Makunga Group
…ways from the land, never migrated into Tanzania. The group was formed in 2018, but was built on a much older group. They perform in the Wuyina style. Their instruments/costumes include the: Ndulele (Horn), the Nindo (Shakers), the Mbega: (Animal Skins), the Muheme (Drums), the Kabati (Shakers), the Kalimba (Thumb Piano), the Zeze (Orutu), the Izeze (5 string large instrument), and the Muhongwa (Wooden water troughs, played on ground like calabash…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2014, a trip that included Ontiri Bikundo, one of the musicians we were scheduled to record that evening in Rongo. Ontiri is a master of the obukano, an instrument which has an indelible history among the Abagusii community of Western Kenya. The obukano is used more as percussive instrument and an accompaniment by a soloist. However, the nyatiti and the litungu played by the…
Mohamed Uthman Kidumbak Group Group
…rs 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 Abdala Ame -dancer, Mirianaharus Juma Hamis – dancer. All sang but Mohamed Othman Faki…
Day One: February 16, 2020 (Ngawala Hotel) Story
…o (accordion) and Fatima Yuma (bongos). The group has been together since 2009 and play traditional Taarab. All songs are about love (love lost and gained) and all secular They usually perform in Kisawandui. They played five songs:Bashraf of Alia: Instrumental Usione Chaelea: Means that you don’t really see the subtlety in something. Mbiyo Za Sakafuni: This is about too much haste and costs of being too fast (literally it translates as ‘speed on t…
Day Three: February 18, 2020 (Stonetown, Mpendae, Maungani) Story
…rom Zanzibar) with Singeli (a new tribal rhythm). Taarab came from early 1800’s as Egyptian music. In Zanzibar the Mother of Taarab, Siti Binti Saad, made Taarab more popular in the 1920’s to 1950’s. We spoke to Hassan Mahenge, the assistant director of this band. He is a teacher at the DCMA. He teaches the Oud and plays the saxophone. All the students at the DCMA study traditional music such as Taarab as well as Western music. Members of the grou…
Day Two: 8 March 2022 (Ilesi) Story
…d the previous day, we had worked with the Obasie Palnyang family band in 2018 while the patriarch and founder of the group, Obasie Palnyang, was still alive. By one o’clock the group arrived and our technical team went straight to work, setting up the musicians but before we could start recording, and just as the previous evening’s session, it started to rain. Luckily we were partially indoors so we did not get too wet. After about an hour the sk…
Video playlists from Kenya 2018 Story
…rs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILMAhvkRtg0&list=PL6jxUA468Mq9LNfV2MxN2k1JwC-xu5n06 Samuel Namatete https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtkGVQFNoPw&list=PL6jxUA468Mq-RUCpUdIrKZrrZyRF216Mz Pius Wafula https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUa3LzYZ8G8&list=PL6jxUA468Mq-JL9a_FMhl3js2eQdqUBVn Shem Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cewr4zGeAXo&list=PL6jxUA468Mq_qagUS8lrS4ItNX84ceQc_ Peter Awkabi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn-XGp22MhY&list=PL6jxUA468Mq…
Support Singing Wells Page
…red charity which funds the Singing Wells project Sponsor a Recording Day£3000 Your Gift to Us Your money will be used to support a complete day of recording traditional music for the Singing Wells project. Your donation will be spent in East Africa, 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 so…
Day Four: February 19, 2020 (Maruhabi Palace) Story
…alace ruins. This palace was built by the third Sultan of Zanzibar from 1980-1982 for his secondary wives. It is now in ruins but you can still see the main buildings with baths inside, a massive overhead aqueduct that supplied water to the palace and circular ponds with lily pads. It’s set in a beautiful location along the coast surrounded by mango trees. We met the first group there. Sekimbuke – traditional singing and dancing with some Taarab…
Day Zero: 6 March 2022 – Travel To Stream Story
…ew offices at the GoDown Arts Centre on Kayahwe Road off Dennis Pritt by 9:00am. It took us an hour to load the van with the equipment and our personal effects. On our team was Tobias Odhiambo (or Shunkyz as he is known in the music circles) as soundman in charge of the technical aspects of the recordings. Shunkyz was assisted by Fiston Lusambo, a Briton of Congolese origin and guitarist with the London-based Afriquoi Musical group. The video sect…
Here for the Music? Page
…dible team also 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 w…
Day One: January 18, 2019. Assemble in Tanzania Story
…erage, we do one field visit a year, recording roughly 20-25 groups, and a 100-125 performances. We have roughly 1,000 videos online. Our general setup for a recording is: a) Steve is in charge of audio and we typically have two general mics for the group and 5-6 specific microphones for singers 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 rovin…
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…
Elgon Ngoma Troupe Group
…the local mountain) Ngoma (generic term for drums) Troupe and starting in 2009 played all sorts of functions that would bring money in to support the band members, all of which live on the premises. Shortly after, a friend of Julius’s donated some brass instruments and Julius started a brass band, called the Elgon Hero Brass Band. When you combine the two bands, the traditional and the new brass sound, Julius says, they blew audiences’ minds. As t…
Here for Research? Page
…place. Below you will find all of the research we have collated within our 10 years of experience recording the music of East Africa. Field Reports Our 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 Afric…
Day Three: 9 March 2022 (Kisumu) Story
…tion: Dunga Hill Camp – Kisumu. Field Notes: We left Khayega for Kisumu at 10:00am and made a quick stop at Kiboswa ‘city’ on our way to the Lakeside city. This historic center, inhabited by the Luo, Luhya and the Kalenjin tribes of Kenya, is home to Paul Kelemba (or Maddo, as the cartoonist is popularly known). After taking a few photos to prove to the award-winning cartoonist that we actually visited his ancestral home, we continued with our jou…