2. Naizungwe Drums – progress report 1 Story
…aking comprises 24 drums of big, small, medium and small sizes. We decided to make many because we would like to have enough drums for training a new generation of players. However, the basic number includes: 1 large Uganda drum (played with short heavy beaters) 3 smaller drums (played with long curved sticks) 1 medium drum (played with sticks) 1 long drum (ngalabi – hand-beaten) All together, 6 drums. Therefore, we are making four sets of naizung…
1. Introducing the Naizungwe drums Story
…lected on the basis of high skill to avoid wastage of time. We will listen to the recordings together with the youths. Then we make sense of what is played in the recordings. After that, we will play the rhythms slowly until we can reproduce them. Then we will add the singing. This can be done by any musician who is hard working. We hope the final performance will be a reflection of our musicality and what we hear in the recording.” We will be doc…
Day 7: Friday, February 24th, 2017 Story
…s our last day and we saved it for Henry Mkanyia. Because he is so central to the history of Tanzanian music, we asked Henry to assemble members of his original group DDC Mlimani Park Orchestra. We assembled at Nafasi Art Space, which is very similar to the Go Down Art Center in Nairobi, hosting artists of all kinds from musicians to painters to dancers. Henry brought two members: Hasaan Rehani Bichuka, his lead vocalist and Juma Ubao (aka, King M…
Day 6: Thursday, February 23rd, 2017 Story
…Victoria Park After a late night at the concert, we got up early and drove to Victoria Park to record Umoja Wa Kusini, lead by Francis Daudi Njawa (Chichi). Victoria Park is similar to a park we used in Kampala. It contains many village huts built in many styles. Umoja Wa Kusini is about 13 years old and is a very experienced dance troupe of the Mdomdu style. They are originally from the village of Msanga and the Wanyamwezi. All the dancers where…
Day 5: Wednesday, February 22nd, 2017 Story
…ars. They had unique drums, including small drums with wooden spikes on bottom to be embedded in sand, called the Siganga. They also had a pair of drums called the Likuti and a long drum called the Msondo, and a very long thin drum called a Neya. Here’s the set: In the dance they had a character in a mask called a Lipiko, who wore a vest called a Mjuga. They played five songs: Malala Kujunga: Essentially means ‘be calm and quite, we are about to p…
Day 4: Tuesday, February 21st, 2017 Story
…session for a further five. Here’s the full group including Henry, Rajab, Tomato and Leo: Here’s Tabu: Here’s Ndahani: Here’s Grace: Part one: We recorded with Chibite players only: Muheme (the tree to make the best drums). Interestingly, we later had a long conversation with Leo about wooden drums. He said that most drums are now steel, because it takes a whole tree to make one drum and you can’t afford to keep cutting down trees in villages. He…
Day 3: Monday, 2017 February 20th Story
…here the porters who were carrying massive loads to be shipped finally got to stop and rest. Near Bagamoyo is the village of Kimara Ngombe where we recorded Toroka Uje, a drum and dance band. Toroka Uje Toroka UjeWe arrived just as they were tuning their drums, by fire, and quickly interviewed a band member, Steven Jonas about drum names. Steven is also known as “Tomato”, a name given to him because he fits so well in any band he joins, like a tom…
Day 2: Sunday, 2017 February 19th Story
…Uganda, where all ages participated and you had a feeling that the young people still really enjoyed the traditional dances. Here, the women are discussing how best to perform their dance for Sophie: And that was day two. A short drive back to the hotel….
Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…of Mzee Morris Nyunyusa” is the purpose of this trip, so before discussing today’s music, let’s now give you a bit of background. Mzee Morris is Tanzania’s most famous drummer. The ‘Mzee’ in front of his name is a sign of respect – think, ‘Old Man Morris’. He was born in 1920. At two years old, he lost his sight as a result of a bout of small pox. He died in 1999. Throughout his long life he drummed. Here’s Leo Mkanyia , our 2017 Influences Arti…
Day 0: Retracing the Lost Drums of Mzee Morris Story
…Over the next week we will be “Retracing the Lost Drums of Mzee Morris,”, the theme of our newest “Field Visit.” We will be travelling from Dar Es Salaam to Bagamoya, from the Snake Dance to the DCC Mlimani Park Orchestra. Enjoy….
Our journey to the Royal Drums: in the words of James Isabirye Story
…old Musisi, ‘please teach our boys 100 songs.’ I told Shaban, ‘you must learn every part and every song.’ And that is how we ended up on this road. We filmed the drums yesterday and today we are going to see the Bigwala and discuss more lessons learned. Tomorrow, we are going to find out how much more there is to do.”…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 2 – Flutes Story
…13 visit to Uganda and have invited them back to do studio recordings. But today, we focused on two things: 1) Discussing in detail some of our observations from our time exploring the royal instruments of the Kingdoms of Uganda. 2) Recording again Albert Ssempeke’s Buganda Music Ensemble. Given that we first decided to rediscover the Royal Drums after recording Albert’s group in 2013, we wanted to end this field visit with his recordings. Part tw…
Recce to Tanzania for our 2020 Field Visit News
…February. We are struck once again by the amazing talent this country has to offer, and can’t wait to capture some amazing moments with these artists when we visit again with the full team in a few weeks time. Thanks to the good people at Dhow Countries Music Academy for helping us with the information and contacts from their database. Getting a private crash course on the ganun from ganun virtuoso and teacher Rajab. In a few previous instances,…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 1 – Reflections Story
…13 visit to Uganda and have invited them back to do studio recordings. But today, we focused on two things: 1) Discussing in detail some of our observations from our time exploring the royal instruments of the kingdoms of Uganda 2) Recording again Albert Ssempeke’s Buganda Music Ensemble. Given that we first decided to rediscover the Royal Drums after recording Albert’s group in 2013, we wanted to end this field visit with his recordings Part one:…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 2 – Interviews with Musicians of Uganda’s Royal Palaces Story
…roven wrong. Musisi is looking for more drummers and the ones we talked to today are desperate to find others that played with them. Richard Ssewannyana We first travelled about an hour from Mukono to the village of Bamusuta B Kizimula to meet with Richard Ssewannyana. As we believe Musisi is the ‘last surviving’ royal drummer, we believe Richard is the last surviving royal flutist. Please, let’s be wrong here. We first interviewed Richard: “I am…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 1- Drum Making and Palace Players Story
…Part One: Drum Making The Singing Wells team was joined by James Isabirye today as we travelled to Mukono, to visit Ssebengwa Drum Makers (P.O. Box Mukono near Colline Hotel, Jinja Highway, opposite the Pork Joint). The shop is run by Abass Mirimu, a gentleman from the famous village of Mpambire which is known for its drum makers. Abass was the maker of some of the Entenga drums (the royal drums of the Buganda King). Above: Abass Mirimu To be spe…