FAQ’s Page
…d instruments soon. To browse our albums, head over here. Where does the money to support Singing Wells come from? We invite financial contributions from private donors and corporate sponsors and seek grants from NGOs. Donations and grants are administered by The Abubilla Music Foundation. Donors may support specific parts of the project – a particular field visit perhaps. For example, in 2011 we received a grant from the Institute of Internationa…
Day Two: January 19, 2019 From Tarime to Buturi to Bariadi Story
…s with them (follow links to Youtube): Mantho: About a man who was given money to walk to his destination. He had a long walk ahead of him, but funds were covered. To save time and money, however, he choose to walk through the river. Sadly, a crocodile attacked him and ate his legs. A cautionary tale about taking short cuts. Jackie Mosani Wethu: A traditional song of praise and thanks, which was sung for our host, Jackie. Thare Mushi Wakono Okwebo…
Day Six: January 24, 2019 From Mwanza to Dodomo to Nzali to Nairobi Story
…about driving. From Mwanza to Nzali, from Nzali to Nairobi. But we don’t need to waste blog posts on driving, although we did meet every kind and wonderful Tanzanian police officer on the route. They wanted to know about our safety equipment, our battery covers, our insurance, our plates, and at times, they just wanted to know what we were thinking. So lovely. So many stops. But we digress. From the Dodoma Hotel, we drove about 90 minutes to Nz…
Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…recorded was Matende Cultural Isukuti Youth Group, founded in 2006 by Johnstone Asutsi and based in Amalemba location of Shinyalu. We recorded a session of vigorous dancing at another popular Luhya identity marker – the Ilesi Crying Stone monument. Played in a set of three drums, the isukuti percussions are made out of a specific local tree species (mukomari) covered with molitor lizard skin. They are identified as follows: ISUKUTI ISATSA – the ma…
Day One: 7 March 2022 (Shikangania and Mukumu) Story
Act One Artiste: Johnstone Mukabi and Omutibo Stars Genre: Omutibo Location: Small Matters Park – Shikangania Field Notes: After an early breakfast the following morning we drove from Ilesi to Mukumu Girls’ High School, situated along the Kakamega-Kisumu road. Our first recording of the day was to be with Johnstone Mukabi, son of the legendary guitarist George Mukabi. The senior Mukabi is regarded by all as the pioneer of omutibo, arguably the mo…
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 –…
Elgon Ngoma Troupe Group
…usuf (solo Adungu), Wamumdu Albashir (bass Adungu), Kyasowbayo Joseph (xylophone) and Dkining David (tube fiddle). The songs played were: “Isongja”: a pre-circumcision song and dance where boys are challenged to get ready for the ritual. “Kadodi Imbalu Dance”: this is about the circumcision ritual itself and involves the boy being reluctant and getting help from others to be brave. The song closes with a section about the boy having and surviving…
Camera Group
…Camera, who has been performing since 1999, is from Nzega and from the Sukuma community, playing in the Kadete style. Camera plays the Kadete (like the Zeze from earlier and Orutu from Kenya). He is an extremely cool cat, who we actually discovered walking the streets with his instrument during the RECCE….
Twone Mbee Group
…tempting the position because it is already taken by the one they are praising. ‘Nzembanie na ivinda’: (Chasing After Time). This song talks about the President’s call to stop corruption. The call to chase after time comes from the society that won’t condone these malpractices….
Albums Introduction Page
…chronological order of the recording date – so you can experience the journey that we took through the music of the area we were recording in. Each album also contains a number of extra tracks that weren’t strictly part of the archiving recordings we were making. These recordings are of ‘Influences’ sessions – where a popular musical artist has joined us on our trip to collaborate with the groups we record. In the event that we have invited one…
Here for Research? Page
…stain and celebrate the extraordinary cultural music heritage of the region and to help make this legacy relevant and fresh to today’s audiences.”…
Baseki Group
…he band brought up children from the village and taught them about hoeing the soil to the song. Later we saw several videos of how this song is used in the fields to motivate farmers, who hoe to the beat. Throughout Tanzania, we saw school kids walking to/from school with their hoes, where they often tend to small plots at the school. Serengeti: We are near the national park and this is a song in celebration to Tanzanian parks and wild life. Frees…
Ekhunjwe Musical Group Group
…Oduor, this is a very organized group of twenty eight (28) members coming from the different administrative areas of Samia district. Ekhunjwe ya Abasamiawas formed in April 2008 with common focus on using music as a tool for community development. The group promotes traditional African values and acts in both education and local economy. Members also engage in traditional crafts like basket weaving and jewellery making for exhibition and sale. Th…
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 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…
Day Four: February 19, 2020 (Maruhabi Palace) Story
We drove back towards Stone Town and stopped at the Maruhubi Palace ruins. This palace was built by the third Sultan of Zanzibar from 1980-1982 for his secondary wives. It is now in ruins but you can still see the main buildings with baths inside, a massive overhead aqueduct that supplied water to the palace and circular ponds with lily pads. It’s set in a beautiful location along the coast surrounded by mango trees. We met the first group there…