The repatriation of Kenya’s music heritage News
…50s by English ethnomusicologist, Hugh Tracey. The repatriation of these recordings began in August, during a two-week pilot project in Kenya’s Rift Valley led by Prof Diane Thram, Director of the International Library of African Music (ILAM) in South Africa and the team from Ketebul Music, supported and funded by The Abubilla Music Foundation as part of the Singing Wells project. Read Bill Odidi’s article about the August project here….
Singing Wells is on Bozza! News
…e’s now a new way for audiences to discover and listen to traditional East African musicians and music groups recorded by Singing Wells. Head over to our Bozza page here. About Bozza “Bozza is a plug & play solution for musicians, poets, photographers & film makers to promote and sell their digital products to their fans throughout Africa. The platform is available to emerging and established artists from around the continent and can be easily acc…
Ten More Singing Wells Stories News
…: Travelling around Africa you always pray a little to the gods above that Africans would enjoy the benefits of a few more responsible folks with power, in power. And then we ran into the Otacho Young Stars, one of the hippest and happenin’ Luo bands around (who we discovered and brought back the studios to record). Here is the most simple, but to me, one of the most profound African songs ever written. It is a simple song, a tribute to the local…
Current Leading Figures News
…e found on his About Page at Ketebul Music and his thoughts on some of the central issues surrounding East African music are here in his interview with James, with more to be published on Singing Wells soon. He also gives insightful commentary on the artists that we record, in our field reports. Wolimbwa Julius Julius founded the Elgon Ngoma Troupe in 2009 and, shortly after, the Elgon Hero Brass Band. We at Singing Wells were lucky enough to meet…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…arrive, you can listen to a few select recordings on their soundcloud… 7. African Music Archives The founder of the African Music Archives (AMA) was Wolfgang Bender, a German who spent his childhood in West Africa,, became an English teacher in Nigeria during the 170s and, inspired by the culture, a record collector. When he returned to Germany, he became a lecturer at the Bayreuth University and continued to enlarge his record collection. Finall…
Archiving Guidelines News
…ation for smaller would-be archives, such as those wishing to archive East African music, concerning both the digitisation of audio or the online storage of the data. It cites two viable options for open repository software, which are basically softwares that allow organisations to give access to their data. The first is DSpace, “very popular and widely adopted repository within the higher education and research sectors, although knowledge of its…
A History of Recording East African Music News
…an out of funding. He became a broadcaster, utilising every opportunity to promote African music. However, he could not stay away from Africa long, and in 1946 realised someone needed to fully dedicate their time to “appraising the social value” of traditional African music, otherwise it would disappear. Tracey would have to step up and be that someone, especially at a time when African radios wanted to broadcast in their own regional vernaculars…
Tracey Instrument Collection News
The International Library of African Music (ILAM) has very kindly shared with us their instrument collection, enabling us to give you a wider insight into the traditional instruments used in Ugandan folk music. Here at Singing Wells, we have already began building up our own collection, purchasing and bringing them back to our studio in England whenever we can, and have been providing profiles for those we come across on our travels on the Instru…
ILAM, Repatriation and Jimmie Rodgers/Chemirocha News
…ic we are recording – most notably the massive influence of gospel on East African music, which, in turn was created in large part by Black-American music, directly inspired by early African village music. We listen to the likembe music in Uganda and here the steel drums of Calypso music. We listen to Benga blues and here the music of Cuba, demanding that we look further into the circles travelled between musicians between the Congo and Cuba, and…
James Isabirye and Tabu Osusa Discuss East African Music News
…e to listen in on a fantastic conversation about on the topic ‘Why is East African music under such threat?’ Both James and Tabu are passionate about the topic, but more importantly they are committed to addressing the threat through their efforts to develop musicians committed to traditional music. Tabu: There are so many reasons our musical culture is threatened. I know that Hugh Tracy blamed Christianity. The churches came to the land and convi…
Ketebul Music: A Year in Review News
…Professor, gave us access to a collection of music and photos, from music promoter Peter Colmore. We are getting all the genres of Kenyan music. I would like the book to be done by types of music. It needs to involve DJ’s, musicians, writers, etc… We have almost all the material. It is now about making a big impression. My dream is we launch this book during the Smithsonian conference next year in Washington DC. In terms of artists, Winyo is doin…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…back tones as a method of delivery for music. Mike and I also attended the African music networking session which became the launch for a new initiative by the Cape Verde government. It has been calculated that music is their biggest export and so has set up the African Music Forum to make it easier for musicians to make a living – from visas and flights to financial support. It is an exciting time, and seems to chime in with what Eddie Hatitye an…
SWP Uganda 2013 – our proposed itinerary News
…week of live field recordings. On this trip we will be working in East and Central Uganda, visiting musicians and music groups from the Baganda, Basigu, Bagwere, Basoga and Banyoli communities. In September, Steve and Tabu from Ketebul Music travelled to Uganda to undertake a ‘recce’ and identify the music styles and groups which we will be recording for this next Singing Wells trip. We now have our outline itinerary to share with you. Day 1: SWP…
Group of the Month – Otacho Young Stars News
…moved from our original recording location to the DRC – not the Democratic Republic of Congo, but Dinky’s Resort Club, down the road in Rongo. We set up the recording gear at the back of what looked like an old dance hall – the grass at the rear of the hall forming a natural arena for our groups – one of which was the Otacho Young Stars. We later met the group again, when we invited them to record as part of the Influences series at the Ketebul st…
The Key to Sustainable Aid in Africa? Perhaps we should follow the music. News
…a healthy village and the hideousness of the urban sprawl at the edges of African cities. And most leading thinkers concerned with African development, argue for efforts to maintain village life, to work with people in a village, with all the support that entails, rather than to work with folks who are already displaced, on the move, entering the big cities for the first time (see the Millennium Village Project and some recent commentary about it…
What people say about Singing Wells News
…ame across Singing Wells. The production team goes all out to unearth East African traditional music, giving account of the people’s past and present through music. The recordings are a valuable treasure, since a lot of traditional African music often goes un-notated. Singing Wells is the much needed portal for ethnomusicology research in East Africa.” Matthew Morin, PhD in Musicology, Florida State University: “Singing Wells does more than preser…