Day 2: Sunday, 2017 February 19th Story
…ing for three reasons: We had the whole day so were able to record a large number of songs and do an “Influences” session. This gave the village children time to get to know us and understand our mission. By the end they were singing along to all the songs. In addition to being a professional musician, Leo also teaches music to school children so he is a natural with kids. On all the songs that he did, he had the whole village singing and laughing…
Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…We are greeted by the music of the Nyunyusa Dancing Troupe, which included two of Mzee Morris’s grandsons, Abdala Nyunyusa Morris on vocals and Rajab Alli Nyunyusa Morris on drums. Rajab is the only of Mzee Morris’s offspring to make his living as a drummer. Here he is with Morris Drums: Here is the group: They played seven songs: Jembe ni Mali: a song to encourage farming Kilongo Salale: a call to unity Rasilmali Ya Mnyonge: The worth of a poor m…
Our journey to the Royal Drums: in the words of James Isabirye Story
…he lives in Kiboga which was about three hours away. She gave me his son’s number and Musisi’s and we called. I talked to him! My only thought at the time was: GET MUSISI TO KAMPALA. I could not lose another teacher. So I agreed I would send money for Musisi to meet with me. I gave him a job to teach students how to play the drums. I was so relieved to have found a drummer. He arrived in Kampala and we set out to teach. But very quickly it was cle…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 1 – Reflections Story
…song-writing. Are all instruments the same? Here we are less sure. The xylophone is extraordinary and continues to thrive outside of palace life. Xylophones didn’t disappear in Uganda village life after the fall of the kingdoms in 1966 because they were part of village life. We don’t need to rediscover the xylophone and we are fairly sure it is not on the endangered list. Contemporary Ugandan musicians are incorporating the xylophone into contempo…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 2 – Interviews with Musicians of Uganda’s Royal Palaces Story
…her surviving musicians from the Buganda Palace Here’s our summary of part two: We travelled to two separate villages to meet four other surviving members of the royal palace musicians: a flute player, a trumpeter and two members of a xylophone-drumming team. A note here on surviving musicians: James Isabirye continues in his quest to track down surviving members of the musician corp. The good news is that there are some. The bad news is that the…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 1- Drum Making and Palace Players Story
…e you’d roll out dough between your hands to make it long and thin. But he does this by rolling about a foot of string against his leg round and round until the entire length is tightly twisted. 8. The second stage of stringing the drum “Now, I have to restring the drum, replacing the nylon strings with animal skin strings. As I do this I cut away the holes from the old strings. As you can see the drum skins stick on the wooden drum. The first sta…
Musisi’s Story, Part 1: The Fall of the Buganda Kingdom Story
First, a caveat: this blog does not claim to be historically accurate and we can’t verify all the events told here. It reports on the memories of a former royal drummer, who is reflecting back on his time at the Buganda palace, on the night the palace was attacked and on the importance of seeing his craft revived. And there is something quite beautiful in the way he remembers his own story. Musisi being recorded on camera telling his story We are…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11:An Interview with Gregg Story
…that say ‘see our animals not our people.’ And business is looking for big numbers which means popular things, which sadly means easy to digest, disposable pop culture. The whole drive to “marketing” is killing our culture. If the numbers don’t come in on something than you stop it. But culture is hard to really invest in. You don’t go for the popular musicians doing the big things. You have to go to the real groups in the rural villages. And they…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…963, the Ogara trio recorded the song “Selestina Juma” at the African Gramophone Stores, famously known as AGS, in Nairobi. Curiously, the song bears a distinct beat of ska, the precursor of today’s reggae. The trio’s guitar work was evidently inspired by influences from way beyond Luoland and was pretty much ahead of its time. It is possible that its ingenuity came from itinerant guitarists from the Congo, Uganda and Zambia who were already visit…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 3 – Nkubu to Mariene to Murungurune to Nkubu Story
…ry to make sure that the lead vocalist is in front and as much as possible doesn’t dance with the rest. Where this creates real trade-offs, we will do two takes – one with the vocalist stationary and one, without a lapel mic, where they are free to dance as they normally would. Lead vocalists and instruments We also work to identify all the major instruments and vocals that will be used and make sure these have appropriate microphones and will be…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…dle players and 2 thumb pianos. They also have the traditional Ugandan Xylophone. All instrumentalists also sing and are supported by three ladies who sing and dance. The three core members are: Walusimbi Nsibambi Haruna: He the Founding Director of Nile Beat Artists. Walusimbi was once the Global Youth Earth Day Ambassador for Africa after winning the Global Youth Earth Day Ambassadors Competition in Marikina-Philipines. Nabayaza Sumaya Baiga: Sh…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…so a stand out act, with the legendary performer (yes, as Tabu said we had two legends of Ugandan music visit us today) – Natha Matta Nyende performing for us with his band the Bakuseka Majja Matta Group. Nathan is 76 years old and has been blind since 1956. He formed his group in 1952. They play in the Kisoga style and are from Kasokoso in Iganga District. They are four members. Nathan plays the Endongo, which is the local name for the small thum…
Central Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Budaka Story
…interview the group leaders, the school head master, etc… The site was on two levels. Our ‘stage’ was on the lower level, with two small brick single story homes and a little kitchen cleaning area. On the second level to the right of the houses was a hill, with the school and a couple large trees, under which our two bands rested and changed clothes – each song brought new and more beautiful costumes. Before the performances started we also spent…
Central Uganda: Day 1 – From Entebbe to Kidinda Story
…alked to James Isabirye, our musical expert, about this group. “This group does not perform formally anymore, because they have no platform. The King invited them to play but no longer does. They have great songs, they have a great history but today they are silent. No one asks to listen to them. This is so sad. How do we revive demand for what was one of the sixth great ensemble bands commission by the king to play exclusively in the palace?” The…
Current Leading Figures News
…” He took the money and invested in the traditional kadodi drum. From only two members with drums, Julius now oversees two groups made up of 160 members, of which 100 are performers. With the youth centre, although Julius primarily wishes to provide a stable support system and income for his previously disadvantaged band members, he also prioritises preserving traditional Ugandan music. “We perform as Africa’s Dancing Encyclopaedia. In Africa, wri…
The story of Anyim Lac Story
…couldn’t miss the opportunity to capture the true sound. With a lapel microphone on our lead lady and another microphone directly on the adungu, we asked the group to continue. At the end of the session we played the recording back and a magical voice and sound emerged – the old lady, sitting on the blanket in the middle of this village surrounded by her whole community, had a beautiful, strong, pitch perfect voice. Incredible. Click here to go to…