Day 1 – Saturday 1st July 2017 Story
…yatiti’s shape (resembles the traditional Luo hut shape), symbolism of the number (8) of strings of the nyatiti, his tuning techniques and order of string tuning, together with the story of his personal attachment 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…
Day Four: January 21 2019 Mwanza Story
…s group, from the Sukuma community, was formed in 2010 and performs with a number of styles: Bukomia Lume, Buchheye, Wigashe. Their instruments are: Ng’oma (Drums), Pembe (animal horns, large impala), Firimbi (flute), and Njuga (shakers). We recorded five performances: Ntale Atabihyala: ‘The boss, who is always wrong, wants to be always right. Just accept it’ Ba Tanzania (Malima): Praising country, encouraging farmers and hard work – this song h…
3. Background of the Naizungwe drums Story
…ties were and still are organized on clan system. One ethnic society has a number of clans where each clan has a leader – clan leader. Each of those clans had identifying regalia and one of them are drum rhythms that symbolize the general belief of that clan. The Basoga ethnic society from the Eastern region of the country is organized according to clans. Eleven clans are royal; they are the leaders and the rest are not. One of the clans is the ba…
Mchele Mchele Sanaa Group Group
…This group, from the Sukuma community, was formed in 2010 and performs with a number of styles: Bukomia Lume, Buchheye, Wigashe. Their instruments are: Ng’oma (Drums), Pembe (animal horns, large impala), Firimbi (flute), and Njuga (shakers). …
Day 5 – Wednesday 5th July 2017 Story
…pe, now the violin wants to come in, the guitar wants to come in, so now I need tuning.” In any case, both his tunings and his finger plucking techniques are very much different from the traditional 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 o…
Group 4: Urugangaze Ballet Story
…dance. As with the other Intore we saw, there was a group accompanying the dance on the amakondera (horns). A couple of facts we learned about the Intore today: firstly, the Intore name is derived from the verb “gutora” (to choose/select) as a large number of the trainees originally were recruited from the children of upper middle class families. Secondly, the lion manes that the dancers wear are made of wood that is beaten so fine it becomes hair…
Liwambwe Group
…a very long thin drum called a Neya. In the dance they had a character in a mask called a Lipiko, who wore a vest called a Mjuga. They played five songs: Malala Kujunga: Essentially means ‘be calm and quite, we are about to perform and need you to be quiet’ Nchakacha: A dance with the Lipiko (masked character) Tumpete Mwana: ‘Soothing the baby’ Apelambe: About a doctor who has all the medicines to heal, but the singer asks, why he couldn’t save h…
Ayub Ogada Group
…setting and playing in a foreign setting (notably in Europe). He said: “When I’m home, I’m free, I don’t care about my tuning…When I’m playing in Europe, now the violin wants to come in, the guitar wants to come in, so now I need tuning.” In any case, both his tunings and his finger plucking techniques are very much different from the traditional nyatiti players. He says he created his own style of music and learned to “adapt in order to survive”…
Day Zero: 6 March 2022 – Travel To Stream Story
…ians 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 audiences wher…
Day Two: February 17, 2020 (Stonetown) Story
…nalogies. Here the message is: “Don’t insult the midwife because you might need her again.” The song is about not taking cassavas for granted. Kidole Chauma Sana – translates to “My Finger is Painful.” Again, this is not the direct meaning. It’s a naughty song with sexual connotations about the man’s hand being worn out. Urithi Group – Group of 10 young men dressed in white robes, blue vests and red Fez hats. Their whole group has 20 members. Th…
Day Six: January 24, 2019 From Mwanza to Dodomo to Nzali to Nairobi Story
…about driving. From Mwanza to Nzali, from Nzali to Nairobi. But we don’t need to waste blog posts on driving, although we did meet every kind and wonderful Tanzanian police officer on the route. They wanted to know about our safety equipment, our battery covers, our insurance, our plates, and at times, they just wanted to know what we were thinking. So lovely. So many stops. But we digress. From the Dodoma Hotel, we drove about 90 minutes to Nz…
Page
…) the better! Muwewesi Xylophone Group Unsurprisingly for the Muwewesi Xylophone Group, the Xylophone is the star of the show. A giant xylophone lays across the floor, played by 8 musicians, alongside vocalists, pipe flute players and tube fiddle players. Based in Nakisenye, East Uganda, we visited the group in 2013, and when we arrived we found that the band had been there since morning preparing – they had dug the pit for the xylophone, with the…
The Revival of the Entongooli Page
…ts with another fascinating and popular instrument, the Embaire or the Xylophone. The scolars are taught the tunes they need to know on this instrument before transferring these melodies over to the Entongooli. What’s incredible about this entire process is how the children are also taught about building the Embaire as well, creating instruments for themselves to learn on. In this first part, we look at how selecting the correct tree’s are integra…
Kochia Traditional Dancers Group
…red outfits (replacing the more traditional clay colours that dancers would adorn themselves with) are augmented by attention-grabbing ostrich feather headdresses (the ostrich, a symbol of beauty and courage, represents the courage they will need to entertain) and monkey fur. They are accompanied by drumming, and the Tung’, the Luo horn. You can contact the Kagan Kochia group for bookings on +254 700 600881 Sources: www.hivisasa.com www.allafrica….
Day Two: January 19, 2019 From Tarime to Buturi to Bariadi Story
…an that abandoned her kids Mazingira: a song about the environment and the need to protect the environment. Examples included stopping use of plastics and keeping your waste water away from your drinking water. Magic Moment: We recorded the beats of Majirani, percussion only Magic Moment: Majirani again to record slightly differently. https://youtu.be/yQ52ZCL5Gro Group 3: Serengeti Group: This group, formed in 2016, was from the community of Kuria…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…nalized creatives and on how to assist them to access global markets. They need a conducive environment that would enable them to showcase their individual musical talents and unique identities. If we succeed in our efforts, we believe they will rightfully take their place on center stage. To accelerate this process music policies must be put in place for these musicians not to be simply programmed as part of a loose musical troupe, relegated to a…