The Entenga Drums: Part 1 Story
…on November 30th, at Kyambogo University, they revealed the drums to the Singing Wells team and an audience that grew and grew as they played. Here are four things we learned about these drums on Day 1: There are 15 drums. 12 of the drums operate as a collection, set in stands off the ground and as you face them, they move from largest to smallest, right to left. All these drums are played with the Enga, the curved drum stick. Again, as you face…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…the Rift Valley to the slopes of the imposing 5,199 metre Mount Kenya and into the plains of eastern Kenya. From a genre that was previously considered low class, it has managed to establish its hold as a definite Kenyan style and beat. Sprinklings of it are to be found in DR Congo. It has been borrowed, repackaged and found a new form in Zimbabwe. From its humble rural beginnings, this music has been nurtured into a club circuit affair in numero…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11: Ketebul Studios, Nairobi Story
…nal Luo music. Nelly worked with his Congolese mentor for a while before joining The Ogara Boys Band in 1962. The Ogara Boys Band also consisted of founding members John Ogara Odondi and Aketch Oyosi. Together the trio started and developed a unique sound that got the name Benga, in 1963. In 1966, Nelly left Ogara Boys Band to pursue his career elsewhere. He briefly collaborated with another Benga legend, George Ramogi. He has a very intricate way…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 3 – Nkubu to Mariene to Murungurune to Nkubu Story
…c… In this context, the knife is cutting away his old life and forcing him into a new life. Ruuji rukuru, led by John Gitoriga, means ‘old water’ and is a song to prepare a boy for manhood. Water is a cleanser so the water cleanses the boy and moves him from childhood to a new life. The boy is taken to one of the old rivers and hot mushrooming spring. Hence ‘old water.’ Remember that in all cases the boys are led to a river, covered in mud, and th…
Naizungwe Drums News
…entenga royal drums of the Buganda kingdom starting in 2015 and contacted Singing Wells with the hope that we would support him with funding for his new project. We are excited to announce that we have agreed to support James in his endeavours and will be posting about the project’s development, which has been under way for a month now. We will be documenting the progress of these drums with pictures and videos here, and more details about the p…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 2 – Muranga to Kangema to Nkubu Story
…iga Muchiri was a founding member of Kangema Mwomboko Dancers. He started singing in 1943 and loves to entertain. He is a Kikuyu and plays Mwomboko wa 40’s style. Mwomboko: a traditional song where he plays the Karing’aring’a (the ring) We then lugged our equipment up the hill. We were extremely embarrassed to find ourselves chatting in the field at the foot of the hill, only to see that two of the older women were hauling our generator up to the…
Entenga: Performing twice for the king of Buganda News
We have received wonderful news from Singing Wells partner Prof. James Isabirye that he and the rest of the Entenga players performed for the second time at the coronation anniversary of King Ronald Mutebi. https://youtu.be/HgKF14j5LrM We were first introduced to the Entenga drums in 2015 and have since been supporting James in an initiative to revive the drums and teach younger musicians how to play them (read the field reports here or watch o…
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…
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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Central Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Budaka Story
…talent. Most of the members are teachers that are being trained and are training. They are highly creative and dramatic.” The Namaddu Troupe The second group was the Namaddu Troupe, with 28 members and was formed in April 2009, led by Ndoboli Ramathan, and from Lyama Sub County. Their style of music was Namaddu Dance. Their costumes were Gomasi, Kanzu and skins (emondo-cheetah and antelops). Their instruments included: The Ngoma (Drums). There wer…