Musisi’s Story, Part 1: The Fall of the Buganda Kingdom Story
…his own story. Musisi being recorded on camera telling his story We are in Uganda to revive the Royal Drums of the Buganda Kingdom, the Entenga. This project was the result of the work of a very large team, but at its center is Musisi, the last surviving drummer that we know of. Here is his story, in roughly his words: “My father was the leader of the flutes at the Buganda Kingdom, and as his son, I was trained to play the flutes and eventually jo…
Rediscovering the lost Royal Drums of the Buganda Kingdom: Day 1, Uganda Story
…eke in 2013, we talked about reviving the Entenga, the Royal Drums of the Buganda Kingdom. Along with flutes, trumpets, strings and xylophones, the Entenga were part of a set of ‘royal instruments’ and much of the music was lost in 1966 when the palace of the Buganda Kingdom was attacked by government troops. The palace and instruments were destroyed, the King exiled, the royal musicians disbanded and much of the music forgotten. In 2013, we consi…
The Return of Bigwala News
…be a promising future for this important thread in the tapestry of Uganda’s cultural history. Sources: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ugandan-music-bigwalahttps://ich.unesco.org/en/news/uganda-young-ugandans-mobilized-for-safeguarding-bigwala-music-and-dance-00251https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1333991/bigwala-busoga-royal-music-dance…
The Entenga Drums: Part 1 Story
…c we brought his recordings with us and have repatriated the music back to Uganda. In addition, Lois Anderson recorded some performances of surviving musicians, wrote about the tradition and published transcriptions of about 26 tunes. His articles, ‘The Entenga tuned-drum ensemble’ (1968) and ‘Essays for a humanist: an offering to Klaus Wachsmann’ (New York, 1977, pp.1-57), are available at SOAS and at the British Library . But, with few exception…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…ful Benga artist has no doubt been Sukuma bin Ongaro, thanks partly to the promotional efforts of Art Point’s Eric Ndeche. The other benga giants are Jacob Luseno, Shem Tube, Nyongesa wa Muganda and Fanuel Amimo. The baton has since passed on to a younger generation that includes Lisanga Generation Band’s Emmanuel Musindi, Musungu wa Muganda and Phonotex Success band’s Julius Itenya. Across in Ukambani the benga sound was largely shaped by two mus…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11: Ketebul Studios, Nairobi Story
…e pioneering Congolese Musician Adolf Banyore. He travelled widely through Uganda, Congo and other African countries. He was widely exposed to Congolese guitar playing styles. He developed his own unique playing style that was later a big influence to the sound of The Ogara Boys Band, and Benga music in general (see Ketebul’s write up on the history of Benga). Part of this style was a direct result of the Luo Nyatiti that he grew up with in the vi…
Naizungwe Drums News
…to undertake – the revival of the naizungwe drums of the Basoga people in Uganda. James led our revival of the entenga royal drums of the Buganda kingdom starting in 2015 and contacted Singing Wells with the hope that we would support him with funding for his new project. We are excited to announce that we have agreed to support James in his endeavours and will be posting about the project’s development, which has been under way for a month now….
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 3 – Nkubu to Mariene to Murungurune to Nkubu Story
…as in beautiful costume and so energetic – to be frank, and in contrast to Uganda, we don’t get a lot of young people in the groups in Kenya, and it is rarer still to have young men. It was a great pleasure to have such energetic dancers, taking us through the ritual dances of circumcision. The Ritual of Male Circumcision Before talking through the songs, let’s step back and talk through a ‘typical’ circumcision ritual. This is based on interviews…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 2 – Muranga to Kangema to Nkubu Story
…rs below the road. While a lot easier than the hill we faced in Kisoro (SW Uganda), we nonetheless had to take our 44 bags down to the site. We set up under a tree and recording 4 separate groups, all of whom stayed for the day. The 80 or so band members, all in full costume, were scattered across our 100 meter field. Unfortunately, the field was also shared by biting red ants – this created some interesting video moments, trying to keep the camer…
Entenga: Music that soothed kings News
…We’re delighted to annouce that our esteemed colleague and Singing Wells partner Prof James Isabirye has been featured in an article in Uganda’s Daily Monitor about his work to revive the Entenga Royal Drums. Read now. You can watch the full documentary of our initiative to save the Royal Drums here….
Central Uganda: Day 7 – A Magic Day in Entebbe Story
…of East Africa. We had Passy, Jacinta, Maita, James (our musical leader in Uganda and co-founder of Nile Beat Artists) and Jovah, the wonderful female singer we first listened to in Kisoro and then again in Nairobi. We will talk more about Jovah below. The group practiced and performed two songs: Ugandan Lullaby: We knew that Jovah and Maita knew lullabies and James came up with the idea of doing a combined lullaby involving each of the singers, u…
Central Uganda: Day 6: Kampala to Entebbe Story
…g many people how to play the tube fiddle and xylophone. He would showcase Ugandan music at the Ugandan museum, together with lots of other musicians of his time. He gave dozens of workshops in Europe. But he was illiterate. Peter Cook was taught by him. And his son Andy Cook who lives in Edinburough. “ Here’s their music And that was it for Kampala. We packed and divided up. Jimmy, Tabu and James drove together to continue to learn more about the…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…, 2 tube fiddle 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 Suma…
Discussions with Peter Cooke: ethnomusicologist and Ugandan music expert News
…atest field trip to Uganda. We went in search of the lost musicians of the Ugandan Kingdoms, to discover and record the royal music. Fundamental to our understanding of traditional Ugandan music and our accurate sharing of the music we captured during the trip has been Peter Cooke, a retired ethnomusicologist and Research Associate at the School of African Studies, London. We’ve referenced Peter many times in our field reports and blog posts: in o…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…act, with the legendary performer (yes, as Tabu said we had two legends of Ugandan music visit us today) – Natha Matta Nyende performing for us with his band the Bakuseka Majja Matta Group. Nathan is 76 years old and has been blind since 1956. He formed his group in 1952. They play in the Kisoga style and are from Kasokoso in Iganga District. They are four members. Nathan plays the Endongo, which is the local name for the small thumb piano. Kirund…
Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…and out of Uganda. I don’t think Julius is trying to say the brass band is Ugandan. He is very good at respecting Ugandan traditions but he is also letting the children experience other things. He is opening spaces. By the way, brass bands are very important for certain occasions, like marches. He is providing a great service. Brass music is very good and I love it.” Tabu argued, “He knows the traditions. It is not what you play, but how you play…