Wendo Group
…n the Kasanga dance style. The group is from the Kiongwe Village, Ngungi Location, Thua Division, Inuu Sub Location, Nzambani District. 12 women and 2 men, formed in the 80’s and inspired to perform at political forum. The group also uses the Vilingi (whistle). They performed 4 songs: Kiuluni Kui Landeni (going to London) Mbovoi Kisanga…
Mr Bado Group
Mr Bado is from the coastal town of Watamu in Malindi. He was born Mohamed Said Ngana. He comes from a very musical family, who have been singing and performing Mijikenda dance and music for generations. He is the son of the legendary mwanzele singer and composer, Nyerere wa Konde. He was greatly influenced and inspired as a child by his father’s Mwanzele playing as well as by Maulid Juma’s Taarab, and Bhalo’s Chakacha. He started singing in 1994…
Day Three: February 18, 2020 (Stonetown, Mpendae, Maungani) Story
…nd motorbikes going by occasionally. We managed to record one song but had to stop after that due to noise. We hope to have this group come to the hotel on our last recording day. We felt bad that they only were able to perform one song but they took it graciously. Performers: Rajab Suleiman (qanun and director), Mohammed Hassan (accordian), Fum Faki (bongo and tabla), Tatu Khamis Haji (singer) Songs: Chungu – means Pot, composed by Said Ali 10 y…
Ayub Ogada Group
…e Nyatiti story. We spent the day at his home in Nyahera location, not far from Kisumu town, and conducted a long yet free of form type of interview. Although a Luo himself, Ayub had never learned how to play the nyatiti in a traditional setting. He picked it up later in his career and studied from a player/teacher at the national cultural centre of Bomas of Kenya in the 1980s. He remembers he had gone for 6 lessons (at a 100 shillings) only and t…
Elgon Ngoma Troupe Group
…aced – either has orphans or from severely disadvantaged homes. He started to go to University but found that gathering the funds for tuition each time extremely difficult. He had raised the funds for another semester and then asked himself, “Do I want another semester of education, with no promise I will be able to fund another, or can I take this money and start to make a difference?” So he took the money and invested in instruments for children…
Here for Research? Page
…stain and celebrate the extraordinary cultural music heritage of the region and to help make this legacy relevant and fresh to today’s audiences.”…
Makunga Group
…ty, which they argued is the main indigenous community of Tanzania (always 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),…
Day One: February 16, 2020 (Ngawala Hotel) Story
…t girls becoming women. The singers come from the Wagindo people, who came from Malawi to Zanzibar, probably through the slave trade. When the British stopped the slave trade they then stayed. This band has a strong African influence. The main leader, Amina Abdalla, studied and sang with Madam Bi Kidudi, a legendary singer in Unyago style (a chain-smoking rebel!). She followed Siti Binti Saad as a major Taarab vocalist and was considered queen of…
Day Four: February 19, 2020 (Maruhabi Palace) Story
We drove back towards Stone Town and stopped at the Maruhubi Palace 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…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…eing that most of the musicians we interacted with were immediately trying to put into practice some of the suggestions we made to them on ways of improving their performances. Most of them were ready to experiment with new ways of playing their traditional musical instruments, as well trying to devise standard tuning for them. Furthermore, we appreciated the fact that our intentions were well received and that the musicians did not consider us to…
Global Influences Project: Loop Library Page
…da. They play music in the Kidinda style using the Amadinda, a 22 slab xylophone which was historically an instrument which could only be played in front of the King. You can find out more about the band here. You can watch the full visual performance of this song on our Youtube channel by clicking here. Download the loop Joginda Boys – 116BPM Joginda boys are from Aluny Village, East Alego, Kenya. This play wonderful Nyatiti music, with Organda J…
Watmon Cultural Group Group
…upe, and was met with a positive reaction. Eventually he had people coming to him asking to be a part of it, and from that point the group became an institution. In the fallout of the war against Idi Amin’s regime, many people were looking for an escape, and the troupe presented just such an opportunity. The group performed for President George Bush during a state visit to Uganda. They were also recorded in 2012 for the BBC’s World Routes album, p…
Day Two: February 17, 2020 (Stonetown) Story
Our second day we drove into Stone Town. We recorded the first two groups at the Emerson Spice Hotel along the seaside. This hotel is an Arab style hotel, reminiscent of the rhiads in Marrakech with lots of small courtyards. In the Emerson Spice Hotel we filmed the first two groups in a courtyard usually used for meals in the hotel. While it became very hot as the sun hit the stage for the second group, the overall setting was beautiful –…
Day Four: January 21 2019 Mwanza Story
…RfFn7ZgUrU Group 2: Camera: Camera, who has been performing since 1999, is from Nzega and from the Sukuma community, playing in the Kadete style. Camera plays the Kadete (like the Zeze from earlier and Orutu from Kenya). He is an extremely cool cat, who we actually discovered walking the streets with his instrument during the RECCE. We recorded five performances: Changamoto: This is about life’s challenges Mawazo Gakwira: About deep worries Nkewan…
Day Five: January 22, 2019 Mwanza Continued Story
…We recorded four performances: Wachumba Walya: A song about someone who is too mean-spirited to support his community even though he has lots of money, it is about a man “who eats along, without his brother’ Ntelela Engoma: A song about living with respect to traditional ways Basigazi Fura Emyende: A song about overcoming all of life’s challenges by working together Mwije Tuzane: We filmed this freestyle, where the group encourages the audience to…
Day Zero: 6 March 2022 – Travel To Stream Story
…he musicians via M-pesa and Pay-Pal contributions. Another possibility was to sell tickets with the use of online access codes that admit ticket holders into the virtual performance. The result was that a number of live streaming studios where performers book sessions to perform and stream their concerts sprung up in Nairobi. Some venues also adapted to hosting online performances, directly streaming shows to mobile devices and computers of audien…