Day Zero: February 15, 2020 – Assemble in Zanzibar Story
…ssembled in Nairobi on Friday the 14th of February and flew to Zanzibar on Kenya Airways on the first flight on Saturday, making our way to the Ngawala Hotel. Temperature 33 degrees centigrade. Partially cloudy. Saturday was about set up, so we’ll use this ‘Day Zero’ post to fill you in on the purpose of the trip. First, Zanzibar is an island off Tanzania, with a long colorful history. Before it was ‘controlled’ by the Portuguese in 1503, i…
Global Influences Project: Loop Library Page
…ganda. They are a collective of musicians led by Amone Watmon Matthew, who promote the preservation of Ugandan cultural heritage through dance. The group is made up of up to 50 members, the youngest members being only seven years old. 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 – Watmon Cultural Group 154BPM sing…
Aloka Ohangla Group Group
…Music of the Luo Aluny Village, East Alego, Kenya Group leader: Otieno Aloka…
Fadhilee Itulya Staff Profile
…Kenya, but raised in Nairobi. Fadhilee’s dream is to unveil the authentic Kenyan sound that will be a bridge between what has been there and what is going to come. His love affair with the guitar started with the three chords he was taught by his mother on her guitar. From there he advanced on his own, becoming a nuisance in their house in Saika Estate in Nairobi’s Eastlands. His father didn’t find the guitar-plucking amusing, especially when he…
Kenya: music of the Mijikenda Gallery
…Images from the Singing Wells trip to the Coastal Region to record the music of the Mijikenda, a culturally related group of nine clans. Our recordings concentrated on the music of the Giriama and Digo clans – a music style renowned for rhythmic percussion, vocal solos and harmonies. We recorded 8 different music groups from the region….
Joginda Boys Group
…Music of the Luo Aluny Village, East Alego, Kenya Group Leader: Organda Joginda…
Lomut Traditional Dancers Group
…Music of the Kalenjin Kapenguria, Kenya Song translations – Lomut Traditional Dancers…
Otieno Aloka Group
Otieno Aloka is a musician best known in Kenya for his hit song ‘Kanungo Eteko’. In our session with the Ohangla group he plays the orutu, the second major instrument of Luo music. The orutu consists of a hollow wooden box that has monitor lizard skin stretched over one side. The string used to be made from fibers of the sisal plants but is now made from a variety of repurposed materials, including bicycle brake cables. When played with a bow, or…
Kenya: music of the Kalenjin Gallery
…Images from the Singing Wells trip to record the music of the Kalenjin tribes. The journey took us to Kitale, Mount Elgon, Kapenguria, Iten, Kapsowar and Lake Baringo where we recorded the music of traditional groups from different sub-tribes including Pokot, Marakwet, Tugen and Saboat….
The Kalenjin of Kenya Album
…onies of the performances have been captured well, with The Elimu Cultural Promoters and the Kewamoi Women Dancers both featured. The latter – a nice addition to the lineup, as the field day coincided with World Women’s Day. Eddie Grey was part of the team for the recordings, and he joined a number of groups to join them for Influences recordings. Two of these have been included on the album – his guitar playing accompanying The Elimu Cultural Pro…
Teriet Band Group
…Music of the Kalenjin Kapsokwony, Kenya …
Day Two: 8 March 2022 (Ilesi) Story
…ers and sisters were off to their serene village in Kodedema, close to the Kenya-Uganda border. After the long day, some of the Ketebul Music team decided to accompany our host, Jack Songwa, to unwind at a local pub, at the nearby Ilesi center. We returned to the Josephine Garden just in time for the last orders that evening. Profile: Obasie Palyang Band The Obasie Palnyang Band was founded by the veteran Iteso musician Obasie Palnyang, an accompl…
Kasagat Traditional Dancers Group
…Music of the Kalenjin Iten, Kenya…
Day 5 – Wednesday 5th July 2017 Story
…we paid a visit to Ayub Ogada, probably the most internationally acclaimed Kenyan musician, whose use of the nyatiti in different musical genres is both original and pertinent for our Masters of the Nyatiti story. We spent the day at his home in Nyahera location, not far from Kisumu town, and conducted a long yet free of form type of interview. Although a Luo himself, Ayub had never learned how to play the nyatiti in a traditional setting. He pick…
Arrival to Rwanda, Background and Objectives Story
…n the Coastal Regions of Kenya, traveled to Kisoro Uganda, and to Homa Bay Kenya, then went to the Rift Valley in 2012, on through Uganda, Tanzania, and Zanzibar. The front of our t shirts are specific to each field visits and in 2023 we are in Rwanda to understand the beautiful of their traditional music (‘cow poems, et al’) and their beautiful dances, finding the best Inanga players. But we are also here to capture what we call the ‘hillside blu…
We assemble in Kisumu Story
…mas of Kenya, a national dance troupe tasked with the mission to preserve, promote and showcase Kenyan traditional music and dance worldwide. She has been a scientific advisor with Ketebul Music since 2015 and worked on Ngoma Zetu (2016). This is her second Singing Wells field visit – previously she joined us on Singing Wells Masters of the Nyatiti in 2017. With Tuskers and Dried Fish ordered and eaten, with friendships renewed and jibes exchanged…