Day One: February 16, 2020 (Ngawala Hotel) Story
…d: Fatima Juma (dancer and singer), Raya Abdalla (drums), Fatima Hamza (drums) and Tatu Hamisi Amur (please note she was in all three groups). The drums include: the small squat drum (Fumi), a very tall drum (msondo) and medium drum (Kinghaga). They played 8 songs, including:Aiche: Introduction Song Mamae Mwari: Mwari’s Mother Mpanda Waya: Someone who climbs a wire/cable, but really is very suggestive about a man Sikia Msondo: Listen to the Msondo…
Mohamed Uthman Kidumbak Group Group
…sic at 16 and taught himself the violin and bass. He went to Egypt off and on for six years 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, Aikazij…
Day One: January 18, 2019. Assemble in Tanzania Story
…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 roving camera to provide a second angle on the performance and c) we interview all group leaders to understand group musical styles and background, instruments and songs. In almost every village, we struggle…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…recording in Kisumu, Dave Otieno joined us in Rongo and teamed up with Fiston Lusambo to continue our experimental fusion of contemporary elements with traditional sounds of Western Kenya region. Dave and I go back a long way as we worked together on several musical projects under the Nairobi City Ensemble. Other notable projects with Dave were during the period of Spotlight on Kenyan Music, which was a collaboration between Ketebul Music and the…
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…
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…
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.”…
Day Three: 9 March 2022 (Kisumu) Story
…ge Mukabi. Akwabi’s rubato musical style was quite a challenge for both Fiston Lusambo and Ben Mukabwa. It took almost an hour for the two to figure out Akwabi’s unorthodox, expressive free style for most of his songs before the actual recording began at 2:00pm. After a few false starts we finished the recordings of Peter Akwabi at 4:00 PM with his latest song which is a tribute to D.O. Misiani, the maestro of benga music who died in the lakeside…
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 –…
Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…ion, Obasie was accompanied by a percussionist on a drum called atenus amwatonitand by Mzee Ikobulo on a traditional wind instrument made out of a plastic pipe and a gourd. They called it etuo aporutu. We were all mesmerised by the Elder’s robust yet sweet voice and unique style of performance – a perfect end to a fruitful day of recording. DAY 3 – Monday 19th February 2018 The third day of our field recordings started in Kulisiru village of Siris…
Global Influences Project: Artist Submissions Page
…. L3GS X OTACHO YOUNG STARS//NYATITI GROUP//JOGINDA BOYS Our final submission for this years Global Influences Project comes from a producer trio from Nairobi named L3GS. We loved the mellow vibes of this track and it’s amazing how well they have incorporated the loops to create a contemporary sounding beat. “It was great working with the samples because they are not just like any random sample from the internet, they have a story behind them and…
Day Zero: February 15, 2020 – Assemble in Zanzibar Story
…d Pemba. Soon the islands joined the Mainland Tanganyika and were subsumed to form Tanzania. Today, the population of the islands is over 98% Muslim. Second, one of our main partners for our trip was the Dhow Countries Music Academy. The “Dhow” is a traditional sailing vessel. We saw many on the waters around Zanzibar. The “Dhow Countries” are all the countries that have blown to Zanzibar and left their musical instruments, styles and infl…
Super Phoenix Band Group
…thers 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 to voters when it is election time but then are never around to be accountable for anything once elected. It is about the frustration of so many people with their elected officials who do nothing for t…
The Revival of the Entongooli Page
…We are absolutely thrilled to be a part of supporting the revival of the Entongooli, an incredible stringed instrument that is on the brink of dying out. Our friend and colleague Professor James Isabirye, who has also headed up the revival of the Royal Entenga Drums and the Bigwala, has travelled to visit Mr Mukadisi, who is educating a group of children on how to build and play this instrument in the hopes of continuing it’s legacy. Below you wil…
Support Singing Wells Page
…o a Paypal donation page, with payments made to the Abubilla Music Foundation to fund the Singing Wells project: — CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW — Sponsor a Song£25 Your Gift to Us Your money will be used to support the Singing Wells project to record the songs of traditional music groups, help us tell their stories and keep their music traditions alive. Your donation to the project will be spent in East Africa and will go towards supporting music grou…
Day Two: 8 March 2022 (Ilesi) Story
…left out of the recordings of songs on different keys. Guest musicians Fiston, Ben and Gido also had to take a little time to play in sync with the polyrhythmic beats of the Iteso of Western Kenya. When the tuning session was finally figured out the actual recording started at about 17:00 hours. The three sisters and their two brothers have pleasantly matured musically and it was really encouraging to see them helping to keep their father’s legac…