Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…ording in Obekai village of the same location in Busia County. Here we met one of our fixers in the area – Patrick Okodoi and his group – the SOUTH TESO JAZZ. 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 o…
Mission Page
…Kenya, a non-profit organisation committed to identifying, preserving and promoting the diverse music traditions of East Africa. The project is supported by our UK charity, The Abubilla Music Foundation. Our goal is to record, archive and share the traditional music of East Africa for two important reasons – to sustain and celebrate the extraordinary cultural music heritage of the region and to help make this legacy relevant and fresh to today’s…
What We Do Page
…helps with intercultural dialogue, and encourages mutual respect for other ways of life. The importance of intangible cultural heritage is not the cultural manifestation itself but rather the wealth of knowledge and skills that is transmitted through it from one generation to the next. The social and economic value of this transmission of knowledge is relevant for minority groups and for mainstream social groups within a State, and is as importan…
Upendo Jazz Group
…hey were founded in 1999. Their instruments included: Ngoma za Budogori (drums, with a kick) and Njiga (shakers from gourds). It is worth taking a minute on the drums. They were typical African drums, but set up Western Style on a steel rack and they leaned one large bass drum against the rack. The drummer then built a separate wooden kick pedal, so he could play all the drums with his hands and kick with his feet. We had not seen this before and…
Imachina Group
…ting. The songs include: Lukumili: This is about the moment the horns lock between the two fighting bulls and the context really begins. Ing’ombe: This is about the bulls (I can’t read my handwriting here!) Iminyi: This is a type of bird that hides in roofs and is difficult to find, but is a strong bird. The song tells the story that the best fighting bulls are not the ones preening around the village, but rather they keep to themselves until the…
Aynu Traditional Group Group
One of the groups we saw perform in Arua was the Aynu Traditional Music Group, led by Mustafa Draza. The group are from the Lugbara tribe and play the adungu, the ari (log drums) and a tin sheet for percussion. The Lugbara Tribe Population: Around 900,000 History: They were known in the 19th century as ‘The Naked People’, due to the lacking importance of clothes in their culture. In the early days, the Lugbara were a mainly chiefdom-based communi…
Buganda Music Ensemble Group
…song with the bow harp or Ennanga, a new instrument for us. Albert is only one of 3 master players. It was played in solo performances and the Ennanga player was the advisor to the king, as people would bring him messages for the king that he would turn to song. “Mulirwana”: it means neighbour and the song is about people who don’t trust their neighbours and they believe that anyone that doesn’t trust their neighbours is a witch. “Ssewaswa”: This…
The Revival of the Entongooli Page
…starts with another fascinating and popular instrument, the Embaire or the Xylophone. The scolars are taught the tunes they need to know on this instrument before transferring these melodies over to the Entongooli. What’s incredible about this entire process is how the children are also taught about building the Embaire as well, creating instruments for themselves to learn on. In this first part, we look at how selecting the correct tree’s are int…
Kizazi Kipya Kidumbak Group
We drove to Kizazi Kipya Kidumbak in Mahonda and the DCMA annex. Thabit Omar Ali is the assistant to the head teacher and is a teacher himself. at the DCMA. He met us at with the first group and brought us to this one. They sing and perform mainly for weddings and celebrations. Performers: (all male): Juma Fadhul Juma (leader and secretary but did not participate), Fadhili Faki (director and plays violin), Mohamed Khamisi (violin), Khamisi Vuai (…
Culture Musical Club Taarab Orchestra Group
Culture Musical Club Taarab Orchestra is one of the oldest Taarab orchestras in Zanzibar founded in 1965 after independence. Generations of musicians have played in it. It plays traditional Taarab music with all female solo singers and male singers on instruments. It was clear that this orchestra had played together for a long time and were well rehearsed. They have a total of 45 people in their orchestra. They usually play with about 25 and we s…
Otieno Aloka Group
…ond 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, orutu creates different notes determined by finger pressure against the central stick. It provides a fast-moving, melodic accompaniment, similar to t…
Day Six: January 24, 2019 From Mwanza to Dodomo to Nzali to Nairobi Story
…s used in last song). The group started their performance with the most extraordinary set of customs – human shakers! We recorded seven performances: Intro, Freestyle recording of their entrance. Masasi: the celebration song after circumcision completed Nindo: Song on social issues Muhene: Song during girl ceremony where she reaches puberty and now must be hidden from village for 40 days (song acts out how girl learns to reject the advances of m…
Jackie Akinyi Group
…Isango secondary school in Kinesi, Rorya District, Mara Province from Form One . She completed her fourth form in 1992, but was not able to pursue higher education, and that’s when she started her career as an artist. She has always loved music, especially traditional drums and songs. This love for music started way back in primary school when she used to sing in a traditional music choir and continued even after joining Secondary School. In 1998,…
Patrick Ondiek Staff Profile
…ll the people you’ve lost. Secondly, I love the confidence it gives me to expose my friends to new music. They all love the music I bring home – its’s different from what they listen to and so much like ‘home.’ In Kenya, no matter where you live, your village is always ‘home.’ I was never raised there [Bondo], but it is where I will retire. And the Singing Wells focus is about village music. It is about home. And my friends love that.” Pato is the…
Zam Zam Group
…for weddings and celebrations. It was mainly an acapello performance with one flute made out of a bamboo stick. The singers included: Ibrahim Ali Hassan (lead singer, flute ), Issa Ali Hassan (lead singer), Mlenge Ali Hassan, Othman Mlenge Ali, Afann Mlenge Ali, Iddi Abdallah Mohd, Abdillah Salum Juma (lead singer), Fesal Sleiman Mwalim, Saidi Simai Mkanga, Vuai Juma Vuai. Ibrihim Ali Hassan has two brothers and two sons (youngest is 10) in this…
Day Five: January 22, 2019 Mwanza Continued Story
…. This was a group of wonderful dancing and costume changes. Every song a new and wonderful outfit. We recorded six performances: Omusingero: A song about playing the drums and dancing Nchuma: A song about traditional music that the elders love to play Mrondogomo: A wedding song Kidedeya: A send off song, a marriage song Kidedeya: Freestyle Magic Moment: Omusingero again https://youtu.be/AtwkoD3sDFo From recording we then drove eight hours to…