Nick Abonyo (the ‘clapper-man’) News
…bonyo who is working as an intern at Ketebul Music. This is Nick’s second Singing Wells field recording trip where he is learning how to use the mobile recording equipment whilst also acting as photographer. He is now officially in charge of the ‘clapperboard’ – a role he is relishing. All about Nick Nick was born in 1988 in the village of Mirogi at the Mirogi Mission Hospital. He is Luo and unlike most of the younger engineers and artists at…
The Kalenjin & Kenya’s elite athletes News
…lagat Lebo (Chela) who is making a documentary for Custom House Education Trust about Kenya’s elite athletes. An interview with Chela Lebo Chela was born and raised in Kitale, Kenya. She works with the Content House Education Trust to archive the history and progress of Kenyan runners. Chela has been working on the documentary project for the past four years. The programme follows two main runners – David Rudisha who won the 800m in the Beij…
Why “Singing Wells”? News
…itnessed an extraordinary sight while travelling in Kenya – the real-life singing wells of the Samburu tribes people. The singing wells of the Samburu During the dry season, Samburu herdsmen (and boys) draw much needed water for their cattle from deep wells which they have dug in the parched river bed. As they pull water from these wells they begin to sing, a different song eminating from each well. The animals appear from the bush, seeming to…
A Year in Review March 2011 – March 2012 News
…now approaching the start of our second full year of field visits for the Singing Wells Project. It seems like a good time to step back to review the goals of the project and our progress and learnings. For those of you who are new to our work, this is a good place to start. OVERVIEW OF THE FIRST YEAR OF ACTIVITY: By the end of March 2012, we will have completed the following sets of field visits: March 2011 in Malindi, Kenya: This was our our pil…
Sad News from Kenya News
Happy New Year to all of those keeping track with the Singing Wells project. Some sad news. Okumu K’Orengo, one of the musicians we recorded in Kenya as part of the Singing Wells trip, had passed away. He was a master of the Nyatiti and performed for us in the village of Aluny, his final track on the day being a funeral dirge. We send our sympathies and condolences to his family and friends at this sad time. Here is an audio excerpt and video fro…
AMF receive grant to fund Batwa recordings News
…Institute of International Education has approved a grant to support the Singing Wells trip to Uganda to record the music and dance of the Batwa people. We are delighted that our proposal was successful and that the IIE agreed with our rationale for taking the project to the Batwa to increase awareness of their unique music and dance traditions. In our proposal, we outlined our rationale as follows: “The overall aim of the Singing Wells project i…
Singing Wells Project News Update News
…OCTOBER 2011 NEWS: Here is the latest news and itinerary for Phase 4 – the Batwa and Luo music recording trip in November. Click on the image to download the PDF: …
Abubilla Music release fourth album News
…there’s a launch party on 2nd October in Richmond when The Saturday Morning Canasta Club will play tracks to a (hopefully) admiring audience – more news about that to follow. Click on the cover for a sneak preview – the track ‘Breathe’ performed by the Singing Wells Project’s very own Andy Patterson……. Importantly, the album also includes the global remix of an original Abubilla track ’71 Hours to Monday’ which has been rele…
AMF News Up-Date News
…There’s some exciting developments happening with all our projects and partners. Take a look at our news update here: …
May 2011 – Jimmy reports back on the pilot phase News
…as ZigiDigi Cultural Troup, led by Matano Mwachiti, in the Zigidigi style, using the Kivolti flute. Group 7: Zigi-Digi Cultural Troup Our final group was Muungano Kayamba, led by Futuma Ali Mwacheruve in the Kayamba style (same name as their percussion). They performed the Mavuno, or Harvest Dance. This involved lots of props, including a baby doll and some great percussion that inspired us to build a percussion archive along with the song archive…
Lake Turkana Cultural Festival 2011 News
…ed a perfect fit with the objectives of the Singing Wells project and the trustees were happy to approve a grant to cover the costs of travelling to the Festival with the new mobile recording equipment. The main purpose for the Festival, which is hosted by the German Embassy in Nairobi and the National Museums of Kenya, is to ‘overcome tribalism in the region and to promote peace and reconciliation among the local communities around Lake Turkana b…
Reflections on the pilot phase by Willie Bembe News
WILLIE’S EXPIRIENCE WITH THE SINGING WELLS PROJECT DAY 1 The guys form Abubilla have just flown in and a small party is being held for them at Sippers Restaurant in Hurllingham with performances from among others Samba Mapangala, Winyo and Ayub Ogada. I say hi to Andy who is at the control desk recording the event with the new equipment. I meet Jimmy a bit later when the event is over. Gosh he’s tall….and very hands on since he was helping take d…
Discovering music roots with SWP News
…domiciled in the UK. One look at him and I saw a professional we could do business with. I immediately loved his good nature too. We ferried them to their hotel and let them recover from the shock of encountering a moon directly overhead. The next day, Sunday, they were busy at our studios before we ushered them to Sippers Restaurant where we’d lined up a team of brilliant music performers to welcome them and also accord them the opportunity to ch…
More Ketebul voices…Steve reports from the field News
…in Malindi at night were around 31°C and humid), Paradise Hotel scored a minus 4 on the 1 to 10 scale, 1 being disastrous. Despite all the mishaps with the Hotel, we were all excited to be heading out for our first day of recording. But first we had to change a flat tyre on car number 02. Half an hour or so later, we were all geared up and ready to go. Jesse, who had just arrived after taking the night bus from Nairobi to Malindi, joined us in ca…
£25K donation from Abubilla Music Foundation News
…om the The Abubilla Music Foundation of £25,000 has been allocated by the trustees to the Singing Wells project. This has meant that all expenditure on the development of the Ketebul Music website has been covered and we are now able to go ahead with the purchase of the all mobile recording equipment which will be needed for the village recording sessions. Our resident technical expert and sound engineer, Andy Patterson, has sourced everything we…
Ketebul Music website launched News
Great news to report today. Initial funds to the Singing Wells project have been used to complete our first objective and we are delighted to report on the launch of the new Ketebul Music website. When Abubilla Music and Ketebul Music first came together we decided the most pressing need was for a dynamic website which would show the work of the Ketebul artists in their full glory and we think we’ve succeeded in our goal. Take a good look around…