Kenya’s Amazing Musical Instruments News
…d most important instrument in Luo music (though we also encountered it in central Kenya, where it’s called the Wandindi). When well-played, it takes on the role of the “fiddle” found in Irish or American country music. The Orutu is a one-string instrument played with a bow, whose notes are created by finger pressure against the central stick, producing the effect of ‘fretting’ notes. Watch here as the Aloka Ohangla Group plays “Nyar Karapul” (the…
Central Uganda: Day 6: Kampala to Entebbe Story
…two beautiful Kampala Locations, two great bands: we started at Kyamboed University to record the Bukaala Twesitule Troupe and then travelled to the Ugandan Musuem to record the Buganda Music Ensemble led by Albert Bisaso Ssempeke Jr…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…Before racing back to Kampala, we had a wonderful morning at the Gately Hotel recording the Nile Beat Artists……
Interview: fusion band Ndoto Afrika News
…Why is the group called Ndoto Afrika? We represent a dream. A dream every African youth aspires to achieve. We represent the African Dream. Ndoto means ‘dream’ in Swahili, a local African language and Afrika is the Swahili way of spelling Africa. Why are you interested in branching from purely urban music to a traditional/ urban mix? The love for our motherland. There is a popular saying that ‘others call it the ‘Dark Continent’ but to us it’s ju…
Discussions with Peter Cooke: ethnomusicologist and Ugandan music expert News
…es at Kyambogo to implement our entenga restoration scheme to preserve and promote this traditional instrument for future generations. Students practice entenga drum-chime at Kyambogo in 1968 (Musisi is furthest from the camera) Peter’s research into African music is extensive. “It all began in 1964, a few weeks before travelling out to begin teaching in Kampala, Uganda,” says Peter. “On the stage of the Prince’s Theatre, London, I received my fir…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…We stayed in the wonderful Gately Hotel on the Nile in Jinja to record three groups: The Bigwala Cultural Group, Adagha Nalya Drama Group and The Bakuseka Majja Matta Group. We shall refer to this day as “Two Legends and a Lot of Big Horns”…
Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…rted with an Influences Song with Jacinta – they performed the traditional African song, Malaika. American Farewell: After this they performed American Farewell (originally called “Wimoweh” and popularised as “A lion sleeps tonight”). Altawale. This was a great combination of heavy brass, traditional drums, marching band drums and a good old fashioned American Marching Band Twirler, straight from Music Man. Here’s their music: We loved what Julius…
Happy new year from Singing Wells News
…you’ve been bringing in the year by listening to lots of traditional East African music. Before we start posting exciting news about the upcoming year, here’s a quick recap of what we got up to in 2015: 1. We went discovering the lost music of the Ugandan Kingdoms In Nov/ Dec 2015 we travelled between Kampala and Jinja in Uganda in search of the lost music and musicians of the royal palaces. We posted regular updates about our journey and the inc…
Central Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Budaka Story
…chorus. This didn’t mean the vocals weren’t good, but to say they were not central to the performance. At the center, were the group’s stories, their actors and drama. James Isabirye said of the Busolwe Post Test Club , “They are a meeting point between formal education and village music. Although they perform traditional music, they also will also work in different formats, and are more formally trained. They act as music judges and help to ident…
Central Uganda: Day 1 – From Entebbe to Kidinda Story
…ick shower and joined Rob Marshall of Sony for a quick drink to talk about African music and distribution. One of the big issues we face at Singing Wells is how to distribute monies for our artists efficiently. We discussed various pilots for music distribution that are being explored and sadly concluded there are no easy solutions in the near term. We split up in the evening into our normal tasks – sorting the next day, fixing equipment, backing…
Singing Wells surpasses 500,000 YouTube hits! News
…cross Kenya and Uganda, including visiting the tribes of the Kenyan Coast, Central and Eastern Uganda, our work to share the music of the Batwa community and the Luo community. We’ve told the story of repatriating Kenya’s music heritage after 50 years and celebrated magic moments – where we’ve found an extra-special artist on our journeys and recorded their work. To celebrate our 500,000th YouTube hit, we’ve put together a selection of our most po…
Central Uganda: Day 0 – Nairobi/London to Entebbe Story
…The teams from Ketebul Music and Abubilla Music Foundation meet at the Airport Guesthouse Hotel and prepare for their musical exploration of central Uganda…
Rediscovering Afropop and its influences News
…r music as ‘Afropop’, a contemporary music genre that combines traditional African music and Western popular music. Afropop influences The Sauti Sol band members have named a musician that influences them as Daudi Kabaka. Kabaka was a popular Kenyan artist whose songs include African Twist.The traditional Benga sound is about 60 years old with its formative years occurring between the late 1950s and the 1960s. Its roots run deep in age-old Luo mus…
Discussions on music and culture with a young Kenyan News
…y modern, western-influenced music. Do you listen to much traditional East African music? I have heard it before, I might come home and my dad would be playing it on the radio for instance… but I don’t like it. Put yourself in my shoes — imagine your parents playing old-school church songs, chances are you’re not going to like it. It’s not really popular with young people generally. Why do you think that is? Well, we’re adverse and stubborn. We ru…
Meeting Ketebul: an interview with Tabu News
…rtant? Singing Wells is important because we’re trying to capture our East African heritage. Many of the musicians we record from remote tribes are old and we run the risk of the traditional music in Kenya dying out, we don’t want to see that happen. Further, most recording studios are in the city: Nairobi. It’s not possible for those living in the villages to come here, so if we don’t go to them to record, these guys may never be heard and the mu…
From African Twist to Benga News
…c of their villages and modern music. They were the founders of Benga, the African Twist, Luhyia ‘Omutibo’ and the ‘Yoddeling’ sound adapted by the Kikuyu musicians of the ’60s. We dedicated six days of studio time at Ketebul Music in Nairobi to record this set of legendary musical artistes, all of whom are now in their 60s and 70s and are critical to Kenyan music history. We are very proud of this unique album and hope you enjoy listening to the…