Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…dle players and 2 thumb pianos. They also have the traditional Ugandan Xylophone. All instrumentalists also sing and are supported by three ladies who sing and dance. The three core members are: Walusimbi Nsibambi Haruna: He the Founding Director of Nile Beat Artists. Walusimbi was once the Global Youth Earth Day Ambassador for Africa after winning the Global Youth Earth Day Ambassadors Competition in Marikina-Philipines. Nabayaza Sumaya Baiga: Sh…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…s/traditions and can train the youths. One already died in May to move the number from 4 to 3 and one of the three surviving is very ill. But it is almost certain, now that the trumpets won’t disappear. Young people have some interest, thankfully, and are learning.” Click here for further reading on the Bigwala. Here’s their music: Adagha Nalya Drama Group Our second group was from the Bukoona Village and called the Adagha Nalya Drama Group. Their…
A Tanzanian Effort to Salvage the Music of the Past News
…t African music. “Many people think that the only place where you can find really good African music is in West Africa”, he says. “We can say to people, hey, it’s not all about Kilimanjaro and the national parks. We also have cool music.” We wish them all the best, and hope one day to take a trip to Tanzania for a few recording sessions of our own! Check out the Tanzania Heritage Project here. Here too are a few YouTube videos of their catchy musi…
Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…oir with alternating lead vocals. Their style is Embaire, which is the xylophone. Their instruments were: Embaire, Xylophone Endigidi, tube fiddle Enkwanzi, pan pipes The performance was simply spectacular. Our search for the best xylophone players in Uganda is declared over! What a group. Obutasoma (Education), with lead singer Muniru Ayubu Obwiire Bukyeire (The Time Has Come), with lead singer Kisubi Eliasa Magic Moment: We loved the xylophone a…
Central Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Budaka Story
…Malinywa. Their instruments were: Ekongo: Thumb Piano Embaire (13 slab xylophone) Endingidi: Tube fiddles Omulere: Flute Engoma: Drums Efumbo: Long drum Engalabi: Shorter drum, but still ‘long’ Ensasi: Shakers Ekwanzi: Pan Pipes They performed four songs: Olumbe Namuna: This was a song about aids, beautifully but mournfully sung. You could feel the sense of loss as the female singers performed. Animals were sacrificed during the story to bring hop…
Discussions on music and culture with a young Kenyan News
…tform or promoting an initiative to young people is that it has to connect really closely with what they stand for and believe in, otherwise it won’t work. If you could find a way of making Singing Wells relate to what young people believe in, that might just work. I reckon film or TV would be a great way to get the message out, and I’d really drive home your work with modern artists mixing in traditional beats, I think people would like that. I’v…
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. …
James Isabirye and Tabu Osusa Discuss East African Music News
…o speak not the politicians. And our audiences love it. They learn what it really means to be Ugandan. Tabu: Yes. We talk with one voice. People from the government always want to help me. I tell them simply: the best way to help me is to stay out of my way. Let the musicians talk to their audiences. Let them play. We don’t need a big government program on culture, we need to give the artist the stage and a microphone and an audience. Let people r…
Ketebul Music: A Year in Review News
…r from the UK, helped improve the studio with bass traps, etc… so we could really do a better job. Nick was very hands on and did a great job. He now does a lot of work with us, mastering and mixing our materials. He’s very committed to the Ketebul mission. Ewaala Turkana: The most important project this year with the music of the Turkana – we did a CD called Ewaala Turkana with the Loiyangalani Stars. We had first met them with Singing Wells in 2…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…onsuming music. In Africa – 60% have electricity whereas 86% have a mobile phone. This is again another area in which the Singing Wells project may be interested in the future – mobile phones and ring back tones as a method of delivery for music. Mike and I also attended the African music networking session which became the launch for a new initiative by the Cape Verde government. It has been calculated that music is their biggest export and so ha…
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…
SWP Uganda 2013 – our proposed itinerary News
…i (about 120 kms from Mbale), recording a Basoga group called Muwewesi Xylophone Group. Like their name suggests, they play the traditional xylophone or ‘Embaire’ which can be played by up to 6 people, depending on how large it is. At the end of the session, we will pack up the studio (we are very quick at doing this now!) and head off to a new location – this time the town of Jinja on the shores of Lake Victoria, close to the source of the River…
The Key to Sustainable Aid in Africa? Perhaps we should follow the music. News
…oviding basic medicine to a child. Part Two: An Emerging Hypothesis: Music REALLY Matters and is the Soundtrack for Delivery of More Urgent Aid And on one level, of course, this remains true. As we consider any ‘triage’ of African problems, of course we want the next shilling, dollar, pound or Euro of support to help that child. Music can wait. But at another level, we’re no longer sure. The more time we spend in the villages, the more we believe…
What people say about Singing Wells News
…signed to amplify his ongoing world hunger activism. We are in need of great music that compliments the project and would love to open a dialogue with you about it. I really love the work that you are doing and sincerely hope a possibility for collaboration exists.” …
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
…hen we travelled to the Mperwa Batwa community. Consisting of just a small number of families, the Mperwa have settled on a small area of borrowed land just a few kilometres from the town. At first glance the setting appeared to be spectacular, with the lush valley and terraced hills of local farms as a backdrop and the magnificent Virunga volcanos in the distance. But we were quickly struck by the impoverishment of this small community. As we a…