Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11:An Interview with Gregg Story
…pop culture. The whole drive to “marketing” is killing our culture. If the numbers don’t come in on something than you stop it. But culture is hard to really invest in. You don’t go for the popular musicians doing the big things. You have to go to the real groups in the rural villages. And they are out there. And it gets much deeper. Our view of development is hardware – give folks roads, modernise them. But Singing Wells has discovered in fact –…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…vel to the capital for recording sessions and a few gigs, but he or she is more comfortable doing gigs in the siwadhas (temporary shelters) of Kenya’s provincial agricultural shows and seedy small-town pubs or at rural market centres. Although clubs like the Carnivore have opened up to Benga acts, it is still an occasional thing. Save for the culturally-themed nights–‘Mugithi night’ for the Kikuyu, ‘Kililimbi night’ for the Kamba, ‘Mulembe night’…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…literate in music and we had a clear vision from 1990 of what we wanted to do. We are not doing badly and have a comfortable life from the performances. Some musicians who didn’t even have a bicycle not have houses. We are showing you can have a musical career. We are growing our knowledge and getting better at representing the culture. Now we have city in Sweden that is starting to partner with us to advance cultural exchanges.” Tabu asked James,…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…nt, but actually beautiful song without instruments: “Mbasaliza Ki?” (What do I do that you envy) Katonda Kyakulaga Nekikwita (God Shows You What Will Kill You) James Isabirye says, “He is THE philosopher of Basoga music. When I hear him, I get goose pimples. When we were young, we played these songs every evening in the village. My mother would clap to us as my brothers and sisters competed to please our mother, dancing and singing these songs. H…
Singing Wells is on Bozza! News
…to discover and listen to traditional East African musicians and music groups recorded by Singing Wells. Head over to our Bozza page here. About Bozza “Bozza is a plug & play solution for musicians, poets, photographers & film makers to promote and sell their digital products to their fans throughout Africa. The platform is available to emerging and established artists from around the continent and can be easily accessed by visiting www.bozza.mob…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…nding, and lively engagement with the world of sound.’ They currently have more than 3,200 albums and 45,000 tracks and, through the dissemination of audio recordings and educational materials, are seeking to expand this legacy. Their vast content is relatively easy to search – though of course it helps to know what you are looking for – and one can either search a location or artist in the search bar, or browse through the various collections. Th…
Singing Wells in Numbers…. News
…Andy did a litte homework for this one: Number of recordings of groups: 374 (this does not include other recordings like Magic Moments, Influences, etc…) Number of groups recorded: 83 Number of hours of music: 27 hours and 30 minutes. …
Promotion of Batwa Culture/Music: UOBDU report Nov 2013 News
…ber of Parliament and rewarded them UGX 150,000/=. In addition Mperwa group was linked to tour guides who usually take tourists to Batwa communities and are entertained at UGX 50,000/= per visit per group. Furthermore, Abubilla Music Foundation sent the Batwa CDs to UOBDU for sell and make money that can support Batwa so far a few CDs have been sold at UGX 120, 000/=. Compiled by Zaninka Penninah, UOBDU …
Report from Womex 2013 News
…in Africa. Members of the Music Producers Guild led a discussion on ‘What do producers actually do?‘ – the answer seems to be ‘everything’. The role of producer has many meanings, but it seems to me (as a producer) that it is the role of a project manager. Working with a budget and creative energy and materials to create an end product. We were pleased to get a mention from our new friend Eddie Hatitye who was announcing the Music in Africa proje…
A recording studio which fits into the back of an SUV Story
…ing with us: 2 Apple MacBook Pro 2 MOTU Traveler MK3 Audio Interface 4 Headphone amps 8 Sony MDR-V600 headphones 2 Shure mics & stands 2 Rode Lavalier omni-directional mics 2 Rode NTG-1 condenser Shotgun mics 1 Matched Pair of AKG C414 XL Microphones 1 Matched Pair of Rode NT5 Microphones 2 Rode professional boom pole 1 K&M telescopic mic stand/boom 1 Canon EOS 7D 1 Canon EOS 60D 1 Canon EOS 5D 1 LED video camera lights 1 Flip HD video camera Thin…
The Beat of Kenya News
…art of the evening. At the end of the evening, the musicians would usually sell their instruments to foreigners in attendance. The donor purchased 5 instruments in this way: two drums, one from the Luo tribe, the other from the Luhya tribe), one nyatiti (Luo), one orutu (Luo), and a fifth instrument called the litungu (Luo). Click here to go to Andrea’s blog : The Beat of Kenya Andrea Dyck, Curator of Contemporary Cultures, The Manitoba Museum And…
73,603 views on YouTube News
…r in itself (like a nice round 100,000 – our next target) but it does mean more and more people are finding us and enjoying what we are all about – bringing the more traditional sounds of East Africa to an enthusiastic audience. Thanks for watching! Our top 3 video hits In third place, this is the Nyerere Wa Konde Music Club from Sita Village, Gede in Kenya’s Malindi District. It was the very first video we uploaded to YouTube following our fiel…
A new type of city Story
…hat the capital would be like; this image speaks a lot about the city. The number of ‘proper’ buildings were few and in only the small centre. It was hilly and most of the roads were not built for vehicles. The shops were small shacks mostly and at night stayed open, lit by candle light. There were animals everywhere and make-shift houses, which starkly contrasted to the taller office buildings you could see in the distance. Despite this unconvent…
The Boy with the Headphones Story
…y, we began to set up the equipment in amongst the tiny grass huts, the outdoor ‘kitchen’ and the dug out latrine – it was our first intimate view of daily life for the Batwa and a sobering one. Gradually more members of the community began to arrive on the ‘stage’ and we were ready to start. The recording session was an extraordinary one, full of energetic dancing and wonderful, joyous singing. By the end of the session everyone was joining in…
The origins of Singing Wells Story
…ots. Our most popular musicians find far more inspiration in western music than they do with East African music. I worry about this. As a people, we risk losing our deep cultural heritage – the role of traditional music and dance in our lives. And as musicians, we risk becoming undifferentiated. Rather than drawing upon what makes us unique we risk our voices being lost in the sea of American and British groups’. At Ketebul Music, Tabu recruits an…
Day 8: Entebbe to Nairobi and Ketebul Studios Story
…g about. Binihare had made the band leader promise to sing in his funeral. Thanks to Bado, the son, for working with his father to give the background; here’s Bado, with Patrick, who we’ve known since the founding of Singing Wells: At about 1900, Tabu broke away with Hannah and Andy to go to a concert while Jimmy remained with the core group to continue recording. The recording group stayed until about 2130 at night, long after hotel restaurants…