Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 1 – Nairobi to Kiongwe to Muranga Story
…Muranga on the Thika road, arriving at the Nokras Hotel in Muranga at about 1800. Here’s the route: We were all pretty shattered, so had a quick dinner (only quick if you ordered fish or meat, the chickens were apparently hard to catch and took considerably longer), drank the mandatory round of Tuskers and slipped off to bed. Working Practices: Roles and Responsibilities of the Team Each day, we will also bring you a set of ‘working practices’ we…
Central Uganda: Day 7 – A Magic Day in Entebbe Story
…Our best day. We never leave the hotel but create new music with wonderful vistors: Matia Kakumirizi, Passy and Charles from the Kika Boys Cultural Troupe, Jovah and Jacinta….
A Tanzanian Effort to Salvage the Music of the Past News
…tchy tune, conveying information about how to take care of children or how best to help one another build a new, independent Tanzania. “It was all about love, all about unity, all about coming together and building a new nation”, said Benson Rukantabula, who also works on the project. But as with any state-sponsored propaganda, some messages were politically acceptable, while others were not. Also in the archives are other historical gems, includi…
Central Uganda: Day 6: Kampala to Entebbe Story
…rp, where there are only 3 master players) and the endongo (Bow Lyre). His best moment was playing for Ronald Mwenda Mutebi’s wedding in 1998. The band members include: Kigozi Daudi: Emburtu (big drum) Steven Ssebuufu: Amadinda and endingidi Kyakonye dodovic: Engalabi (long drum) They played seven songs: Ggangalwa: A king servant tried to play with the princess. All women in the palace, however, are controlled and possessed by the king. He was pun…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…g her school life she was best dancer in 2007 and 2010 in high school, and best dancer in her university in 2010 and 2011. Musoke Meddy: He is a senior member of Nile Beat and the treasurer in group. Meddy was voted the best dancer in the Uganda in 2004 and in 2008. The Group performed five songs: Ikobo Kobo: The name is a type of herb. It is a song about a girl who is very bitter because her mother will not let her play with her friends freely. T…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…ed a few beers and stayed in one of the cottages telling stories about our best Singing Wells moments, only some of which had to do with the music. The group then divided roughly along age lines on the fundamental issue of fish vs. sleep. Tabu, Jimmy, Andy and Vicki voted sleep and we had food delivered to our cottages, ate and went to bed early. Steve, Patrick, Jacinta, Nick and Robert voted fish and went off the local casino for ‘the best fish i…
Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…anzi, pan pipes The performance was simply spectacular. Our search for the best xylophone players in Uganda is declared over! What a group. Obutasoma (Education), with lead singer Muniru Ayubu Obwiire Bukyeire (The Time Has Come), with lead singer Kisubi Eliasa Magic Moment: We loved the xylophone and asked the group to replay a minute of Obwiire Bukyeire, with only the xylophone. We asked Vicki to climb in next to the bass notes, so she could get…
Central Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Budaka Story
…about this group were the beautiful vocal harmonies; this was some of the best choral singing we’ve heard at Singing Wells. The group started in 2001 and perform in HIV sensitization sessions twice a month and other ceremonies such as weddings, introductions, and Cultural Competitions, the most well-known of which is sponsored by the beer Senator. Their trainer is Paul Mwima and they originate from Bunyole, Butaleja District. Their style is Mabeg…
Central Uganda: Day 1 – From Entebbe to Kidinda Story
…n three cars, we drove from Entebbe towards Kampala and then took the road southwest toward Masaka. We turned north at Kammengo onto the Mbarra Road to Kindinda – the trip was about 110 kilometers. From Kindinda, we turned right at a trading center and went another 10 kilometers into the fields, to a small village called Kidinda. The Recording Site: The village had one cement single story home, one stable (with a small and very loud cow tucked in…
Who’s looking at you? Story
…This little fan joined us along Lake Victoria to record some of the best Nyatiti players in Kenya in November 2011….
Meeting Ketebul: an interview with Tabu News
…ng Andy. Actually, thinking about it now it wasn’t the worst, it was pretty funny! The worst was driving from Mombasa to Malindi at night, it was dangerous. The road was narrow, unmarked and I didn’t like it. We said after this we wouldn’t do it again. Now we hardly drive at night. As for the best? Every moment is the best when it comes to Singing Wells! What can we look forward to from Singing Wells and Ketebul this year? We’re going to be doing…
Ten More Singing Wells Stories News
…d invited them back to our studios in Nairobi to work with some of Kenya’s best musicians. We maintain a great relationship with our Batwa friends and recently invited Jovah to meet us last year in Entebbe to record with additional Ugandan artists (see lullabies below). Here are three vocalists: Meet Francis, the leader of the Batwa musical communities, the master of the bird dance and master of songs about the plight of the Batwa that you can clo…
Current Leading Figures News
…e, faith, hard work, discipline, science, leadership…. teach them all. The best place to preserve values, and music does this, is in the hearts of people.” When asked how large a problem is getting funding for music related/cultural projects? Do you feel people generally in Uganda understand the importance of such projects? His reply was striking… “The African problem has been seen to be economic & political rather than cultural by our leaders, pa…
James Isabirye and Tabu Osusa Discuss East African Music News
…for aspiring to be an English man, not a Ugandan. She only wanted what is best for me, but this is part of a larger problem we have today. I’ve taught for 20 years now and my concern is that our entire system is training us to be like a white person from England or America, not to be Ugandan. The English and Americans don’t want to know me because I am like them – they know I am not. They want to know me because I am Ugandan, because I am differe…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…ic Forum to make it easier for musicians to make a living – from visas and flights to financial support. It is an exciting time, and seems to chime in with what Eddie Hatitye announced for Music in Africa. Members of the Music Producers Guild led a discussion on ‘What do producers actually do?‘ – the answer seems to be ‘everything’. The role of producer has many meanings, but it seems to me (as a producer) that it is the role of a project manager….
SWP Uganda 2013 – our proposed itinerary News
…t would be of benefit to the recce. This later turned out to be one of the best leads and contacts I got for someone knowledgeable in Ugandan tribal music……The person Teshome wanted me to meet was James Isabirye, the Selam co-ordinator in Uganda and, more importantly, the secretary of a cultural organisation called National Council of Folklorists of Uganda – NACOFU. James turned out to be very resourceful on the music and culture of Uganda and org…