Matia Kakumirizi Group
…those days when women used to wait for men to provide for everything, nowadays, they wake up early and go to work. “Olugend’olw’ebukakkata”: He went to visit a village called Bukakkata. He found a girl who was seeing two men who didn’t know each other. She was still in her parents’ home so she was not allowed to be seeing men. One day, the parents found a man peeping through the window and canned him because he was trying to disturb their daughte…
Day 4 – Tuesday 4th July 2017 Story
…commercial clients for whom he does no such thing. Finally, we closed our day with an indoors interview at Namsagali hotel in Siaya. There we talked to Thadayo Owit Mutumura (born 1940), an excellent nyatiti player. He told us about the history of nyatiti in his family and its presence in all occasions (both weddings and burials), as well as about organised competitions he used to take part in. He remembered the olden days and the hostility among…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…uded the recordings with Otacho Stars and formally ended Travel to Stream! DAY 4: Thursday, 10 March 2022 Act One: Ontitri Bikundo Genre : Obukano Location: Treat House Resort – Rongo Profile: Ontiri Bikundo Ronald Ontiri Onchuru Bikundo is a versatile obukano player who was born in 1974 in Kisii. Ontiri started playing music in 1985 and recorded his first song ‘Bikundo Obaba mbono’ in 1994 and from then on he has been the main star of the obukano…
Day Three: 9 March 2022 (Kisumu) Story
…Lukachia both members of Loko Band, the resident band at Dunga Hill Camp. DAY 3: Wednesday, 09 March 2022 Act Two Artiste: Olith Ratego Genre: Dodo Location: Dunga Hill Camp – Kisumu City Profile: Olith Ratego Olith Ratego was born Musa Odhiambo Omondi on 26 December 1974 in Asere, Ugenya in Western Kenya. The middle child in a family of three Olith Ratego dropped out of school at an early age to help his father, Walter Omondi Onyango, run his ca…
Conclusion: Challenges and Recomendations Story
…this, we should extend the master classes duration to one week (5 working days at least) and consequently enable younger players to learn much more on the tuning, playing techniques, traditional tunes and the culture behind the instrument from the elders. This would, I believe, also encourage and give time and space for creation of music collaborations that could be recorded in a final day studio session. In such a manner, Singing Wells Masters s…
Day two: From Sirisia to Mabuyole Falls Story
Monday, February 19, 2018: Woke up early and drove to Sirisia to record the band Namatete. The band was founded by Weput Khulu Namatete in 1992. He and his friends gradually made instruments and learned to play them while taking care of their cattle. By 1992 they were good enough to call themselves a ‘serious’ band. The founder started by playing the Lituneu. His brother joined him for a while and brought the Shirili, the single stringed instrume…
Kithara Group
…noise. We hope to have this group come to the hotel on our last recording day. We felt bad that they only were able to perform one song but they took it graciously. Performers: Rajab Suleiman (qanun and director), Mohammed Hassan (accordian), Fum Faki (bongo and tabla), Tatu Khamis Haji (singer) Songs: Chungu – means Pot, composed by Said Ali 10 years ago Usikhofu – means “Don’t Worry” Composed by Rajab 8 years ago Pendo Langu Ledhibiti – means “…
2. Naizungwe Drums – progress report 1 Story
…enough drums for training a new generation of players. However, the basic number includes: 1 large Uganda drum (played with short heavy beaters) 3 smaller drums (played with long curved sticks) 1 medium drum (played with sticks) 1 long drum (ngalabi – hand-beaten) All together, 6 drums. Therefore, we are making four sets of naizungwe drums mainly to facilitate learning.” Below is a video documenting the progress of the drums thus far. https://you…
Day 7: Friday, February 24th, 2017 Story
…ording DDC Mlimani Park Orchestra at the Nafasi Art Space This is our last day and we saved it for Henry Mkanyia. Because he is so central to the history of Tanzanian music, we asked Henry to assemble members of his original group DDC Mlimani Park Orchestra. We assembled at Nafasi Art Space, which is very similar to the Go Down Art Center in Nairobi, hosting artists of all kinds from musicians to painters to dancers. Henry brought two members: Has…
Day 6: Thursday, February 23rd, 2017 Story
…An amazing day of Magic Moments with Umoja Wa Kusini….
Day 5: Wednesday, February 22nd, 2017 Story
…We meet Lipiko and then drive to Dar es Salaam for Leo’s concert……
Day 4: Tuesday, February 21st, 2017 Story
…and wanted to record a fuller album. Three members were the same as yesterday: the brother/sister combo of Ndekwa and Ndahani and Ndahani’s daughter Grace. We then added Tabu and Estelle, two other sisters of Ndahani and Ndekwa. This was an album of two halves: we first recorded 5 songs just with them and then added musicians from last night’s session for a further five. Here’s the full group including Henry, Rajab, Tomato and Leo: Here’s Tabu: H…
Day 3: Monday, 2017 February 20th Story
…s on the Zeze (stringed instruments made from gourds) and Ilimba (a lamellophone, or modified thumb piano). We will spend a lot of time with Chibite over the next two days and meet many different family members. For this first recording in Boma, the line-up was Ndahani Bwani, the older brother, his sister Ndekwa and two daughters Grace and Leah. Here’s the group: The group is a family group, with all members related to Msafiri Zawose, a very famou…
Day 2: Sunday, 2017 February 19th Story
…This was a wonderful day of recording for three reasons: We had the whole day so were able to record a large number of songs and do an “Influences” session. This gave the village children time to get to know us and understand our mission. By the end they were singing along to all the songs. In addition to being a professional musician, Leo also teaches music to school children so he is a natural with kids. On all the songs that he did, he had the…
Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…n fact, ‘clown’ acts are quite central to Tanzanian dance as are acrobatic acts. We spoke to Leo about this. “Yes, we love to bring comedy to our music. If you look at most circus troupes that are touring in the world today, a huge number of the acrobats and clowns are Tanzanian.” https://youtu.be/C-4PdHne3Jc We’ll leave you here. We checked in to our hotel, the Mediterraneo Hotel, Dar es Salaam. Tomorrow we head off for Bagamoyo….
Day 0: Retracing the Lost Drums of Mzee Morris Story
…Over the next week we will be “Retracing the Lost Drums of Mzee Morris,”, the theme of our newest “Field Visit.” We will be travelling from Dar Es Salaam to Bagamoya, from the Snake Dance to the DCC Mlimani Park Orchestra. Enjoy….