Masirtarit Group
…Music of the Kalenjin Kapsokwony, Kenya…
Kanindi Jazz Band Group
…Music of the Luo Rongo, Kenya…
Otacho Young Stars Group
…sic of the Luo The Otacho Young Stars are based in Rongo, Nyanza Province, Kenya. We recorded them on our field trip in late 2011, capturing the music of the Luo people. They performed for us in Dinky’s Resort Club, an old dance hall with a grass arena behind it that made the perfect stage for their upbeat and energetic performances. They performed five songs with us at the resort, including ‘Charles Manager’, a sincere song showing gratitude to t…
Jackie Akinyi Group
…ed even after joining Secondary School. In 1998, she started singing with Jambo Star Band of Mwanza Town, and while with them, she composed her song known as “Wawili Wawili” in the year 2000. After this song did very well on the Kenyan market, she decided to move to Kenya. It was during the years 2004 and 2005 that she met Tabu Osusa (a music producer), who invited her to Ketebul Studios, where she recorded her first album titled KUNDI, featuring…
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…
Joginda Boys Group
…Music of the Luo Aluny Village, East Alego, Kenya Group Leader: Organda Joginda…
Aloka Ohangla Group Group
…Music of the Luo Aluny Village, East Alego, Kenya Group leader: Otieno Aloka…
The Sega Sega Band Group
…Music of the Luo Rang’ala, Nyanza province, Western Kenya Lead Vocalist: Osumba Rateng…
Guy Morley Staff Profile
…Guy Morley is the founder and Director of No Nation. No Nation is an independent UK based arts programming and promotion company. Some of the festivals that Guy has programmed include The Big Chill, Brighton Festival and African Soul Rebels. Guy is also a freelance music promoter and DJ. In the course of his career he has produced a radio show called Afro Base, on Juice 107.2 and Totallyradio.com and been the resident DJ in several venues in Manch…
Day One: 7 March 2022 (Shikangania and Mukumu) Story
…assist with the burial activities on the following day. Seeing that we had appeased the spirit of their departed, the mourners quieted down and allowed us to continue with the recording successfully, ending shortly after 9:00pm. After a night photo session – thanks to our newly acquired LED lights – members of the Super Phoenix Band jumped on to their Boda Bodas (motorbike taxis) and disappeared into the dark night, one by one. We drove back to Jo…
Tabu Osusa Staff Profile
…Nairobi, Tabu Osusa co-chairs the steering committee of the “Spotlight on Kenyan Music“ project which seeks to discover and promote young talent, performing a blend of African music. The Kenyan government through its Ministry of National Heritage and Culture also supports this project. Tabu is also the Project Coordinator of Ketebul Music’s Retracing Series. Supported by the Ford Foundation Office of Eastern Africa, the Retracing Series is a rese…
Patrick Ondiek Staff Profile
…father. He forced you to think about all 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….
Day One: The Iteso People and their Music Story
…His full name is Fadhilee Itulya. He was born in 1988 in Kakamega, western Kenya, but raised in Nairobi. In his words, 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 Na…
Zaire Ndindingwa Group
…Music of the Mijikenda Gede, Malindi District, Kenya Group Leader: Fundi bin Kalale; performers: Dali Baya, Reggaemaster wa mweni, Saumu Kadenge Shombo, Salame Kadenge, Alora Mbundo Ngoma…
Global Influences Project: Artist Submissions Page
…Box loop to add some movement to the drums and arpeggio and I was really happy with how the rest of the elements came together in this piece.” To hear more work from Ng’at Maler, you can follow him at @ngatmaler MAKOSSIRI X ALOKA OHANGLA We love this brilliant submission from Kenyan techno artist, Makossiri. Describing herself as “A true rebel from the outerworld who defies boundaries through her genre bending sound grounded in African rhythms wi…
Introduction: Project overview and objectives Story
…rrative nature and does not focus on the details of collected data, which will be presented in a finer ethnographic report to follow. “Masters of the Nyatiti” focuses on the nyatiti, an 8‐string lyre originating in the Luo community on the shores of Lake Victoria in Western Kenya. Most of the field recordings this report is based on were thus conducted in Lake Region of Kenya, notably in Kisumu and Siaya Counties. The details of these recordings w…