Village, Munuga sub location, Muguru Ward, Muguru Division, Kamgema District and was formed in 2006 and dedicated to self-help. Their style is Ndumo, an old women’s dance purely for entertainment and preservation of culture. For all their songs, the ladies used the Kigamba (leg shakers). The group played 6…
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
…si – Zilipendwa – Kimulimuli – Chiku lala salama peponi Mziki wa dansi – Zilipendwa- Marijani- Fanya kazi Maestro king kiki – Maestro of Tanzania Rumba or Swahili Rumba kitambaa cheupe…
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
…ace is quite dated; read Peter Cooke’s profile to hear his suggestions for updating the system, where his work is archived. 4. Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is a not for profit record label, set up by the Smithsonian Institute, the world largest museum and research complex in America. Incoporated in 1948, under the name Folkways Records & Service Co., in New York City by Moses Asch and Marian Distler, it was one of the first record l…
The Singing Wells supports Ketebul Music’s ‘Kenya at 50’ project News
…ision. He also launched the career of Jean Mwenda Bosco – who toured Kenya promoting Apsro products. He was a friend of, and supporter 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 th…
Day 8: Entebbe to Nairobi and Ketebul Studios Story
…embe with Macadonia and Rubanga Kingom. We also recorded a great adungu group (Adungu Cultural Troupe). And we really captured wonderful, traditional vocal harmonies with Anyim Lac, the beautiful old ladies who sang so softly. And there were some real positive surprises. We were very lucky to record the Nanga with the Watmon Cultural Troupe and we had two great examples of the Ndara. But we were also able to recording amazing dancing… this is by f…