Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 1 – Reflections Story
…ail some of our observations from our time exploring the royal instruments of the kingdoms of Uganda 2) Recording again Albert Ssempeke’s Buganda Music Ensemble. Given that we first decided to rediscover the Royal Drums after recording Albert’s group in 2013, we wanted to end this field visit with his recordings Part one: reflections We are sitting on the grounds of the Kampala Museum, surrounded by examples of grass huts from the various regions…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 2 – Interviews with Musicians of Uganda’s Royal Palaces Story
…with me. We then gave the trumpeter the music of the International Library of African Music. They had assembled a CD for us of Hugh Tracy’s recordings of the palace musicians that he recorded in 1952. The trumpeter loved the picture of the trumpets on the cover and knew some of the players, but he was certain he was not on the recording. “I was still learning during this time and was not good enough,” he said. Ben Nsubuga Ntabula Next we interview…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 1- Drum Making and Palace Players Story
…illage of Mpambire which is known for its drum makers. Abass was the maker of some of the Entenga drums (the royal drums of the Buganda King). Above: Abass Mirimu To be specific, in the 15 drum set up we described here, Abass made the three standalone drums on the far right of the set up. We interviewed Abass on the steps of drum making. These are: 1. Preparing the wood “You cut a tree and then you cut individual pieces – long for long drums, shor…
Central and Eastern Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Jinja Story
…there’s the obvious: at Singing Wells, we record and share the great music of East African villages. But, there’s another, equally important reason: the revival of the Bigwala trumpets was the model we used for the restoration of the Royal Drums. We felt it was critical to check in on their progress. We focused on three main things on this visit: Interviewing James about the instruments themselves Recording the trumpeters Interviewing James in mor…
Musisi’s Story, Part 1: The Fall of the Buganda Kingdom Story
…yal Drums of the Buganda Kingdom, the Entenga. This project was the result of the work of a very large team, but at its center is Musisi, the last surviving drummer that we know of. Here is his story, in roughly his words: “My father was the leader of the flutes at the Buganda Kingdom, and as his son, I was trained to play the flutes and eventually joined him in the palace. When I arrived, I found that I loved the Entenga drums far more than I lik…
The Entenga Drums: Part 1 Story
…recorded the Entenga in the 1950s, and thanks to the International Library of African Music we brought his recordings with us and have repatriated the music back to Uganda. In addition, Lois Anderson recorded some performances of surviving musicians, wrote about the tradition and published transcriptions of about 26 tunes. His articles, ‘The Entenga tuned-drum ensemble’ (1968) and ‘Essays for a humanist: an offering to Klaus Wachsmann’ (New York,…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11:An Interview with Gregg Story
…ple: things are focused on other matters that have nothing to do with the software of life, nothing to do with the soul. In that context, this music stuff is viewed as entertainment, it is a discretionary item – you don’t really need to support it. The government is focused on politics and big money items like tourism and business is focused on marketing which demands immediate return. So on one hand, our government investing in messages that say…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…he accordion had a far greater appeal and impact amongst the Kikuyu people of central Kenya. In the late 1940s individual guitar players began plucking away at the chords as they would the nyatiti, all the while singing in the language of the lake shore people. Traditional Luo dance forms and songs were fused to produce new and distinct guitar-generated beats and riffs. The foreigner’s instrument was slowly becoming an indispensable part of the le…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11: Ketebul Studios, Nairobi Story
…lando Obuyanzi Kali Munda Olubo Mary Queen John Nzanze One of the founders of “African Twist”, John enjoyed a major hit with ‘Angelique Twist’ in 1961. Born in 1940, he started playing his father’s guitar at 12. His band, Air Fiesta Matata, achieved fame, having come in third in the 1968 All African Music Festival in Algeria, and this led to introductions to Miles Davis and a tour of the USA. Angelique Twist Twist ni Nzuri Tama Amina Makashi ya Mr…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 4 – Nkubu to Mukuuni to Nairobi Story
…to be at par with the prospective spouse. We then wrapped up and took lots of final pictures, including of three children, practically our only children from the trip! We packed for a final time and departed for Nairobi. We made pretty good time to Ketebul music, where we unloaded our gear. Then we headed for the Fairview, a 20 minute drive that took about 90 minutes due to traffic! We all crashed early knowing we had almost a week in the studio s…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 3 – Nkubu to Mariene to Murungurune to Nkubu Story
…the community not to forget their culture, especially Njun Njeke, the head of the council of elders. Ramare twasemania: Lead is Francis Rithaa and Lawi Mwiti. Is sung by men who are sent to pick the circumciser. They sing the song in two groups, who eventually agree on the choice of circumciser. . Barwimbo: Lead singers are Mukumbu Saberio and Jacob Newarimi. Refers to a friend of the opposite sex. It is sung when Ameru are celebrating harvest and…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 2 – Muranga to Kangema to Nkubu Story
…of songs, takes, times and special notes (like when someone walks in front of one of the cameras during recording). In our case, Jimmy then keeps a master sheet that he completes each day of each location, group, and songs that he circulates to full team so we get all names/spellings correct. Finally, audio and video need to sign off that it is a good take and we move on. Breakdown Typically, the interview team is continuing interviews during reco…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 1 – Nairobi to Kiongwe to Muranga Story
…eparate women groups of the Kamba ethnic community, from the same villiage of Kiongwe, each of which would do 3-4 performances. Most of the groups performed with a Ileve (tin shaker) and Vilingi (tin whistle). The final group also introduced us to the Kilumi (drums). The Music Groups Twone Mbee The group is led by Christine Kisove, using the Itheke dance styles (Mwen-yenyo, Mutundo). The group is part of the Kamba ethnic community (Ukama wa Kitui)…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 0 – London/Nairobi Story
…Music Foundation Team For this trip, we are Jimmy Allen (Video 2) and Andy Paterson (Audio 1). We spent our Saturday travelling from London to Nairobi. On arrival we were greeted warmly by Priscah Nyamburu, Ketebul’s Front Office Assistant, and Thomas Owiyo, Ketebul’s driver, who drove us to the Fairview. We settled down about 1:30AM, with alarm clocks set for 4:30AM. Let’s remind you of the Abubilla Music team: JIMMY ALLEN ANDY PATTERSON…
A Tanzanian Effort to Salvage the Music of the Past News
…ge, she said, “is characterised by these high guitar riffs, and then a lot of African polyrhythmic drumming in the background, and even featuring horn sections.” True to its name, muziki wa dansi is music that practically forces spectators out of their chairs. When you hear this music in concert, says Rebecca, everyone will be dancing. But the music itself wasn’t always meant to be pure entertainment. True to his socialist roots, Nyerere wanted hi…
Central Uganda: Day 7 – A Magic Day in Entebbe Story
…a had written song inspired from her time with us about hearing the sounds of African music. Last night, she and Andy played together, with Andy working out a guitar part. So first, we recorded the two of them. Then, we decided that if she was writing about hearing the sounds of African music, she should hear the sounds. So James worked with Jovah on a beautiful line, where she sang about the Batwa people being driven from the parks. Then Passy wo…