Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 1 – Nairobi to Kiongwe to Muranga Story
…stled below a lovely hill of green, which stood 500 meters above us, stuck into the blue skies. We were here to record 4 separate women groups of the Kamba ethnic community, from the same villiage of Kiongwe, each of which would do 3-4 performances. Most of the groups performed with a Ileve (tin shaker) and Vilingi (tin whistle). The final group also introduced us to the Kilumi (drums). The Music Groups Twone Mbee The group is led by Christine Kis…
A Tanzanian Effort to Salvage the Music of the Past News
A few years ago we learned about a group in Tanzania who, like Singing Wells, is working to preserve traditional music, but for them the act of preservation is quite literal – the Tanzania Heritage Project is scrambling to digitise reams of reel-to-reel tape recorded between the 1960s and 1980s, which has been literally rotting for decades in the moulding archives of the Tanzanian Broadcasting Corporation. Some has already deteriorated to the poi…
Central Uganda: Day 7 – A Magic Day in Entebbe Story
…their helicopters. This is noisy. We had to shift recording at that point to inside one of the rooms. Hot but quiet. We are also joined by bird noises (loud, but surprisingly they often keep the beat) and an occasional hotel guests that finds it surprising that there is musical recording happening next to their room. We thank them now for their patience with us. It is also important to say that today will be more unstructured. We have one formal…
Central Uganda: Day 6: Kampala to Entebbe Story
…ext Site We then packed up and left the University Grounds and headed back into Kampala to the Uganda Museum. The Recording Site We set up directly in the Museum grounds and were surrounded by an open air museum which was a collection of traditional grass thatched huts from throughout Uganda. Fairly surprised museum guests stopped to watch us. A slightly miffed grass cutter politely agreed to hold off on his duties. We set up the band in front of…
Kenya’s Amazing Musical Instruments News
…en glass moved around in a big bowl) and Ndema (two brass rings played in ringing and muted tones) back in 2011, when we ventured out to the coastal village of Sita near Malindi. At the time Sita didn’t have much more than seven houses, two cows and lots of chickens, but it was home to the wonderful Nyerere wa Konde Music Club. The club included a percussion trio playing the Lungo and the Ndema, as well as two shakers and a Filimbi (a type of whis…
Interview: fusion band Ndoto Afrika News
…y the world over, for anyone. Music is a huge challenge and if you venture into it with a high expectation of becoming an overnight millionaire or celeb, then you are in for a rude shock! There are so many artistes fighting for an audience space and what’s making it twice difficult is that you have to compete with international foreign brands who in most cases are the radio favourites. A brother has to dream on though, giving up is so ‘unAfrican’…
Discussions with Peter Cooke: ethnomusicologist and Ugandan music expert News
…c. Excitingly, we also learned that Peter knew Musisi, one of the last remaining entenga players from the Buganda Palace, whom we met during our last trip in December 2015. Musisi is now working with James at Kyambogo to implement our entenga restoration scheme to preserve and promote this traditional instrument for future generations. Students practice entenga drum-chime at Kyambogo in 1968 (Musisi is furthest from the camera) Peter’s research in…
Before They Pass Away News
…urviving tribes. His book, Before They Pass Away, is a fascinating insight into these communities’ ways of life. Nelson’s breathtaking photographs capture how these last remaining tribes continue their lives amid a changing world. But rather than charge in and start pointing his camera at these people, Nelson had to get to know them and to gain their trust. When he met the Chukchi people, the elders told him: “You cannot photograph us. You have to…
Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…to keep the food away from the lazy wife and the lazy wife would go complaining to the husband. The message in the song is to not wait for everything to be done for you. Paolo Wawanyera: This is someone’s name, meaning Paul, son of Wawanyera. Paul was a chief. He visited certain places and found they had made him party with lots of food and drink. He actually visited his brother in law who was jealous of him as a chief. So he decided to poison hi…
Happy new year from Singing Wells News
…ingdom. 2. We met Musisi and heard his story Musisi is one of the last remaining drummers of the Buganda Kingdom in Uganda. He performed for the King during his time at the Buganda Palace before fleeing in fear when the government arrived to shut the palace down. Here’s is Musisi’s incredible story. 3. We checked in on the preservation of the Bigwala trumpets The Bigwala is a trumpet-style instrument made from gourds. Singing Wells has been suppor…
We’re discovering the lost music of the Ugandan Kingdoms News
…n read on our Field Reports section. Including: Some background and the beginning of our journey to discover the lost royal drums of the Buganda Kingdom Context on the Entenga royal drums we’ve been searching for The story of Musisi – a drummer from the royal palaces and the fall of the Buganda Kingdom Some information on the progress of the Bigwala trumpets – an instrument we restored on a previous field trip Interviews with the palace players an…
Singing Wells surpasses 500,000 YouTube hits! News
We’re delighted to announce that this morning Singing Well’s YouTube channel surpassed half a million views. Since 2011, we’ve been sharing our work discovering, recording, archiving and celebrating the traditional music of East Africa on this channel and we couldn’t be more grateful for your support. Our YouTube channe l features videos from our trips across Kenya and Uganda, including visiting the tribes of the Kenyan Coast, Central and Eastern…
Sponsor a Singing Wells recording session News
…, we’re headed for Uganda. We have a jam-packed schedule to keep to: we’re going to be following the story of Uganda’s Royal Instruments, identifying key talent and inviting them back to Nairobi for recording sessions at our partner Ketebul’s studios, and travelling into eastern Uganda to record several tribal groups in the region. Check out our previous work in Uganda. Now we’re looking for sponsors to help fund our important work discovering, pr…
Our top Singing Wells songs for April News
…nta Njoki. They sing in the Gitiro style, referring to the dowry payment upon marriage in their music. What are your favourite Singing Wells songs? Tweet us….
Rediscovering Afropop and its influences News
…rving this music it can continue to inform, inspire and influence a new generation of artists to carry the traditional music of East Africa into their songs. Listen to our bridge artists now. …
Discussions on music and culture with a young Kenyan News
…e been talking to people about their music interests, whether the idea of Singing Wells appeals to them and what more we can do to ensure this musical culture is not lost. On a visit to iHub this week – a communal working space for tach-savvy Nairobi entrepreneurs – I got chatting to Edwin Maganjo about the Singing Wells Project. Edwin has lived in Nairobi most of his life and is an entrepreneur currently building a blogging platform. What kind of…