Day 4: UOBDU and the Birara Dancers Story
…er’s Rest Guesthouse: After breakfast our first stop was the office of the United Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda (UOBDU), where we met Henry Neza, the Capacity Development Co-ordinator, and Alice Nyamihanda, Tourism Officer and the first University graduate amongst the Batwa communities. They are to be our hosts and translators for the two days – we were lucky to be joined by Precious as well, Alice’s five month old daughter. Patrick…
Kathy’s reflections on her Singing Wells experience News
…erful to see the fusion of old tribal music with contemporary music in the field and in the studio in Nairobi. The one thing that I learned on this trip was how important it is to talk to the tribes to get their histories but also to make them feel welcome and at ease. It would also be useful to have a debrief afterwards to see how they felt it went and if they have any comments. I hope to go back to other areas of East Africa to hear their storie…
Nick Abonyo (the ‘clapper-man’) News
…rs’ to discover real music.” Nick’s favourite Singing Wells moment was the welcome we received at the home of Ogoyo Nengo in Rang’ala, Nyanza province. “She is a great artist and for her to welcome us to her home was a great honour. I felt so proud.” His worst moment was during the first day of recording on this trip to record the Kalenjin……when the rains came. In his typical wordy style Nick reported, ‘I was wet.’ When asked who from the team bos…
Recording music & dance of the Batwa News
…r Kisoro, Uganda. The photos were taken in July, 2011 by Dina Buck for the United Organsation for Batwa Development in Uganda. Rationale for taking the Singing Wells project to Kisoro, Uganda The overall aim of the Singing Wells project is to identify, record, preserve and promote the cultural music heritage of East Africa. In taking the project to Uganda to document and record the traditional music and dance of the Batwa, we can help to stem…
Reflections on the pilot phase by Pato News
…took us to his village called Sita in Gede. On arrival we received a warm welcome and Bado’s family was really happy to see me again and like wise. We got down to business and set up quickly and the first group was Mwanzele Nyerere wa Konde Music Club. I was excited because this would be my first time to see Mzee Nyerere wa Konde perform live and they did not disappoint. Later they were joined by Winyo for a performance which in simple words was…
Discovering music roots with SWP News
…in a unique way, different from the grainy footage of government “tourist promotional” documentaries dating from the 1960s. I was born in Nairobi 48 years ago. At 14, my future music career came to a crashing halt when I was kicked out of the school choir for miming. I wouldn’t dare sing; my voice is just a notch better than a toad’s. My attempt to learn guitar was also thwarted when my finger tips formed that kind of stuff you find on your heels…
More Ketebul voices…Steve reports from the field News
…rmance by Samba mapangala, Winyo, and Ayub Ogada, that he had organized to welcome our friends from Abubilla. We all joined them later, and I couldn’t believe how late it was when we finally left to go home. Jimmy made a point to check with me whether I knew when we were to depart from Nairobi according to my itinerary. Yes, Jimmy can be a funny guy. Day 2: The Road Trip to Malindi On the day of departure, I made a point to make it to the studio…
More on the launch of the Ketebul Music website News
…vered a great site right on brief and within a tight budget which is a big bonus for the Singing Wells funds. Here are a few words from Wesley Burden about the challenge we gave them…… “Ketebul Music required a website design that delivered a strong sense of the colourful music of East Africa and the traditions that their non-profit organisation aims to help preserve. Using our experience from working with Abubilla Music and Sideways Recordings we…