Imachina Group
…the wedding. Khuchende Pole: This song is telling everyone to walk slowly to and from the wedding so all the people can gather and honour the bride and groom. The Shishebo process – this is about rites of passage, and specifically male circumcision. The songs include: Bikubanda: This is a song that mocks other tribes and peoples that don’t carry out these rituals and ‘are afraid of the knife.’ Nuli Musata: This is a song that is encouraging the y…
Influences songs from Singing Wells Group
…ves of the Singing Wells project is to introduce tribal East African music to a new generation of musicians and fans who might not consider it relevant today. So, we have developed the Influences series – a fusion of traditional and contemporary styles. Each time the Singing Wells team embarks on a field recording visit we are joined by a talented musician who works with us on ‘Influences’ songs. They work with us in the field and also in the Kete…
Royal Entenga Drummers Group
…recruited a team of passionate drummers to learn how to play the drums, learned to tune the drums and ultimately learned to play new music….
Mchele Mchele Sanaa Group Group
…This group, from the Sukuma community, was formed in 2010 and performs with a number of styles: Bukomia Lume, Buchheye, Wigashe. Their instruments are: Ng’oma (Drums), Pembe (animal horns, large impala), Firimbi (flute), and Njuga (shakers). …
The Kalenjin of Kenya Album
…rs 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 Promoters and the Kewamoi Women Dancers….
Bigilia Group Group
…gs, including Magic Moments and Influences Sessions: Zakulola: You’ve come to see us play Wake Kwa Ume: Female to male Nataka kusema kasi naogopa: I would like to say something but I am afraid Umpati Ng’o: You’re never going to get them Magic Moment 1 Utalikologa Utalinywa: If you mix it, you’ll drink it. Tueheze Zembwela (local dialect) Bonanza Nataka Kusema: Includes a song with Leo, which is ‘I want to say’ Utalikologa Utalinywa: If you mix it,…
Matia Kakumirizi Group
…ning sleep and about hard working women. Unlike those days when women used to wait for men to provide for everything, nowadays, they wake up early and go to work. “Olugend’olw’ebukakkata”: He went to visit a village called Bukakkata. He found a girl who was seeing two men who didn’t know each other. She was still in her parents’ home so she was not allowed to be seeing men. One day, the parents found a man peeping through the window and canned him…
Super Phoenix Band Group
…song made famous by Jacob Luseno and Julius Intenya when they first played together. Specifically, it refers to a rich man who askes a young man to watch after his house while he travels constantly for business. Soon the young man starts to pretend the house is his and also propositions the man’s wife to be with him. More generally, it is about many Kenyans that are asked to watch cars, or trucks or possessions and begin to tell others that they a…
Nyati Muchoya Group
From Nzali, Nyati Mchoya is from the Wagogo Tupu community and was formed in 1966 by the grandfathers of the current performers. Their instruments include: Nindo (jingles), Njuga (Shakers), Mbega (animal Skins), Muheme (drums), Kabati (kayamba-shakers), Manyanga ( Maracas), Madodolo (cow bell), and Pangwa/Kipangwa (a double headed lyre). We recorded four performances, where each of the songs is named after the musical style: Nindo: A medley of so…
Day 9 – Sunday 9th July 2017 Story
…ists of two arms and a cross‐bar.” Through a group interview, we attempted to compare them in: size (size of resonator; length of arms and per extension of strings); materials of fabrication (types of wood); body parts (any specific additional parts and why); strings number; playing techniques (position of instrument; hands positioning and fingers involved in playing; plucking techniques); tuning and sound (central string, sound spectrum, twin str…
Orutu Instrument
…trument quite prominently as part of their sound – and it forms a large part of the Influences session we recorded at Ketebul studios in Nairobi. We are pleased to own an Orutu, as part of the Singing Wells instrument library. This resides in our London studio….
Albums Introduction Page
…ups we record. In the event that we have invited one of the musicians back to the Ketebul Studios in Nairobi to record, we will also include these recordings. The albums are available to download through our Bandcamp store in your choice of formats. The proceeds from the sale of our albums will be fed back to the musicians involved in the recordings, wherever possible. CDs may also be available in the future. Join the mailing list to find out when…
Liwambwe Group
…ars. They had unique drums, including small drums with wooden spikes on bottom to be embedded in sand, called the Siganga. They also had a pair of drums called the Likuti and a long drum called the Msondo, and a very long thin drum called a Neya. In the dance they had a character in a mask called a Lipiko, who wore a vest called a Mjuga. They played five songs: Malala Kujunga: Essentially means ‘be calm and quite, we are about to perform and need…
Bungoma Roots Band Group
…were being held. The band members held day jobs, mostly in construction, and then would gig in the evening, often in clubs filled with drunkards. However, after years of hard work and managing to record multiple records, they needed to bring in other musicians to form a much bigger band. They then produced their third CD in 2013, Namusia, again with Soundcheck in Kisumu. They started performing all over Kenya. They are now very well established w…
Adagha Nalya Drama Group Group
…l Waiswa of old who used to shy away from women. It is a common folk song. “Omuntu Kyakola”: When someone is jealous about what someone else is doing; when some one works hard, others want to bring you down. “Yoyenda”: The one you love. The song invites everyone to show who they love to the rest of the community. Performed at introduction ceremonies – a traditional party where a girl introduces the man to her parents. “Nsomesa Nsomesa”: When a chi…
Bigwala Cultural Group Group
…: The coordinator and lead female vocalist is Nabirye Irene. The group are from the village of Bukoona and travelled to the Gately on the Nile Hotel in Jinja for the recording session. The Bigwala is the name of the trumpets they play. Song Meanings “Muwe Bwobona Asaba”: When someone asks you kindly assist them. “Mperekera Omwana Womurembe”: When you are walking with someone by your side they are the special one and you don’t look at anyone else….