Ten More Singing Wells Stories News
…e recorded them in their villages and invited them back to our studios in Nairobi to work with some of Kenya’s best musicians. We maintain a great relationship with our Batwa friends and recently invited Jovah to meet us last year in Entebbe to record with additional Ugandan artists (see lullabies below). Here are three vocalists: Meet Francis, the leader of the Batwa musical communities, the master of the bird dance and master of songs about the…
Current Leading Figures News
…ar points out that Jan England, the UN under secretary for Humanitarian affairs, stated that ‘Northern Uganda has suffered from one of the most under published and holistic humanitarian disasters of our time’ (14th April 2004). For Odwar, creativity is the best way to help Northern Ugandans overcome this hardship, “In times of trouble, art has helped us to come to terms with our situation, to express our hopes for the future and to keep alive the…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…de on Kenya – you can listen to recordings of the singer Suzanna Owiyo in Nairobi, the rain songs in the north of the country which frequently suffers from terrible drought and the Massai who sing of the dangers of cattle raiding – and two others on Uganda; one featuring the Bugandan Royal Court Music and the second is about the Busoga Kingdom. Unfortunately there are no short clips available of the programme on YouTube from East Africa, but acros…
Amone Watmon Matthew Story
…cians back to our hotel to record further. We made the journey back to the Airport Guesthouse in Entebbe, with the musicians continuing their performance in the vehicles. In the garden of the Airport Guesthouse, we recorded a further 6 performances, the group collaborating with Akello, our artist in residence for the trip. We also recorded an interview with Matthew, which we include here: Matthew was born on the 25th November 1951 in Kipgum distri…
A History of Recording East African Music News
…of dissemination, which is why his work is produced on CDs, with teaching booklets making use of well documented recordings, complete with transcriptions and texts. Cooke recording the Abasaasi, a team of drummers and singers outside the Kabaka’s country palace at Abamunanika in 1987 who had gathered to sing the praises of Prince Ronald Mutebi who had just returned from exile in London However, as Cooke’s aim is, and always has been, to make tr…
ILAM, Repatriation and Jimmie Rodgers/Chemirocha News
…ost outstanding recording, “Chemirocha,” a paean to Jimmy Rogers (yes, the country singer) by some Kenyan girls. The song is haunting but made more so by Tracey’s introduction on the LP record (not included on the CD): “The mysterious singer and dancer Chemirocha has been turned into a local god Pan — a faun — half man, half antelope. He is urged by the girls to do the leaping dance, familiar to all Kipsigis, so energetically that he will jump cle…
James Isabirye and Tabu Osusa Discuss East African Music News
…for aspiring to be an English man, not a Ugandan. She only wanted what is best for me, but this is part of a larger problem we have today. I’ve taught for 20 years now and my concern is that our entire system is training us to be like a white person from England or America, not to be Ugandan. The English and Americans don’t want to know me because I am like them – they know I am not. They want to know me because I am Ugandan, because I am differe…
Ketebul Music: A Year in Review News
…three days of driving across a desert to find them. When they talk about Nairobi, they talk about Kenya and think of it as another country, separate from their own. Songs of Protest: Another project, which took so long for us, was the Songs of Protest Project. We invested a huge amount of time on the book, working on graphics. We were so committed to a great product. My highlight was a group, Jabali Africa, and their song about how greedy politic…
SWP Uganda 2013 – our proposed itinerary News
…flying in from Nairobi and London, the Singing Wells team will meet at the Airport Guesthouse in Entebbe. It’s the perfect place to stay on our first night being just minutes from the airport (the BA flight from London arrives at 22.40). We have stayed at the Guesthouse before and Jan Willem, George and the rest of the Gorilla Tours team have always been excellent hosts. On our final day of the Uganda 2012 trip we had an very special afternoon in…
A recording studio which fits into the back of an SUV Story
…alier 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 ThinkTank sun screens (for the laptops) Various Canon zoom and fixed lenses Plus at least 9 Sandisk memory cards and 15 portable back-up drives and a…
The Key to Sustainable Aid in Africa? Perhaps we should follow the music. News
…nd, look at the Ugandan village behind it – how clean it is, how fresh the air, how tight the community: Or in Kenya, as you listen to the Sega Sega Band, look at the wonderful Luo Village, with its vast support network: We are not naive – providing sustainable support for villages in Africa is not easy – and there are a lot of folks trying (see here for some of the issues). But it is better to start at the source. An important proxy for the healt…
What people say about Singing Wells News
…at you got this far with them and their recording trips to the studios in Nairobi. I was here shedding tears when I saw Winyo totally and perfectly singing the Batwa dance song and dancing a long with them, indeed that is what music is all about especially to reach out to the unreachables (sic) to me, I salute you guys, you indeed communicated not to them only but to rest of the world as well. Thank you so much for reaching out and may God bless y…
Kampala traffic jam Story
…hs to plan the itinerary for our field recording trips so that we make the best use of the limited time we have. Steve K from Ketebul Music is our Africa Project Manager and he does an amazing job in the weeks prior to the trip, contacting music groups, booking local accommodation and arranging vehicles and drivers to transport us to some very remote destinations. But even Steve’s meticulous planning could not help us avoid the infamous Kampala tr…
Victoria’s reflections on field trip to Northern Uganda News
…musical culture will flourish and thrive We travel a road under burnishing sun Green and red landscape, our journey is long Our reward is your welcome, your music, your grace Your inquisitive eyes, your sweet smiling face We travel a road to the beat of your drum The calabash crash and the steel on your thumb The bells and the strings, the whistle and holler The dance in the ring, the leader, the follower So sing us your story and dance us your li…
The First Singing Wells Influences Session Story
…of the son’s tracks. This was a new concept for the group. Bado had always sung in the family music group – and in doing this had sung the songs of his family and heritage, but now they were collaborating on one of Bado’s songs. Bado sang the main line of the song ‘Love Is’ and his father sang between the lines, and the rhythm began to take hold. I also at this point learnt my forth Swahili word (Asante, Jambo and Sawa – Thank you, Welcome and OK)…
The origins of Singing Wells Story
…oastal Region around Malindi and Mombasa and have now travelled across the country recording 30 musicians and traditional music groups representing three major tribes: the Mijikenda, the Luo and the Kalenjin. We have also travelled to Uganda to record the amazing musicians of the Batwa tribes, bringing many of them back to Nairobi to record them in Ketebul Music studios. We have designed two mobile recording units which can be assembled just about…