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…
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…
Support Singing Wells Page
…ica, funding the recording sessions in the field. There may be as many as six different music groups performing on one day and your donation will mean that every music group is able to perform and their songs and dance will be recorded by our field team. Funds will be used to provide for two field-recording engineers from Ketebul Music, a non profit organisation in Nairobi and our project partners. Your donation will also provide for gratuity paym…
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…
Here for Research? Page
…ur daily reports written from the field during our yearly trips. Head here for detailed information about the performances we record, the musicians we meet and the instruments that they are playing. Alongside this, expect interviews, historical information and first hand accounts of the way East African music has developed and grown. Instruments In depth information and photography of the different musical instruments used in East Africa. This dat…
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 Three: 9 March 2022 (Kisumu) Story
…k almost an hour for the two to figure out Akwabi’s unorthodox, expressive free style for most of his songs before the actual recording began at 2:00pm. After a few false starts we finished the recordings of Peter Akwabi at 4:00 PM with his latest song which is a tribute to D.O. Misiani, the maestro of benga music who died in the lakeside city in May 2006. Next on stage was Olith Ratego, a musician whose unique dodo style is one of the oldest form…
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 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…
Day Two: February 17, 2020 (Stonetown) Story
…at 16 and taught himself the violin and bass. He went to Egypt off and on for six years on a scholarship from the DCMA to study violin and the oud starting in 2000. He’s been teaching at the academy for 18 years. Members of this group include: Mohamed Othman Faki – leader, on violin, Kheri Mizaka Aliy on African Bass, Makame Ali Juma on drum, Buruhami Makame Haji on 2nd drum, Mgeni Seleiman Makame on sticks, Said Ame Othman on shakers, Aikazija…
Global Influences Project: Artist Submissions Page
…ten ignore the paths taken right before them. The two sides always looking for each other but never meeting. For the song I used samples from the Ohangla drum solo and the nyatiti group singing. I wanted to feel like a part of their band, trying to figure out how I would contribute to their style of music and have this conversation spiritually with them.” You can hear more of his music on Soundcloud:soundcloud.com/amzi-odek Want to get involved in…
The Revival of the Entongooli Page
…What we love most about this project is that it is providing opportunities for free education to these young people, as learning an instrument can provide opportunities for scholarships to local schools. Some of the children here tell us about their reasons for learning the instruments, what other instruments they are learning and how they are enjoying the process. We cannot wait to see their progress and finally watch them perform with this incre…
Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…lead and one rhythm, a water dispenser drum and vocals only, the group performed for us six original compositions. Among them, the popular hit composed by Luseno in 2006 entitled “Mukangala”. This inspired Fadhilee to join in and we recorded “Mukangala” Influences. Fadhilee also shared one of his original compositions called “We don’t know”, which we recorded in two versions, accompanied by Itenya on guitar only and accompanied by his back-vocals…
Day One: February 16, 2020 (Ngawala Hotel) Story
…The group is from Rahaleo and normally they have 28 members but brought 9 for the performance. The members included: Topsy Surrie (Oud, a beautiful version with inlay), Asha Khamisi Amur (violin and background vocals), Tatu Hamisi Amur (accordion and backing vocals), Ummy Suleiman Alli (violin and background vocals), Mtuswma Makame Seheli (percussion), Zainabu Wazari (tablah drum), Zainabu Mdiliko (accordion) and Fatima Yuma (bongos). The group h…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…ild resilience by trying to restructure the operations and business models for these musicians to 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 Frid…