2. Naizungwe Drums – progress report 1 Story
…enough drums for training a new generation of players. However, the basic number includes: 1 large Uganda drum (played with short heavy beaters) 3 smaller drums (played with long curved sticks) 1 medium drum (played with sticks) 1 long drum (ngalabi – hand-beaten) All together, 6 drums. Therefore, we are making four sets of naizungwe drums mainly to facilitate learning.” Below is a video documenting the progress of the drums thus far. https://you…
Day 2: Sunday, 2017 February 19th Story
…ing for three reasons: We had the whole day so were able to record a large number of songs and do an “Influences” session. This gave the village children time to get to know us and understand our mission. By the end they were singing along to all the songs. In addition to being a professional musician, Leo also teaches music to school children so he is a natural with kids. On all the songs that he did, he had the whole village singing and laughing…
Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…the snake emerges. From then on, the dance is about how close the pair can get to being bitten or strangled by the snake without getting hurt. Occasionally the snake is set upon the audience but one of the dancers pulls it back by the tail just before it strikes. Breath-taking. This form of performance is new to us (but, of course not to Tanzanians) and we’ve not seen it in Kenya or Uganda. In fact, ‘clown’ acts are quite central to Tanzanian danc…
Fundraiser for Matthew Watmon News
…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 we greatly appre…
Ketebul Music presents Shades of Benga Online News
…s 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 #legendarykenyans …
Our journey to the Royal Drums: in the words of James Isabirye Story
…e drummers. I thought I was in great shape, because I knew Sebuwufu, a xylophone player who knew all about the drums and agreed to help me. Together, we found out that Peter Cooke had recorded the drums and we listened to some of these recordings. But then, Sebuwufu passed away in August 2015 and I realised I had a big problem now. He might have been the last person who knew the drums. But I remembered that Sebuwufu had heard of someone named Musi…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 2 – Flutes Story
…orm and packed ourselves up for the hotel, and packed in the hotel for our flight on December 4th back to Nairobi. We will not provide a field report for December 4th, but stay tuned for December 5th, when we continue recording Uganda musicians, but not in a field. In a studio. To a click track. With other professionals. As we seek to revive these sounds… Read part one: reflections from our time exploring the royal instruments of the Kingdoms of U…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11:An Interview with Gregg Story
…t this material and could provide royalties like producers and film makers that could really make this available. We need to think about rich Kenyans and how they can support the music of their village with our help. We need to think about corporates and get them off the popular big number kick they are on and get them to work on authentic things. You guys can get better and better at producing videos, but until we make this bigger and more sustai…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…potent form of dance music. This experimentation later saw Sam Mangwana together with other Congolese musicians like guitarists Lokassa ya Mbongo, Ringo Moya, Nyboma Mwandido, Bopol Mansiamina and Syrian Mbenza form the African All Stars in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, in 1978. By this time, the popularity of Benga had spread as far as West Africa and as Mangwana once confessed, it was this sound and West African highlife that the people loved. The Af…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…azi Ow’omwano Tanoba: Tamenha Ibuga Nalufuka: This was an incredible dance number that ended with all the Singing Wells crew, and many of the hotel staff, jumping up and dancing with the group. Here is their music: James Isabirye says, “It is a challenge for me to talk about Nile Beat because I have so many feelings about it. But what I’m most proud of its contribution to the preservation of Ugandan culture by organizing the only festival since 20…
Discussions with Peter Cooke: ethnomusicologist and Ugandan music expert News
…re, London, I received my first lesson in playing the Kiganda amadinda xylophone from the South African musicians Andrew and Paul Tracey before their evening show Wait a Minim.” “My work in Uganda led me to begin exploring that country’s traditional music initially with the aim of collecting useful materials for teaching purposes. That exploration has continued since then, apart from during the chaos of the periods of the rule of Amin and the Seco…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…to help amplify instruments. Every time we try, we struggle but we have to get the solution.” Here’s their music: The Bakuseka Majja Matta Group Our final group was also a stand out act, with the legendary performer (yes, as Tabu said we had two legends of Ugandan music visit us today) – Natha Matta Nyende performing for us with his band the Bakuseka Majja Matta Group. Nathan is 76 years old and has been blind since 1956. He formed his group in 19…
Central Uganda: Day 0 – Nairobi/London to Entebbe Story
…he hotel. We had a quick dinner and a few free drinks (we had charmed some flight attendants on the plane to contribute to Singing Wells with a few whiskeys). Most of us then went to bed for the night, deciding to have one final evening free of our London friends. Patrick, however, woke up in time to be a ‘greeting party’ to the London arrivals. Message from Abubilla Music Foundation Team Representing the AMF are Jimmy Allen (Founder), sound engin…
Singing Wells in Numbers…. News
…Andy did a litte homework for this one: Number of recordings of groups: 374 (this does not include other recordings like Magic Moments, Influences, etc…) Number of groups recorded: 83 Number of hours of music: 27 hours and 30 minutes. …
Report from Womex 2013 News
…as a producer) that it is the role of a project manager. Working with a budget and creative energy and materials to create an end product. We were pleased to get a mention from our new friend Eddie Hatitye who was announcing the Music in Africa project he is heading up with support from Siemens and the Goethe institute in South Africa. The board of directors of Music in Africa includes our good friend and project advisor to the Singing Wells Bill…
SWP Uganda 2013 – our proposed itinerary News
…i (about 120 kms from Mbale), recording a Basoga group called Muwewesi Xylophone Group. Like their name suggests, they play the traditional xylophone or ‘Embaire’ which can be played by up to 6 people, depending on how large it is. At the end of the session, we will pack up the studio (we are very quick at doing this now!) and head off to a new location – this time the town of Jinja on the shores of Lake Victoria, close to the source of the River…