Central Uganda: Day 6: Kampala to Entebbe Story
…grown to love. Students walked everywhere with packs. We set up in the garden of James’s class room, under big trees, in tall grass. It had rained the night before and morning so everything was glistening. The Music Groups Bukaala Twesitule Troupe Their Leader is Charles Ikula and they were started in 1991, with over 200 members, 50 of whom are active. Musical style is Baganda. Group performs in different areas, mainly engaged in advocation and s…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…that she should never play in the rain. Amagombe: This is a song about the death of the leader’s father. He wrote it after his father’s death. 95% of the song is about what his father told him before he died. Ebibira: This song talks about the dangers of deforestation. The forest is where the spirits of the fore fathers can rest. If you destroy the forests, you destroy their homes so they will be loitering around and the living won’t have any peac…
Interview: fusion band Ndoto Afrika News
…ndow Shopping tune all day). We interviewed them to find out more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeRj9BrTT20 Hi Holly. Tell us about yourself and Ndoto Afrika – what’s your story? They say stories live forever and one famous Kenyan writer keeps saying that a story is good, until another is told. We are here to share with the world how wonderful it is to be born and raised in Africa. Sadly, the urban African youths are so consumed with the modern…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…s moments, only some of which had to do with the music. The group then divided roughly along age lines on the fundamental issue of fish vs. sleep. Tabu, Jimmy, Andy and Vicki voted sleep and we had food delivered to our cottages, ate and went to bed early. Steve, Patrick, Jacinta, Nick and Robert voted fish and went off the local casino for ‘the best fish in Uganda.’ Tabu was smartest of all, of course, and convinced the kitchen to cook fish in th…
Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…tually visited his brother in law who was jealous of him as a chief. So he decided to poison him. Sinairi Mukhana: The person who killed Paul was a Wanyera. He had killed a chief because he was jealous of him. During the burial he pretended to be sad, but the family members of Paul recognized what was going on and organized to murder him. It’s a song about retaliation. Tabu said of Mazune, “I think he is amazing. He has one of those older traditio…
Before They Pass Away News
…nities face: constant threats of displacement from their land, potentially deadly diseases brought by newcomers, and loss of the habitat on which they rely. It’s now more important than ever to understand, respect and celebrate the world’s indigenous cultures and remaining tribes, before it’s too late. To find out more information about Jimmy’s work visit http://www.beforethey.com/. Do you know of a music group that Singing Wells should be working…
Central Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Budaka Story
…different poses which made drumming and keeping the beat progressively harder – it ended with him on his back, feet over his face, still drumming. Lwaki Ndamba: This song is roughly translated to “Why do I have to suffer?” A woman can’t have a baby so husband beats her and sends her to witch doctor who ensures she gets pregnant. She then returns to husband, who has been off drinking, and reunites. The performance was wonderful and, as was quickly…
Happy new year from Singing Wells News
…ng Wells project overall. Here’s Tabu’s interview. 6. We surpassed 500,000 YouTube hits! In September 2015 we were delighted to see we had surpassed 500,000 hits on the Singing Wells YouTube channel. Our channel features videos from our trips across Kenya and Uganda, including visiting the tribes of the Kenyan Coast, Central and Eastern Uganda, our work to share the music of the Batwa community and the Luo community. We’ve told the story of repatr…
Central Uganda: Day 1 – From Entebbe to Kidinda Story
…lightly worse than ‘cut ears.’ Nandi Kulamudde: This is the story of the older, dead king, talking to the new king. He offers to help the new king but complains that first someone will need to wake him up. The Amadinda percussion reminded us a lot of the Likembe bands of Northern Uganda— very soothing and seductive rhythms. For the last two songs they were joined by Passy Nassonko the lead female singer of the Kika Boys Cultural Troupe (our second…
Singing Wells surpasses 500,000 YouTube hits! News
…f collage of the story of the recording of the music of The Batwa in Uganda and then back in Nairobi at Ketebul Studios. The Watmon Cultural Group, recorded in December 2012. The Elgon Ngoma Troupe sing about the circumcision ritual….
Our top 5 Singing Wells songs for March News
…s Kirarire and Authi. The lead singer wears Murungi, an ornament on both sides of the arms which is worn by the initiator/circumciser; it signifies a man of respect and authority. This one made it onto the top five because of the incredible clothing and dance moves. 4. Kumbuka Asee – Itinga These guys are some of my favourites. Again, great moves, great outfits and great rhythm. The group is led by Margaret Mbia and plays in the musical style of K…
Singing Wells is on Bozza! News
…ver and listen to traditional East African musicians and music groups recorded by Singing Wells. Head over to our Bozza page here. About Bozza “Bozza is a plug & play solution for musicians, poets, photographers & film makers to promote and sell their digital products to their fans throughout Africa. The platform is available to emerging and established artists from around the continent and can be easily accessed by visiting www.bozza.mobi from mo…
Current Leading Figures News
…ty for Odwar, as even though Northern Uganda has been riddled with war for decades, he sees the how effective using “traditional methods of creating peace and reconciliation” are, citing the use of arts in South Africa as a way of peace building in the post-apartheid era and the use of theatre in the 1990s to settle and integrate war veterans in Kabale, Uganda. For Odwar, art has the ability to “rebuild shattered lives”, which is exactly what the…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…e queries on a very regular basis from individuals and institutions worldwide. Orders for copies of recordings are also quite frequent’, demonstrating how their IUCAT system – which lets researchers know about their holdings – is having a positive impact on access. However, it is of course restricted by certain stipulations put on these recordings; for older field recordings, whose artists may not have discussed the availability of their material,…
Amone Watmon Matthew Story
…h another player and a third playing simple percussion on a calabash. We made a decision very quickly to invite the musicians back to our hotel to record further. We made the journey back to the Airport Guesthouse in Entebbe, with the musicians continuing their performance in the vehicles. In the garden of the Airport Guesthouse, we recorded a further 6 performances, the group collaborating with Akello, our artist in residence for the trip. We als…
A History of Recording East African Music News
…and, at this time, only had the recordings that Hugh Tracey had made a few decades before, which were from all over Africa. When asked about the importance of recording traditional African music, he states ‘It was crucial to me to be able to direct the attention of young Ugandans to their own musical traditions: so often at weekends my wife and I drove off with students from different parts of the country to sample the music of their own local vil…