Conclusion: Challenges and Recomendations Story
…and economise on filming time. From a methodological point of view, for us to be able to build on the original concept of the series and remain scientifically both pertinent and correct, a proper research preparation should be put in place as a standard. The ideal approach to pre‐recording preparations should thus include: short pre‐interviews with identified interviewees (this would later allow better and easier data collection and create a certa…
Introduction: Project overview and objectives Story
…ld report contained herein is of a narrative nature and does not focus on the details of collected data, which will be presented in a finer ethnographic report to follow. “Masters of the Nyatiti” focuses on the nyatiti, an 8‐string lyre originating in the Luo community on the shores of Lake Victoria in Western Kenya. Most of the field recordings this report is based on were thus conducted in Lake Region of Kenya, notably in Kisumu and Siaya Counti…
Winyo Staff Profile
…o adopted his artistic name ‘Winyo’, which is a Luo word (a tribe from the Lake Victoria region of Western Kenya) for “a bird”. The reason for this becomes apparent once you hear him sing. His voice has been likened to that of a singing bird. He is a singer/songwriter of great sensitivity and an acoustic guitar player, backed by his 5-piece band of accomplished musicians. Winyo derives his music and musical strength from his fore fathers whose Afr…
Nile Beat Artists Group
…r of the band was Seby Ntege, who left Uganda in the early 2000s and moved to the UK, keen to evolve his sound. He plays the Kora, and much of his writing combines West African instruments with an East African writing style. Song Meanings “Ikobo Kobo”: It is a type of herb. It is a song about a girl who is very bitter because her mother will not let her play with her friends freely. The mother explains to her that she was barren but the spirits he…
Days 10 to 12 – Monday 10th July to Wednesday 12th July 2017 Story
…of a nyatiti class for children, held by Rapasa at a private residence in Karen (Nairobi); including short interviews with 4 students and with the school director, who talked of the importance of including traditional instruments into the curriculum….
Days 6 to 8 – Thursday 6th July 2017 to Saturday 8th July 2017 Story
…a music instructor at Kenyatta University in Nairobi. Day 8: Saturday 8th July 2017: Recording of an in‐depth interview with John Otieno ‘Rapasa’, our fixer who had previously travelled to Lake Region with us. In this interview he explained his personal journey to becoming a professional nyatiti player, instrument maker and teacher….
Day Zero: 6 March 2022 – Travel To Stream Story
…he musicians via M-pesa and Pay-Pal contributions. Another possibility was to sell tickets with the use of online access codes that admit ticket holders into the virtual performance. The result was that a number of live streaming studios where performers book sessions to perform and stream their concerts sprung up in Nairobi. Some venues also adapted to hosting online performances, directly streaming shows to mobile devices and computers of audien…
Page
…and was carrying what I can only say was a magic electric gun. He told me to stop brushing my teeth and lie down and he began to shoot the government soldiers around us. […] I’m telling you all this to tell you that this was the last day I played drums in the palace. I was arrested and I stayed in jail for a couple of weeks. Then, in 1966, I got employment at the Kyambogo music department for Peter Cooke (who was head of the music department at t…
FAQ’s Page
…ording gratuity on the day of the recording. This amount varies based on a number of factors such as the number of members in the group and the number of songs we record. In the event of any music we record making money directly (through sales, sync licensing or performance royalties) we will endeavour to channel this money back to the original performers. Can I buy the music you have recorded? A selection of our music is available to download fro…
Day Two: January 19, 2019 From Tarime to Buturi to Bariadi Story
…freestyle recording’ – what we mean here is we allow our three camera operators to ‘roam’ and to ‘release the band’ to dance. We are trying to overcome the somewhat artificial nature of ‘archiving’ where the band is constrained into a single shot. Magic Moment: We loved the percussion and wanted to capture this as magic moment. https://youtu.be/u7xcXahAlzI Group 2: Upendo Jazz: The group is from the Murangi Village in the Mara Region and their c…
Day 5 – Wednesday 5th July 2017 Story
…nal nyatiti players. He says he created his own style of music and learned to “adapt in order to survive”. At his home, we encountered another talented musician – Martin Njoroge “Papillon”, whom Ayub has been mentoring. Papillon played for us a few tunes on an original string instrument he invented and manufactured himself. This was very interesting to observe, since the instrument in question was based on the nyatiti, although it had more strings…
Kenya: music of the Luo Gallery
Images from the Singing Wells trip to record the music of the Luo. We travelled by road from Nairobi to the shores of Lake Victoria and recorded different music groups from the Luo tribes.
Kenya: music of the Kalenjin Gallery
…Images from the Singing Wells trip to record the music of the Kalenjin tribes. The journey took us to Kitale, Mount Elgon, Kapenguria, Iten, Kapsowar and Lake Baringo where we recorded the music of traditional groups from different sub-tribes including Pokot, Marakwet, Tugen and Saboat….
Day 1 – Saturday 1st July 2017 Story
…achment to his instruments collection (owns 14 nyatitis). Upon our arrival to Kisumu City, we had another semi‐formal interview that would birth ideas for other hypothesis and arguments to follow up on. We met Meshack Okoth Okumu, who was to be our fixer in the area. Son of late Okumu Orengo, a well‐known nyatiti master previously recorded for SW, Meshack took up the nyatiti after his father’s death. His discussion with Rapasa and Ketebul’s Tabu O…
The Luo of Kenya Album
…ery visual performance, and one of their tracks, recorded on the shores of Lake Victoria at the Homa Bay Hotel is also included. The final day of recording on the trip saw us head to Rongo – and the settings of Dinky’s Resort Club. The Otacho Young stars, whose image graces the album cover, are featured, as are the Kanindi Jazz Band and Josey Kokeo, performing a special collaboration. As an added extra, also on the album are ‘influences tracks’, r…
Day Three: February 18, 2020 (Stonetown, Mpendae, Maungani) Story
…nd motorbikes going by occasionally. We managed to record one song but had to stop after that due to noise. We hope to have this group come to the hotel on our last recording day. We felt bad that they only were able to perform one song but they took it graciously. Performers: Rajab Suleiman (qanun and director), Mohammed Hassan (accordian), Fum Faki (bongo and tabla), Tatu Khamis Haji (singer) Songs: Chungu – means Pot, composed by Said Ali 10 y…