From Kisoro to Nairobi to Lake Victoria Story
…bly and consistently, in every village, we end up with the whole village joining Pato in a “1-2-3 Clap”. This is sometimes a hundred people. Rwandan and Ugandan Hills: We climbed them. We drove over them. We drove around them. And we recorded music on top of them. But we never got tired of the beauty of the hills around us. In the morning, the clouds were trapped in the valleys and in the evening the clouds climbed a bit to shroud hill tops in mis…
Day 6: The Studio @ Traveller’s Rest Hotel, Kisoro Story
…ces’ sessions with Francis, but we love this one, with Jessie and Francis singing together in the gardens of the Traveller’s Rest hotel in Kisoro. Please listen before reading the blog: https://youtu.be/c1XBVlNQL6E We also recorded a beautiful version of Amahoro with Jessie, Francis and the ladies. Francis and the ladies are happy to pose for a series of formal photos (each woman with her baby either cradled or on her back). Tabu and one of our…
Samba Mapangala & Orchestra Virunga News
Legendary East African music and friend of Abubilla Music and The Singing Wells project, Samba Mapangala and Orchestra Virunga are touring the UK later this month, in support of Samba’s new album Maisha Ni Matamu (Life Is Sweet) on Virunga Records. We first met Samba in Kenya, on a recording trip as part of The Singing Wells project. He sang as part of a ‘Welcome’ concert put together by our friends at Ketebul, along with Winyo and Ayub Ogada. We…
Day 5 (much later): The Micyingo Group – guitar and bass! Story
…parake Yagahinga’, the National Park song, which is a staple of the Batwa singing groups… This man was a wonderful dancer and he took centre stage. For us, he symbolised the essence of how life is for the Batwa today – a very hard life, but a life full of spirited song and dance… and this lady is their wonderful lead vocalist… https://youtu.be/pZzgr2PXZ3s https://youtu.be/gt4_CaZNN2c Then the guitar and bass took to the stage….if you are wonderi…
Gary Barlow, Ayub Ogada and our very own global song News
…estaurant and live music venue in Nairobi, to celebrate the launch of the Singing Wells project and the collaboration between Ketebul Music and Abubilla Music. Tabu Osusa, Ketebul’s founder, had organised an evening of music and Ayub was one of the performers. He played his signature instrument, the traditional nyatiti and sang his most celebrated track, Kothbiro which featured on the soundtrack to The Constant Gardener. So, Ayub is one of the man…
Day 5 (PM): The ‘Togetherness Group’ from Kanyabukunga Story
…was filled with lovely children, here to watch some wonderful dancing and singing. As we unload the vans, the ‘Togetherness’ group are waiting to greet us on the ‘stage’….. The performance is fantastic… here the group are singing ‘Waratsinze Sikota’ in praise of God, but lamenting that the Batwa people had lived in the forest under grass huts, but now live near the streets under tin roofs…. The crew worked hard in the blazing sun – getting close t…
Congratulations Singing Wells! News
…ally are so important. I met Tabu Osusa and Bill Odidi while doing some training on audiovisual archiving in Kenya as part of a British Library World Collections Programme initiative. It was a great pleasure and it is wonderful to see these fruits of their expertise and enthusiasm. Janet Topp Fargion, Lead Curator World and Traditional Music, British Library website: http://www.bl.uk online gallery: http://sounds.bl.uk main catalogue: http://caden…
Day 5: Recording the Mperwa Dancers Story
…ple arrive….and find our cameras and recording equipment interesting… The Singing Wells audio team – Nick, Andy & Willie – start to set up the mixing desk while Patrick and Steve place the mics… The group gathers in place and the lead vocalist starts her captivating performance.. This older gentlemen joins the performance and takes the lead in most dances… While spectators from every generation take a seat for the performance… Here are the videos:…
Day 4 (later): Recording for ‘Influences’ with the Birara Dancers Story
…‘Influences’ sessions. A word on what we mean. We have multiple goals at Singing Wells. The first is to preserve the vast musical heritage of East Africa, capturing the diversity of music and dance throughout the region. Most of the music is ‘trapped’ in remote villages – everyday in 100’s of villages across East Africa wonderful performances occur as the community celebrates, mourns and remembers through music. But few peopele are there to liste…
Day 4: UOBDU and the Birara Dancers Story
…e ready to record. And we rewarded with a great day of recording, starting in the morning with the Birara Dancers, led by the legendary Batwa artist, Francis Sembagare. We woke up early and were greeted with this wonderful view from the garden of the Traveller’s Rest Guesthouse: After breakfast our first stop was the office of the United Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda (UOBDU), where we met Henry Neza, the Capacity Development Co-ordi…
Day 3: From Nairobi to Kigali to Kisoro Story
…s 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 seems to keep it straight, as we had no head on collisions. Kisoro: Located in the Mufumbiro Mountains which are part of the Virunga Mountain range. This range holds all the mountain gorillas and has the national parks Parc Des Volcans and Parc Des Virunga. This becomes important beca…
Diamond Jubilee Pageant at Windsor Castle News
…m around the world to mark The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. It starts tomorrow in the private grounds of Windsor Castle and will be attended by Her Majesty. The show consists of seven acts drawing displays from different parts of the world, reflecting the countries which The Queen has visited during her reign. Representing Kenya, the show will feature: Performers from the Masai, Samburu, Luo, Kamba and Kikuyo tribes The Nairobi Chamber Chorus consid…
Day 1 & 2: Preparing to leave for Kisoro, Uganda Story
…Studio. Winyo then added a third verse, changing the song from a Londoner pining for Spain, to a Kenyan longing to return to Africa. The full Singing Wells team was in the studio. It is worth re-introducing everyone again, as we will be discussing them throughout the trip: From Ketebul Music Tabu Osusa, Founder Steve, Project Manger Jesse, Chief Sound Engineer Willie, Sound Engineer Patrick, Chief Video Engineer Nick, Trainee Engineer Winyo, K…
News from the Batwa in Kisoro News
…ditional music and dance which we hope will help to promote their standing in the community in Kisoro and beyond. Zaninka Penninah from UOBDU sent us this message: Dear Victoria, Greetings Batwa community members. Please find the attached photos taken while the Batwa are viewing photos from the Albums. The Batwa were so happy – I think you can even see it from those photos. The field visits is about to end while showing the photos to all the commu…
Photos from the pilot phase Story
…We promised a final set of pictures and some further reflections. And we deliver. …
Kenya (Coast): Day 4 – the road back to Nairobi Story
We used the long ride back to interview Tabu, Steve and Andy about the Singing Wells project. Worth a read… We’ve finished our trip and had our long ride back from Mombasa. We used the opportunity to interview some of the team about the Singing Wells Project. Jimmy to Steve Kivutia (Singing Wells Project Manager): Q: So, first tell us about your self and one thing surprising SK: I was born in Nairobi. I am one of four, the youngest. Both my broth…