Day One: February 16, 2020 (Ngawala Hotel) Story
…een together since 2009 and play traditional Taarab. All songs are about love (love lost and gained) and all secular They usually perform in Kisawandui. They played five songs:Bashraf of Alia: Instrumental Usione Chaelea: Means that you don’t really see the subtlety in something. Mbiyo Za Sakafuni: This is about too much haste and costs of being too fast (literally it translates as ‘speed on the floor.’) Hebu Uone Aibu: Means ‘witness the shame.’…
Super Phoenix Band Group
…that they are the real owners. Mukangala instrumental as influences session with Fadhilee, our influences artist. We don’t know: Fadhilee then taught the band to play his song, We Don’t Know. This is about politicians who pay lots of attention to voters when it is election time but then are never around to be accountable for anything once elected. It is about the frustration of so many people with their elected officials who do nothing for them….
Here for Research? Page
…rent musical instruments used in East Africa. This database is constantly evolving as we discover and record more instruments. The instruments are tagged by their ethnicity, their recording location and the type (simply broken down into stringed, percussion or wind at present) Groups Detailed information about each group we meet on our Field trips. Head here to browse through groups by Location or Genre, or to search directly for a Group that we h…
Day Four: February 19, 2020 (Maruhabi Palace) Story
…It added a Indian/ Arab feel to the music. Kizazi Kipya Kidumbaki – We drove to this group in Mahonda and the DCMA annex. Thabit Omar Ali is the assistant to the head teacher and is a teacher himself. at the DCMA. He met us at with the first group and brought us to this one. They sing and perform mainly for weddings and celebrations. Performers: (all male): Juma Fadhul Juma (leader and secretary but did not participate), Fadhili Faki (director an…
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 –…
Days 10 to 12 – Monday 10th July to Wednesday 12th July 2017 Story
…is home) and William Odondi Matara, also known as Odondi Diel Matara (interview and several tunes recorded before master classes). The two masters taught by demonstration, each using a song of their choice, a group of 5 young generation nyatiti players of different proficiency levels: Judy Bwire, John Otieno ‘Rapasa’, Gabriel Oduor, Walter Koga and Meshack Okoth Okumu. Day 11 – Tuesday July 11th 2017 (as per team’s report): Studio recording of the…
Days 6 to 8 – Thursday 6th July 2017 to Saturday 8th July 2017 Story
…inic Ogari, a music instructor at Kenyatta University in Nairobi. Day 8: Saturday 8th July 2017: Recording of an in‐depth interview with John Otieno ‘Rapasa’, our fixer who had previously travelled to Lake Region with us. In this interview he explained his personal journey to becoming a professional nyatiti player, instrument maker and teacher….
Support Singing Wells Page
…during a recording session and you can hear the music you have sponsored live from the field. We will also send you a copy of our beautiful Singing Wells commemorative photo book, a full album of the ‘Best of Singing Wells’ and a Singing Wells t-shirt. We will also bring you a unique gift back from the field visit – a traditional, hand made musical instrument typical of the region. Donate £3000 and Sponsor a Recording Day CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW…
Day Zero: 6 March 2022 – Travel To Stream Story
…equipment necessary to set up mobile live streaming studio services and travel to provide live concert streaming opportunities for musicians based in remote areas. Our mission to travel and stream in Western Kenya was made possible by funds from Hivos, with the additional support from the Abubilla Foundation. Travel to Stream After one week’s training and familiarization with the new software and equipment, we took the road to Western Kenya on the…
Day 1 – Saturday 1st July 2017 Story
…r comparison. Other pertinent information provided by Rapasa during our drive to Kisumu included the types of trees used for nyatiti (with vernacular terms), the symbolism behind nyatiti’s shape (resembles the traditional Luo hut shape), symbolism of the number (8) of strings of the nyatiti, his tuning techniques and order of string tuning, together with the story of his personal attachment to his instruments collection (owns 14 nyatitis). Upon ou…
Day Three: January 20th, 2019 Story
…! We recorded five performances: Busumabuno Kulima: A song about farming Watoto wakalime Freestyle on Kulima Magic Moment Busumabudo, focus on percussion https://youtu.be/dHeTdA5m5gQ Group 3: Awilo: The group, which is a comedy circus act, is from Ikungu lya nkoma and performs in the Bununguli style. They are from the Sukuma community and were formed in 1981. They played the Ng’oma and entertained the kids with circus acts involving fire, razor bl…
Global Influences Project: Loop Library Page
…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 Joginda at the heart, playing ‘bass’ with the Nyatiti and percussion with his leg ‘snares’ and the kick drum with his big toe (with a metal ring on it) banging on the bottom of the Nyatiti. The rest of the band added claps, dancing and wonderful backing vocals. You can learn more about th…
Day Three: February 18, 2020 (Stonetown, Mpendae, Maungani) Story
…Town and the DCMA to record our first group. After we finished there we drove to Mpendae, about 20 mins from Stone Town to record the second group. From there we drove for another half an hour to Maungani to record the third group: Tarajazz – This group was formed by the director, Suleiman Makame, who studied classical piano and music. He became interested in Jazz and created an African fusion of Taarab and Jazz about two years ago. The name of…
Day Zero: February 15, 2020 – Assemble in Zanzibar Story
…ng Sidi Binti Saad’s footsteps through Zanzibar, the taarab we will hear involves African drums, a Qanun (a stringed instrument played on the lap), an Oud (derived from an Egyptian lute), a violin, a flute and a Arabic style (but Swahili) lead female vocal. We also heard the Sanduku, essentially a bass guitar, but actually a single string connect between a pole and a big wooden box which gives the instruments its bass and resonance. A final n…
Day Two: January 19, 2019 From Tarime to Buturi to Bariadi Story
…and Kwaheri amukeni tucheze tunaenda (good bye dance) – songs 4 and 5 song as one Freestyle: We then recorded the band in freestyle. https://youtu.be/XoaHli19b2U One observation from Day One: These groups have the energy and youth of many of the groups we recorded in Uganda around Lake Victoria, which makes a lot of sense as these groups are from areas very close to Uganda. What you feel when you record these groups is that the music here remain…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…for these musicians not to be simply programmed as part of a loose musical troupe, relegated to and delegated with the mundane task of playing ceremonial music to visiting tourists. END Tabu Osusa Founding Director, Ketebul Music Nairobi-Kenya April 2022…