The Return of Bigwala News
…that helps the sound to carry. Often multiple gourds can be bound together to create the right shape. It is also the name of the dance that accompanies this type of playing. Our first encounter with Bigwala was when we captured a performance by the Bigwala Cultural Group in late 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2HnP36EVK4 The story of bigwala is a fascinating one, and quite unique in its association with the political history of the country….
The Entenga Drums: Part 1 Story
…r. To the left of the Omwawuzi is the OMUTENGENZI, who plays the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. He’s mirroring the ‘second’ drummer, or the Omunazi, on the bass riffs. Our Omutengenzi was Mpiina on some songs and Awali on others. The extraordinary part of the songwriting, then, is to create these 6 interwoven parts, such that most players are playing on the drums of the person next to them, but the sticks never overlap. And all the notes need to harm…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11:An Interview with Gregg Story
…attack a way from stopping. But let me end simply – this is amazing and keep it going. But let’s all start figuring out how to scale it….
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…g’ Kabaselleh, a Luo pop artist who occasionally teamed up with Laban Juma Toto, formerly of the Hodi Boys band, to produce some of the best rumba melodies sang in the Luo language. Kabaselleh’s love for rumba saw him adopt the name of Congo’s celebrated pioneer musician, Joseph Kabaselleh ‘Le Grand Kalle.’ Some of Ochieng’s sons like Babu Kabaselleh and Reggie Kabaselleh are now well-known musicians in their own right, same to his siblings who ma…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 3 – Nkubu to Mariene to Murungurune to Nkubu Story
…advises. Steve says that his ‘good cop’ was advising Steve and his cousins how to survive the day, while the ‘bad cop’ was essentially shouting that each boy probably lacked the courage and would humiliate his village. Ukaugiria irugu, led by Charles Kinyua. Means ‘do not tell anyone what you will meet or feel.’ And is sung before the circumcision. He is to keep the experiences to himself. “Whatever you encounter, only you and you along has the ri…
Central Uganda: Day 7 – A Magic Day in Entebbe Story
…Gibbs from The Mara Group, who had sponsored part of this trip and wanted to see how things were going. Brad was joined by a colleague, Nicolas Farah, who was also very supportive of Singing Wells and in exchange for a copy of our Sampler CD gave a personal donation to the project. It was great to see them and hear about their charitable goals for Africa. Group 1: Matia Kakumirizi: Matia is 70 years old, plays the guitar he bought in 1972 and kne…
Interview: fusion band Ndoto Afrika News
…an of the band Ndoto Afrika. The band blends traditional and modern sounds to create a unique blend of catchy fusion music (trust me, you will be humming their Window Shopping tune all day). We interviewed them to find out more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeRj9BrTT20 Hi Holly. Tell us about yourself and Ndoto Afrika – what’s your story? They say stories live forever and one famous Kenyan writer keeps saying that a story is good, until another…
Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…ern. If a friend was going to give him old brass instruments, he was going to create a marching band. If he already had a traditional drum band, then he was going to divide the performances with very traditional cultural songs but he’d also add a bit of fusion. Why not? James Isabirye said the following, “Young people need opportunities to experience what is in and out of Uganda. I don’t think Julius is trying to say the brass band is Ugandan. He…
Before They Pass Away News
…ot only do we want to sustain the musical heritage of East Africa, we want to promote it in today’s world. With this in mind, we’ve been following the work of British photographer Jimmy Nelson with interest, who spent four years travelling to meet and photograph some of the world’s last surviving tribes. His book, Before They Pass Away, is a fascinating insight into these communities’ ways of life. Nelson’s breathtaking photographs capture how the…
Current Leading Figures News
…s the project coordinator of the Retracing Series, documentaries which aim to to research, archive and document the musical culture of Kenya, the latest of which ‘Retracing Kenya’s Songs of Protest — Music as a Force for change in Kenya 1963-2013’, was released recently. His extensive background of involvement in the East African music industry can be found on his About Page at Ketebul Music and his thoughts on some of the central issues surroundi…
A History of Recording East African Music News
…y ran out of funding. He became a broadcaster, utilising every opportunity to promote African music. However, he could not stay away from Africa long, and in 1946 realised someone needed to fully dedicate their time to “appraising the social value” of traditional African music, otherwise it would disappear. Tracey would have to step up and be that someone, especially at a time when African radios wanted to broadcast in their own regional vernacula…
Ketebul Music: A Year in Review News
…n remains a terrible problem for all of Africa. My worry remains, however, to create content and then worry about sales and marketing. No point in arguing about marketing until you have deep and rich content. Our government is pushing for local content which is good, but my view is that we first have to have great Kenyan content and then our people will want it because it is good not due to regulations. Spotlight: We are also working on Spotlight…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…a project manager. Working with a budget and creative energy and materials to create an end product. We were pleased to get a mention from our new friend Eddie Hatitye who was announcing the Music in Africa project he is heading up with support from Siemens and the Goethe institute in South Africa. The board of directors of Music in Africa includes our good friend and project advisor to the Singing Wells Bill Odidi. The project is to provide an on…
What people say about Singing Wells News
…e future.” PSN Europe Magazine Read the review of Singing Wells here. Mark Totokwa via YouTube “This is good stuff – a good example of a sustainable project both in context and content. A big thank you to those behind this project and most importantly to the resourceful musicians. A job well done!” (Posted on YouTube here) Atesh Sonneborn, Associate Director, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings “Andy, It was a real pleasure to speak with you this morn…
A quick summary of the Singing Wells Project News
…our mission is to bring this music to the next generation, to inspire them to look to their heritage for inspiration before they look elsewhere. We do this with ‘Influences’ artists… Like Winyo, an unbelievable Kenyan musician that was blown away by the music of the Batwa and couldn’t help but joining Jovah in song: 5. Singing Wells is about bringing together tribal music and wonderfully talented young performers like Akello from Uganda… We brough…
The origins of Singing Wells Story
…e were astounded by the quality of the tribal music, but equally surprised to find how hard it was to access the music back in Britain. As the founder of Abubilla Music, I set out to find partners in East Africa who were committed to preserving the music. Through a series of e-mails that travelled the world, Tabu and I were brought together by Joyce Nyairo, then of the Ford Foundation, East Africa office. After several long e-mail exchanges and a…