FAQ’s Page
…s money back to the original performers. Can I buy the music you have recorded? A selection of our music is available to download from our site. We have one album of music from each trip, and we hope to curate albums of particular styles and instruments soon. To browse our albums, head over here. Where does the money to support Singing Wells come from? We invite financial contributions from private donors and corporate sponsors and seek grants fro…
1. Introducing the Naizungwe drums Story
…out the music and the performances. In the case of the naizungwe, however, despite his best efforts, James has been unable to locate any surviving old players who can facilitate a similar education. As a result, he is hoping to work alongside Haruna Walusimbi of Nile Beat Artists to reconstruct the performances directly from the recording he received from Peter Cooke. James tells us: “Nile Beat Artists is a semiprofessional group of musicians that…
Day 4: Tuesday, February 21st, 2017 Story
…ry of another tree, the Mninga, which is a very rare tree out of which the best marimbas are made. He was in the market one time and found an old bed made out of Mninga. The wood was old and very dry which was perfect. He bought the bed for $15 and is now making a world class marimba. Behind every song there are wonderful stories! Kijana: Young Man Eholi Yaya Njengwa: To be Built Sahani (Meaning Plate, where a full plate is a metaphor for an abund…
Day 2: Sunday, 2017 February 19th Story
…n preparing for adulthood. We encountered these in three separate villages and all the women talked about their importance to the culture and education of young girls entering adulthood. All expressed sadness that these traditions are dying. The dancing was wonderful. In this case we were reminded of Uganda, where all ages participated and you had a feeling that the young people still really enjoyed the traditional dances. Here, the women are disc…
Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…The TBC announced each hour with a drum riff of his drums. Every hour, for decades. He was honoured in his time, with the then Prime Minister creating a specific post for him, so he could continue drumming for all visitors to the government. Because he was blind, he was invited to perform with specific women groups, of songs for women by women, of songs that no males could see. Every day we will tell more about Mzee Morris and his music (see pictu…
Fundraiser for Matthew Watmon News
We are sad to say that a special talent, and a dear friend of Singing Wells, Matthew Watmon is currently in a critical condition in hospital. We are urgently trying to raise funds to support him and his family in this difficult time, and we hope that some of our followers may be able to help us. If you are based in East Africa, please get in touch with Matthew’s brother, Constantine Odida ((MTN) +256-782-236-742 and (Airtel) +256-704-261-037). I…
Our journey to the Royal Drums: in the words of James Isabirye Story
…hat the issue will always be resources: how do we bring new resources to a decades-long problem to revive this music? I guess the general problem became a concern for me in roughly 2008, when I started studying the specific royal music. The Busoga King, Henry Muloki Wako, died. I was watching the age of the musicians at his funeral, and I thought: man, we’re running out of time. My first step was to meet with James Lugolole, one of the oldest surv…
Ketebul Music presents Shades of Benga Online News
…iends Ketebul Music have just launched Episode 2 of their online series Shades of Benga Online, to go alongside their book ‘Shades of Benga: The Story of Popular Music in Kenya 1946 -2016’. You can watch the latest episode below, and also find out more at their website here. Shades of Benga: The Story of Popular Music in Kenya delves into the foundations of modern Kenyan music, examining external influences from the English waltz to Afro Cuban R…
Recce to Tanzania for our 2020 Field Visit News
…Getting a private crash course on the ganun from ganun virtuoso and teacher Rajab. In a few previous instances, the importance of Singing Wells is emphasised when someone we record passes on some time after we record them. We were reminded even more of the importance of Singing Wells when we received the news of the death of a musician who we were set to meet that afternoon, Taarab Singer, Mzee Makame Faki. A brilliant musician and our thoughts ar…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 1 – Reflections Story
…ording again Albert Ssempeke’s Buganda Music Ensemble. Given that we first decided to rediscover the Royal Drums after recording Albert’s group in 2013, we wanted to end this field visit with his recordings Part one: reflections We are sitting on the grounds of the Kampala Museum, surrounded by examples of grass huts from the various regions of Uganda. These are empty, display houses, not homes – put up to give visitors a sense of a rapidly dying…
The Revival of Ohangla Music! News
…’s song Kanungo Eteko is massive on Youtube, and we were lucky enough to record him in one of our sessions in Nyanza here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPaBQwODTtU…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 2 – Interviews with Musicians of Uganda’s Royal Palaces Story
…at was close by: she was at Kyaliwajjala. So a group of the young boys all decided to go with him to his mother, and we all climbed in a bus to travel to his house. There was an older man on the bus who knew the village. When he climbed on the bus, he knew Kizito (the boy who’s mum we were visiting and Musisi’s half-brother, shared mother). The gentlemen said that when we reached the village he would bike ahead and tell the village we were coming,…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 1- Drum Making and Palace Players Story
…uganda King). Above: Abass Mirimu To be specific, in the 15 drum set up we described here, Abass made the three standalone drums on the far right of the set up. We interviewed Abass on the steps of drum making. These are: 1. Preparing the wood “You cut a tree and then you cut individual pieces – long for long drums, short for short drums. Then you bore the hold into the log,” (the tool used is Ekifumu) “you then let the wood dry in the sun.” Here…
Support for the Elgon Ngoma Troupe News
…ckgrounds through performance of traditional music, through breeding and meat production. Donate to Elgon Ngoma’s gofundme page here! And you can watch one of their brilliant performances, recorded on our 2014 field trip, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkyDtBXfunI Watch Julius, the leader of the group, explain who the Elgon Ngoma troupe is, and their mission: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5Wk0YnbByk&fbclid=IwAR27BBeDBEx-5jMqkKxFTL9vtS5Nx…
Remembering Our First Ever Influences Session 8 Years Ago News
…session. Stay tuned for exciting announcements about the 10th anniversary of Singing Wells! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8zR1Hq0VXc&lc=z232gt5hrrr5jbjpz04t1aokg3gsm0mrvnsg3wkih113bk0h00410…
Rediscovering the lost Royal Drums of the Buganda Kingdom: Day 1, Uganda Story
…oyal musicians disbanded and much of the music forgotten. In 2013, we considered any idea of reviving the Entenga to be very unlikely, because we thought all the drummers who had played in the palace before 1966 had died. But in 2015 James discovered the sixty-something Musisi, possibly the last surviving drummer. Musisi was just a teenager at the time of attack and barely survived the night of the attack itself (more on this here). James met him…