Mumias United Group
…Mumias United was founded in 1997 by Francesca Odour. They have 38 members and 22 showed up for our performance. They perform in the Imbira style. They are part of the Wanga tribe, which is a sub-group of the Lua, known for their Kings (Nabongo). We performed next to the mausoleum where four kings were buried, dating back to 1700s….
Kochia Traditional Dancers Group
…that the dancers wear. Lead by Alfred Migure, they have built a reputation for themselves as one of the most exciting groups to perform traditional Luo music, with their vibrant regalia and dance moves to match. Their brightly coloured outfits (replacing the more traditional clay colours that dancers would adorn themselves with) are augmented by attention-grabbing ostrich feather headdresses (the ostrich, a symbol of beauty and courage, represents…
Day Three: January 20th, 2019 Story
…gative thing, evoking witch doctors and snake oil salesmen. Simiyu: A song for praise for the region. Bahuni ba ng’wanza: A song referring to local women of questionable virtues Balimi: A song about farming where the band brought up children from the village and taught them about hoeing the soil to the song. Later we saw several videos of how this song is used in the fields to motivate farmers, who hoe to the beat. Throughout Tanzania, we saw sc…
Eridat Makwiri Group
…ould go complaining to the husband. The message in the song is to not wait for everything to be done for you. “Paulo Wawanyera”: This is someone’s name, meaning Paul, son of Wawanyera. Paul was a chief. He visited certain places and found they had made him party with lots of food and drink. He actually visited his brother in law who was jealous of him as a chief. So he decided to poison him. The singer is trying to warn Paul that his death is comi…
Omong’oluk Traditional Dancers Group
…about the instruments and costumes used by the group; these included: Atenus: The bass drum Igelu: Shakers Akwara: Sticks Isiman: Jingles worn around the ankles Etwoo: A gourd that you blow into for a ‘bass’ beat. The dancers wore “Emukule”, skins of cows and more rarely, Cheetahs. One of the dancers wore a “Amugwar”, a head piece made up of antelope horns….
Recording Resources Page
…tively out in the field. With that in mind, we have created some resources for other groups to use for working in the field. Please feel free to use the below resources for your field trips in whatever region you are based, and please do reach out to us. We love to meet others who are passionate about music in their own region! Village Visit Management Audio Recording Protocol Field Visit Workflow We hope these are useful for other researchers in…
FAQ’s Page
…rd? Of course – we believe that musicians should be paid for their time performing for us. We pay a recording gratuity on the day of the recording. This amount varies based on a number of factors such as the number of members in the group and the number of songs we record. In the event of any music we record making money directly (through sales, sync licensing or performance royalties) we will endeavour to channel this money back to the original p…
Day Four: February 19, 2020 (Maruhabi Palace) Story
…et us at with the first group and brought us to this one. They sing and perform mainly for weddings and celebrations. Performers: (all male): Juma Fadhul Juma (leader and secretary but did not participate), Fadhili Faki (director and plays violin), Mohamed Khamisi (violin), Khamisi Vuai (bongos), Khamisi Bato (bongos), Ameri Sefu ( Sanduku – sinle string base), Ahmed Juma (sticks and table), Sheha Makame (shaker= cherewa) Dancers and chorus (all…
Support Singing Wells Page
…inging Wells recording session. Each group receives a payment for their performance, which they can use to help them continue practicing and performing in the future. The songs and videos we record are archived and published, giving each group further opportunities to gain an income from their music. Our Gift to You As well as a special thank you on our website, we’ll send you details of the song your donation funded and an MP3 download of the tra…
Day Zero: February 15, 2020 – Assemble in Zanzibar Story
…time. Muhsin…decided to teach her…at the time it was considered immoral for women to join taarab groups and sing in public… She helped …transform taarab to the point where woman are now usually the lead singers. …Between 1928 and 1950 she recorded over 150 recovers…It is through her recordings …that Taarab became widely accessible. Later, further Egyptian influence was incorporated into the genre by including full string sections as well as a…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…o enable them to develop a better understanding of how to improve their performances. These adjustments were of utmost importance in making it easier for these rural and peri-urban based musicians to migrate their shows and concerts to online platforms in order to reach wider audiences and create new revenue streams. As we headed back to Nairobi on Friday, 11th March 2022, we had lively discussions on ways and means of empowering these marginalize…
Here for the Music? Page
…find moments to take some beautiful photography of our surroundings. Head here to see some images of our time on the field, the people we meet and the stunning scenery. YouTube You can find the full collection of our video recordings on our Youtube channel. With over 500+ videos for you to choose from, delve into the world of East African music and dance with us. “We set out on this mission not to become ‘fossil collectors’… We work with musicia…
Day Three: February 18, 2020 (Stonetown, Mpendae, Maungani) Story
…joy it and have created their own brass bands. This band has been together for 20 years. Performers: Salmin Ali Borafya (trumpet, leader), Ali Borafya (base drum), Fatihi Hassan (trombone), Ali Rajab (trombone), Ahmed Hassan (drum), Mahmud Ali (cymbal), Abdalla Iddi (tabla). Dancers/singers: Pili Idi (lead singer) Aisha Khamis, Zainab Khamisi, Aldeh Jonas, Nafla Khamis. Director: Omar Mohamed – he didn’t play in the band but directed it and spoke…
Day Two: February 17, 2020 (Stonetown) Story
…ge 7 up to 40, ten all together today. They sing Islamic and secular songs for weddings and celebrations. Today was mainly an acapello performance with one flute made out of a bamboo stick. The singers included: Ibrahim Ali Hassan (lead singer, flute ), Issa Ali Hassan (lead singer), Mlenge Ali Hassan, Othman Mlenge Ali, Afann Mlenge Ali, Iddi Abdallah Mohd, Abdillah Salum Juma (lead singer), Fesal Sleiman Mwalim, Saidi Simai Mkanga, Vuai Juma Vua…
Day One: January 18, 2019. Assemble in Tanzania Story
…rs and musicians, b) we have three video cameras operating – one wide shot for full performance, one close up to capture details of instruments and one roving camera to provide a second angle on the performance and c) we interview all group leaders to understand group musical styles and background, instruments and songs. In almost every village, we struggle with spellings of songs and instruments as these can differ by village and by band. We full…
Day One: 7 March 2022 (Shikangania and Mukumu) Story
…at some of the venues chosen for the recordings had no main power outlets. Fortunately and for a nominal fee, good neighbors always came to our rescue by allowing us to tap into their main power supply lines with our snake cable. When all the issues were sorted out, the rest of the recording went smoothly with Johnstone Mukabi and the Omutibo Stars coming on stage at 11:00am. Accompanied by Francis Massanga on vocals, they were joined by guest mus…