Day 9 – Sunday 9th July 2017 Story
…ano – represented by Dominic Ogari; Litungu – an 7 string traditional lyre from the Luhya community, represented by Jackson Ingosi (Ingosi Junior); Kodo – represented by Olith Ratego who created the instrument; Classical guitar – represented by Peter Akwabi. Aside from the classical guitar, which served as a perspective on comparing different traditional instruments to modern instruments, all of the four other string instruments involved fall unde…
The Batwa of Kisoro Album
…luded is an influences session where Winyo collaborated with the Mperwa Dancers; a collaboration between Jesse Bukindu and Francis from the Birara Dancers, recorded at the Travellers rest, and three tracks recorded in the Ketebul studios in Nairobi. Tiny Moses, from the Micyngo Community joined us in Nairobi to record his songs. Jovah from Mperwa also joined us for a recording. The album is rounded off by a version of a song that almost all of the…
Mchele Mchele Sanaa Group Group
…This group, from the Sukuma community, was formed in 2010 and performs with a number of styles: Bukomia Lume, Buchheye, Wigashe. Their instruments are: Ng’oma (Drums), Pembe (animal horns, large impala), Firimbi (flute), and Njuga (shakers). …
Here for the Music? Page
…ownload through our Bandcamp store in your choice of formats. The proceeds from the sale of our albums will be fed back to the musicians involved in the recordings, wherever possible. Galleries As well as filming and recording, our incredible 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…
Global Influences Project: Loop Library Page
…BPM Rubanga Kingdom Awach Boys – 127BPM The Rubanga Kingdom Awach Boys are from Awach in Northern Uganda. They formed thirty years ago and their goal is ‘Edu-Tainment’, helping African children learn key life lessons through song. 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 Watmon Cultural Group – 154BPM Watmon Cultural Group are based…
Day One: February 16, 2020 (Ngawala Hotel) Story
…d to prepare the bride. Songs about 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 voc…
Makunga Group
…customs – human shakers! We recorded seven performances: Intro, Freestyle recording of their entrance. Masasi: the celebration song after circumcision completed Nindo: Song on social issues Muhene: Song during girl ceremony where she reaches puberty and now must be hidden from village for 40 days (song acts out how girl learns to reject the advances of men, represented by two men playing shakers) Muziki: A song to gain support of the people for th…
Here for Research? Page
…Group that we have met. Each page has information about the group, videos from our visit, recording information and any related content we have about them on the site. Group Map The groups we have met, presented on a map so you can see each region that the group is from. A brilliant resource and great for comparing musical styles amongst groups that are local to each other. “Our goal is to record, archive and share the traditional music of East A…
Elgon Ngoma Troupe Group
…usuf (solo Adungu), Wamumdu Albashir (bass Adungu), Kyasowbayo Joseph (xylophone) and Dkining David (tube fiddle). The songs played were: “Isongja”: a pre-circumcision song and dance where boys are challenged to get ready for the ritual. “Kadodi Imbalu Dance”: this is about the circumcision ritual itself and involves the boy being reluctant and getting help from others to be brave. The song closes with a section about the boy having and surviving…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…usic in 1985 and recorded his first song ‘Bikundo Obaba mbono’ in 1994 and from then on he has been the main star of the obukano music genre from the region. Ontiri has performed in most entertainment venues within Kenya and is among the few Kenyan musicians with a huge fan base in the US and Canada, where he has also toured extensively. Ontitri has been invited to perform in South Korea and Germany, not mention that he was one of the leading perf…
Day One: 7 March 2022 (Shikangania and Mukumu) Story
…sed team and all went according to plan until a group of mourners appeared from nowhere with a coffin of a dead relative that had just recently arrived from Nairobi. Although the burial was planned for the following day, the emotional villagers were already wailing loudly and playing mournful dirges. This dramatic twist of events threw us off guard and we were forced to stop our program temporarily. As required by local custom, we dutifully went t…
Baseki Group
…le virtues Balimi: A song about farming where the band brought up children from the village and taught them about hoeing the soil to the song. Later we saw several videos of how this song is used in the fields to motivate farmers, who hoe to the beat. Throughout Tanzania, we saw school kids walking to/from school with their hoes, where they often tend to small plots at the school. Serengeti: We are near the national park and this is a song in cele…
Day Four: February 19, 2020 (Maruhabi Palace) Story
…n song renamed. Similar to Akuna Matata. Kijiti These performers were all from the area and were an authentic representation of local traditional kidumbak music. Kirundo – this group performs in a fusion of traditional African rhythms from mainland Tanzania and Pemba, and contemporary African sounds. The three young men are all students at the DMCA performing with a well known drummer and teacher of music. This band has been together for 2 years…
Watmon Cultural Group Group
…rming Acholi traditional dance which he had learnt when he was young, both from grandfather in his village and from watching dancers at village events. He went around his district in Kampala, telling people he would like to start a dance troupe, 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 reg…
Day Two: February 17, 2020 (Stonetown) Story
…ey were very impressive and unique. Truly beautiful. 3. Zam Zam Group – From the hotel we moved on to the Dhow Countries Musical Academy, which is located in the old custom house. Here, we recorded the Zam Zam group on the ground floor, in the center court under an open roof three stories above. Made for the perfect backdrop to Zam Zam’s choir. Their leader and teacher is Ibrahim Ali Hassan. He teaches and performs in Nyumba Ya Vipaji, The Hous…
Day Three: February 18, 2020 (Stonetown, Mpendae, Maungani) Story
…ule to Tarajazz. He combined African rhythms such as Msewe and Kyaso (both from 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 tr…