Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…his original composition called “Wango” accompanied by the mellow wound of South Teso adeudeu. Our last session for the day was recorded at Kodedema village in Kamolo location of Teso sub-county (Busia County), at the home of Obasie Palnyang’. We were welcomed by his son Donald Obasie, who is a fine artist. The 80-year-old Obasie grew up with music, since his grandfather Okomol was a traditional percussionist. Obasie himself started playing musi…
Singing Wells Stories Page
…then to their present home. This group, as with so many others throughout Africa, tell the story of their forefathers through music and dance – the dancers imitating the Nile as it snakes through Africa. To find out more about the day of recording the Marakwet, view the field report. To listen to the music of the Kalenjin, check out the Kalenjin of Kenya. To visit the group page for the Sagat Traditional Dancers, visit their page here. If you hav…
Ketebul Music Group
…ablished in early 2007 with the ambitious vision to carry out research and promote the diverse fusion of traditional sounds of Kenya and East Africa through the documentation and archiving of the work of musicians who have shaped the various genres of music from the region over the past six decades. In broader terms, intensive research carried out by Ketebul Music involves the musicians themselves, their families, industry players such as producer…
FAQ’s Page
…a group or a whole field recording day during our next field visit in East Africa. Or you could sponsor one of our annual CD/DVD collections. Either way, we guarantee that your money will be spent on the ground in Africa. (Note: representatives of Abubilla Music who work on the project are either volunteers or are personally funded. No third party donor money is used to support their expenses). Who owns the Singing Wells recordings? The ownership…
South Teso Jazz Group
Patrick Okodoi and his group – the SOUTH TESO JAZZ are based on the adeudeu– a traditional Teso string instrument. This group plays an interesting folk local sound and is very popular in the area. They combine several adeudeu(arched harps) of various sizes and functions, notably: ADEUDEU BASS – 6-strings instrument played by two people sitting on it; struck as a percussive by player in the back; RHYTHM ADEUDEU – 10-string adeudeu; ADEUDEU SEKETA…
Global Influences Project: Loop Library Page
…common focus on using music as a tool for community development. The group promotes traditional African values and acts in both education and local economy. Members also engage in traditional crafts like basket weaving and jewellery making for exhibition and sale. You can learn more about the group here. You can watch the full visual performance of this song on our Youtube channel by clicking here. Download the loop singingwells · SW Samples – Ekh…
Recording, archiving and sharing the traditional music of East Africa Page
…heritage of the region and to help make this legacy relevant and fresh to today’s audiences. As a group of sound and video engineers, producers and musicians, we set out on this mission not to become ‘fossil collectors’ and store the recordings in inaccessible archives. We work with musicians to make sure their music traditions continue to be practiced, can be shared amongst the widest audiences and become a source of inspiration for new musician…
Mission Page
…and with Singing Wells we aim to: Preserve the rich music heritage of East Africa Introduce East African tribal music to a new generation of musicians and music fans Offer tangible and lasting benefits to the musicians and village communities we visit Encourage the development of village music groups, particularly within the young community, and demonstrate that preserving cultural music heritage will help sustain a vibrant and successful communit…
Support Singing Wells Page
…mount you give will help the Singing Wells project bring the music of East Africa to more and more people. We guarantee that your donation to the project will be spent in East Africa helping traditional music groups get on the world music map. Please note, the Singing Wells project is funded by the Abubilla Music Foundation, the below link will direct you to make a donation to the Abubilla Music Foundation: — CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW — Donate your…
Day 5: Wednesday, February 22nd, 2017 Story
…audience of his supporters. A dance troupe danced in the Segere style for many of the songs. This is a Tanzanian style from the south. Here’s Leo performing:…
Day 3: Monday, 2017 February 20th Story
…e. Afrika: This is a beautiful song about the continent. The Singer asks, “Africa, why are you so dirty, so filthy, with broken roads and cities, with corrupt governments and failed states?” Africa answers, “It is not me, it is the humans that run the place. I give you beauty and riches but you turn it to filth and chaos.” Mirrors: This is a song from the Mirror’s Album, with Sophie on lead vocals and Elliot on guitar. We worked on a new ‘live ver…
Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…but also a shout of concern: are the great traditional instruments of East Africa and the amazing musicians that play them in danger of being lost? And so we travel in our first hour of our first day in Tanzania to the home Mzee Morris’s son – a compound in the suburbs of Dar es Salaam. Here’s the son: We are greeted by the music of the Nyunyusa Dancing Troupe, which included two of Mzee Morris’s grandsons, Abdala Nyunyusa Morris on vocals and…
Fundraiser for Matthew Watmon News
…hat 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). If you are based elsewhere in the world, we have created a GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-mathew-watmon The donors of Abubilla Music Foundation, who support the Singing Wells project, will match these contributions up to £1000 so w…
Ketebul Music presents Shades of Benga Online News
…altz to Afro Cuban Rumba and how they helped mould new music styles across Africa. Rumba was brought to Eastern Africa via the itinerant Congolese musicians Edouard Masengo and Jean Bosco Mwenda who’s intricate guitar-picking styles largely shaped the present Kenyan sound, with the Benga playing a dominant role. Currently, you can get advance copies from Ketebul Music Studios or place your order by contacting them directly. #shadesofbenga #legenda…
Our journey to the Royal Drums: in the words of James Isabirye Story
…in James’ own words. I use the term roughly for two reasons: 1) These are African roads and James was highly distracted by his own driving during our interview, dodging vans, cows and potholes. 2) I was trying to take notes in a car that seemed to be driving as fast and far left to right on the road as forward. Between interviewee fighting to keep us alive, and interviewer fighting to stay in the car, we’re lucky we have anything at all… Centre:…
Singing Wells Approaches 5 Million Views News
…k is paying off – in the last few months we have almost doubled our views on our Youtube channel and are now approaching 5 million total views across our videos. When we started Singing Wells almost ten years ago, we set an aim to bring the traditional music of East Africa to a wider audience. It amazing to see the Youtube algorithm agreeing that this is a project worth showing people! We can’t wait to bring more songs and stories to the world. Ke…