Day 1 & 2: Preparing to leave for Kisoro, Uganda Story
…performances (names, songs, background, performers) Here’s a picture of what we look like ‘loaded up’: Pelicases bottom left (one behind), cable bag on top, mic stands on right. That’s all we need for full field recording So, that’s the team and the kit. Tomorrow we head for Kisoro, Uganda. The Singing Wells Team …
Kenya (Coast): Day 4 – the road back to Nairobi Story
…s much bigger than we thought. We are collecting a wide range of material that we can use on multiple projects. We think the music is far better than we thought – both sides. The traditional music is beautiful and thank goodness the artists are still around. But we’ve also been able to record with the artists, through Winyo, on a more modern sound.. We’ve done a very good job recording, especially day 2. We had no issue with equipment and the team…
Interview with Fifty Cows – fixer for Singing Wells News
…Seminary to become a Catholic priest. He felt this would be a way to help promote peace between the tribes. He had too much experience with conflict and wanted a way to resolve it. He was involved with many peace negotiations between the Merekwet and the Pokot. Today he still goes to a yearly peace negotiation run by the Tegla Lorupe Foundation. Tegla Lorupe is a marathon runner and has won the London Marathon. She uses sport to woo the warriors…
Nick Abonyo (the ‘clapper-man’) News
…nth. He preferred being in his parent’s village. He liked village life because everything is free there. They grew their own food including maize, sweet potatoes, arrowroot and kale. They fished in the local lake and would sell some for pocket money and eat the rest. They also had chickens for eggs and meat. The water is pure so you don’t need to buy it. People are very friendly in the village and there is still honour and politeness. They respect…
The Kalenjin & Kenya’s elite athletes News
…series produced by Ketebul Music and first met Tabu in September 2011. She is interested in using traditional music from the Kalenjin tribes for her documentary about Kenyan runners. She says that other film makers have not been able to find the traditional music to use in their movies about Kenya which seems a shame. Posted by Kathy 5th March 2012 …
May 2011 – Jimmy reports back on the pilot phase News
…field off a generator. The reaction of the groups and villagers confirmed that it is far better to ‘go to the music’ then try to bring all these talented musicians 900 kms to Nairobi. In addition, we confirmed that Ketebul absolutely has the right set of sound and video engineers to lead these sessions in the future – they have all now been fully trained and have already begun to record sessions on their own. They will be leading the November sess…
Lake Turkana Cultural Festival 2011 News
…National Museums of Kenya, is to ‘overcome tribalism in the region and to promote peace and reconciliation among the local communities around Lake Turkana by giving them an opportunity for cross-cultural cooperation and exchange, both in the preparation and in the course of the Festival. During the three days Festival, representatives of the Rendille, El Molo, Pokot, Samburu, Turkana, Gabbra, Dassanech and Borana present their respective customs…
Reflections on the pilot phase by Pato News
…latives, tand proceeded to Kibarani village in Kilifi. A point to note is that what was becoming common was that whenever we were setting up kids from the village would surround as with excitement and it was always a beautiful sight. The first group of the day was Chechemeko Raha led by Bahri wa Katana. Their sound was so powerful and their energy was amazing, in their last performance one member of the group performed a dance similar to capo era…
Reflections on the pilot phase by Willie Bembe News
…t generation is not really interested in learning there music. This is because it’s not packaged in a way that would interest them. DAY 4 Have caught on on how to set up the equipment and under the Andy’s guidance do the recording. The sound quality coming from the recording is amazing considering we are recording outdoors Recording Winyo by the sea shore is a particular favorite. Alas…Jimmy is suddenly the guy with the funniest jokes and everyone…
Discovering music roots with SWP News
…success. However, we are still a long way from ultimate goal. We intend to use the period between now and mid-October to deliver our side of the deal. This shall be discussed and planned carefully and should take a concrete direction as we go along. We want to assemble a credible and convincing pilot that should alter the image of traditional music, especially by the media and policy makers – all who influence the larger population. Obviously, fun…
Testing the mobile recording equipment News
We’ve made the first purchase of the mobile recording equipment that we’ll be using during the tour of the villages. And as I write this, it’s already in use in Brazil. Jimmy Allen and Mike Park (Abubilla percussionist) have paid a flying visit to Meninos do Morumbi, another project supported by The Abubilla Music Foundation. At the weekend, they recorded Samba percussion on the streets of Sao Paulo for the new, global version of the Abubilla Mus…