Watmon Cultural Group Group
…upe, and was met with a positive reaction. Eventually he had people coming to him asking to be a part of it, and from that point the group became an institution. In the fallout of the war against Idi Amin’s regime, many people were looking for an escape, and the troupe presented just such an opportunity. The group performed for President George Bush during a state visit to Uganda. They were also recorded in 2012 for the BBC’s World Routes album, p…
Muturi wa Wandindi Group
… Muturi wa wandindi (Actual name is Geoffrey Mutwiri, Mbaraka). He is from Kigane Village, Nkevene Sub-location, Nicwene Division. He started performing in 1964 and is from the Ameru Ethnic Community. He plays the Wandindi (thus his performance name), which is a ‘tube fiddle’, or what the Luo call the Orutu. …
Elgon Ngoma Troupe Group
…aced – either has orphans or from severely disadvantaged homes. He started to go to University but found that gathering the funds for tuition each time extremely difficult. He had raised the funds for another semester and then asked himself, “Do I want another semester of education, with no promise I will be able to fund another, or can I take this money and start to make a difference?” So he took the money and invested in instruments for children…
Ayub Ogada Group
…e Nyatiti story. We spent the day at his home in Nyahera location, not far from Kisumu town, and conducted a long yet free of form type of interview. Although a Luo himself, Ayub had never learned how to play the nyatiti in a traditional setting. He picked it up later in his career and studied from a player/teacher at the national cultural centre of Bomas of Kenya in the 1980s. He remembers he had gone for 6 lessons (at a 100 shillings) only and t…
FAQ’s Page
…e get in touch and let us know how you would like to help. Will you come and record my band? We have a schedule and a plan for the next 3 or 4 field visits to East Africa, so any groups we record would have to be within designated areas where we plan to travel. We’d love to hear from anyone with new suggestions for field visits. Can I join you on your next recording trip? Please get in touch if you would like more information about where are trave…
Day Six: January 24, 2019 From Mwanza to Dodomo to Nzali to Nairobi Story
…ny stops. But we digress. From the Dodoma Hotel, we drove about 90 minutes to Nzali to record four groups: Group 1: Makunga: This group is from Dodoma and the Wagogo Community, which they argued is the main indigenous community of Tanzania (always from the land, never migrated into Tanzania. The group was formed in 2018, but was built on a much older group. They perform in the Wuyina style. Their instruments/costumes include the: Ndulele (Horn…
Day One: February 16, 2020 (Ngawala Hotel) Story
…t girls becoming women. The singers come from the Wagindo people, who came from Malawi to Zanzibar, probably through the slave trade. When the British stopped the slave trade they then stayed. This band has a strong African influence. The main leader, Amina Abdalla, studied and sang with Madam Bi Kidudi, a legendary singer in Unyago style (a chain-smoking rebel!). She followed Siti Binti Saad as a major Taarab vocalist and was considered queen of…
Makunga Group
…ty, which they argued is the main indigenous community of Tanzania (always from the land, never migrated into Tanzania. The group was formed in 2018, but was built on a much older group. They perform in the Wuyina style. Their instruments/costumes include the: Ndulele (Horn), the Nindo (Shakers), the Mbega: (Animal Skins), the Muheme (Drums), the Kabati (Shakers), the Kalimba (Thumb Piano), the Zeze (Orutu), the Izeze (5 string large instrument),…
Day Two: February 17, 2020 (Stonetown) Story
Our second day we drove into Stone Town. We recorded the first two groups at the Emerson Spice Hotel along the seaside. This hotel is an Arab style hotel, reminiscent of the rhiads in Marrakech with lots of small courtyards. In the Emerson Spice Hotel we filmed the first two groups in a courtyard usually used for meals in the hotel. While it became very hot as the sun hit the stage for the second group, the overall setting was beautiful –…
Global Influences Project: Loop Library Page
…da. They play music in the Kidinda style using the Amadinda, a 22 slab xylophone which was historically an instrument which could only be played in front of the King. You can find out more about the band here. You can watch the full visual performance of this song on our Youtube channel by clicking here. Download the loop Joginda Boys – 116BPM Joginda boys are from Aluny Village, East Alego, Kenya. This play wonderful Nyatiti music, with Organda J…
Day Two: January 19, 2019 From Tarime to Buturi to Bariadi Story
…freestyle recording’ – what we mean here is we allow our three camera operators to ‘roam’ and to ‘release the band’ to dance. We are trying to overcome the somewhat artificial nature of ‘archiving’ where the band is constrained into a single shot. Magic Moment: We loved the percussion and wanted to capture this as magic moment. https://youtu.be/u7xcXahAlzI Group 2: Upendo Jazz: The group is from the Murangi Village in the Mara Region and their c…
The Revival of the Entongooli Page
…le but Effective Tools Getting things Dung! Meet the Students From Embaire to Entongooli Part 1 From Embaire to Entongooli Part 2 Creating the Base Part 1 Creating the Base Part 2 Stringing it Together Check back soon for more episodes of our Revival of the Entongooli journey! A Musical Education What makes this project so different from any of the other revival projects we have documented, is how focused this project is on young people. Mr Mukadi…
Support Singing Wells Page
…nging Wells project: — CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW — Sponsor a Song£25 Your Gift to Us Your money will be used to support the Singing Wells project to record the songs of traditional music groups, help us tell their stories and keep their music traditions alive. Your donation to the project will be spent in East Africa and will go towards supporting music groups during their Singing Wells recording session. Each group receives a payment for their per…
Day Zero: 6 March 2022 – Travel To Stream Story
…gly apparent that the ability of performers to earn a living is quickly shifting to a dependence on access to Internet connectivity and online streaming services. This solution works well for urban-based performers where the infrastructure exists and is relatively easy to access, but does not apply to those based in peri-urban areas and villages with limited or no access to the relevant infrastructure. Bearing in mind these challenges facing rural…
Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…est hits, songs that any Kenyan can easily identify with: “Kweli Ndugu”; “Mtoto si Nguo”; “Sengula Nakupenda”; “Kunywa Kidogo” and “Watu Wanasema Uongo”. Fadhilee’s reaction to this last session was worth the wait, as he discovered the author of “Kweli Ndugu”, a song he had done a cover of years ago. Therefore, we recorded one last Influences with Fadhilee playing the song alongside Mukabi. The day was closed with a photo session ringing together…
Day Three: February 18, 2020 (Stonetown, Mpendae, Maungani) Story
…nd motorbikes going by occasionally. We managed to record one song but had to stop after that due to noise. We hope to have this group come to the hotel on our last recording day. We felt bad that they only were able to perform one song but they took it graciously. Performers: Rajab Suleiman (qanun and director), Mohammed Hassan (accordian), Fum Faki (bongo and tabla), Tatu Khamis Haji (singer) Songs: Chungu – means Pot, composed by Said Ali 10 y…