Ekhunjwe Musical Group Group
…tive areas of Samia district. Ekhunjwe ya Abasamiawas formed in April 2008 with common focus on using music as a tool for community development. The group promotes traditional African values and acts in both education and local economy. Members also engage in traditional crafts like basket weaving and jewellery making for exhibition and sale. Their Chairman Mr. Bwire also chairs the County Culture Committee and says he is “biased towards ethnomusi…
Day Two: January 19, 2019 From Tarime to Buturi to Bariadi Story
…er then built a separate wooden kick pedal, so he could play all the drums with his hands and kick with his feet. We had not seen this before and it meant the group has a very traditional sound but a very modern feel, with contemporary beats. We recorded six songs with them: Omweko (about a drought that caused great hunger in the village in 2017) Majirani: about neighbours, where the band remembered times when all neighbours used to support one an…
Day Zero: February 15, 2020 – Assemble in Zanzibar Story
…y Bi Kidude, who we discuss more below when we meet Amina Abdalla who sang with Bi Kidude and sang with us. Following Sidi Binti Saad’s footsteps through Zanzibar, the taarab we will hear involves African drums, a Qanun (a stringed instrument played on the lap), an Oud (derived from an Egyptian lute), a violin, a flute and a Arabic style (but Swahili) lead female vocal. We also heard the Sanduku, essentially a bass guitar, but actually a single…
Global Influences Project: Loop Library Page
…s’ with the Nyatiti and percussion with his leg ‘snares’ and the kick drum with his big toe (with a metal ring on it) banging on the bottom of the Nyatiti. The rest of the band added claps, dancing and wonderful backing vocals. You can learn more about the group here. You can watch the full visual performance of this song on our Youtube channel by clicking here. Download the loop singingwells · SW Samples – Joginda Boys 116BPM singingwells · SW Sa…
Day One: January 18, 2019. Assemble in Tanzania Story
…e’ll mic this this differently. Influences: We often conduct a field visit with an influences artists, a leading commercial artist that we hope to inspire by the music of their region. When the ‘spirit moves’ we will do a song with our influences artist and the group. Our ‘output’ for a field visit is a set of videos that we post on our website, Facebook and Youtube that reflects the performances. When we initially publish our field reports, these…
Super Phoenix Band Group
…rts to pretend the house is his and also propositions the man’s wife to be with him. More generally, it is about many Kenyans that are asked to watch cars, or trucks or possessions and begin to tell others that they are the real owners. Mukangala instrumental as influences session with Fadhilee, our influences artist. We don’t know: Fadhilee then taught the band to play his song, We Don’t Know. This is about politicians who pay lots of attention t…
Day Two: February 17, 2020 (Stonetown) Story
…in their ‘secret garden’ especially when our recording sessions overlapped with lunch. We greeted many hotel guests with a surprise recording session, which we hoped they enjoyed. The two groups were: Mohamed Othman Kidumbak Group – This group is led by Mohamed Othman Faki who teaches music in the DCMA. Kidumbak is a musical style with three main influences: Taarab, Unyago and Rumba. Dumba stands for a large drum. So Kidumba is a smaller, bo…
The Northern Tribes of Uganda Album
…the music of the Northern Tribes of Uganda. We began with a base in Gulu, with journeys to Acet and Paibona. In Achet on our first day of recording, we were blessed with a recording location in the shade and 6 groups who turned up to perform their Acholi dance music. Day 2 found us in Paibona, with our first introduction to Likembe music provided by the Rubanga Kingom Awach Boys. The youthful energy of Ker Kel Kwaro followed, with our third group…
Page
…nfluences Project, you can download the project brief here or get in touch with us with any questions you may have. SUBMISSIONS FOR THIS PROJECT ARE NOW CLOSED. Click here to access the Global Influences Project Loop Library Here you will find a selection of musical loops by artists such as Otacho Young Stars, Adungu Cultural Troupe, Watmon Cultural Group and more… Remember that we want you to create your own artistic responses using these loops….
Otacho Young Stars Group
…rings used both by themselves, and also together with the Nyangile, a wooden box topped with two of the rings, one of which is held with the feet, and beaten with a stick….
Mr Bado Group
…ve styles such as Taarab which are fading on the modern music scene. To do this, he performs at cultural events with his father and brothers, as the Nyerere Wa Konde Music Club. We filmed a great session with Mr Bado and Mzee Nyerere wa Konde, in a collaboration with Benga fusion artist Winyo, in their village in the coastal region. Mr Bado with his father Nyerere Wa Konde and Winyo…
Day Zero: 6 March 2022 – Travel To Stream Story
…ians 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 audiences wher…
The Revival of the Entongooli Page
…: Part 1 For these musical scholars, their musical journey actually starts with another fascinating and popular instrument, the Embaire or the Xylophone. The scolars are taught the tunes they need to know on this instrument before transferring these melodies over to the Entongooli. What’s incredible about this entire process is how the children are also taught about building the Embaire as well, creating instruments for themselves to learn on. In…
Global Influences Project: Artist Submissions Page
…ies boundaries through her genre bending sound grounded in African rhythms with a futuristic twist”, we loved how she took these beats and created something truly unique. Talking about her process, she said “I used the Aloka ohangla drum solo loops for this track. I usually like to start my music creation process with layering drums and while going through the loops, this one felt like the perfect fit. I also used a 909 kick drum to create a hard…
FAQ’s Page
…ording gratuity on the day of the recording. This amount varies based on a number of factors such as the number of members in the group and the number of songs we record. In the event of any music we record making money directly (through sales, sync licensing or performance royalties) we will endeavour to channel this money back to the original performers. Can I buy the music you have recorded? A selection of our music is available to download fro…
Day Three: 9 March 2022 (Kisumu) Story
…came on stage at 8:00pm, they were rather fatigued but started their show with cover songs of other established groups and switched to their own compositions at our request. With a little encouragement from a few fans who were attracted to their ohangla music, which is the favorite genre in Kisumu, the Asego Ensemble soldiered on ending their performance by 9:00pm. Profile: Peter Akwabi Peter Okutoyi Akwabi, was born in 1946 in Ebuhonga village i…