Day One: 7 March 2022 (Shikangania and Mukumu) Story
…ple reside with their six children in Chesere village in Kakamega County. During this live show, they were joined by Fiston Lusambo on guitar, with Ben Mukabwa interchanging with Gido Kibukosya on bass….
The Revival of the Entongooli Page
…: Part 1 For these musical scholars, their musical journey actually starts with another fascinating and popular instrument, the Embaire or the Xylophone. The scolars are taught the tunes they need to know on this instrument before transferring these melodies over to the Entongooli. What’s incredible about this entire process is how the children are also taught about building the Embaire as well, creating instruments for themselves to learn on. In…
Day Two: 8 March 2022 (Ilesi) Story
…ee daughters, Monica Obali, Millicent Akorot and Caroline Obasie on vocals with their two brothers, Donald and Tobias Obasie on vocals and accordion, respectively. On special occasions, as with this live recording, the siblings were joined by Simon Omuse on the harmonica. Fiston played guitar while Ben and Gido were on percussions and bass respectively. The Obasie Palnyang band is very popular among the Iteso people and their neighboring communiti…
Mohamed Uthman Kidumbak Group Group
…s lead singer. Sanduku , the bass, was a homemade bass made of a large box with a small hole cut out in the front. It had a large stick which the player held perpendicular to the box with a string going from the top of the stick to the top of the box. He changed notes by holding the string less or more taut as well as holding the end of the string down against the stick. Pretty amazing bass sounds came out of this. The two dancers danced with almo…
Upendo Jazz Group
…al African drums, but set up Western Style on a steel rack and they leaned one large bass drum against the rack. The drummer then built a separate wooden kick pedal, so he could play all the drums with his hands and kick with his feet. We had not seen this before and it meant the group has a very traditional sound but a very modern feel, with contemporary beats….
Day Zero: February 15, 2020 – Assemble in Zanzibar Story
…y Bi Kidude, who we discuss more below when we meet Amina Abdalla who sang with Bi Kidude and sang with us. Following 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…
Day Two: January 19, 2019 From Tarime to Buturi to Bariadi Story
…er then built a separate wooden kick pedal, so he could play all the drums with his hands and kick with his feet. We had not seen this before and it meant the group has a very traditional sound but a very modern feel, with contemporary beats. We recorded six songs with them: Omweko (about a drought that caused great hunger in the village in 2017) Majirani: about neighbours, where the band remembered times when all neighbours used to support one an…
Day Four: February 19, 2020 (Maruhabi Palace) Story
…Kitua tua Lizombe – magic moment Gonga This group was well choreographed with five dancers, three women and two men with shakers on their legs. They changed their costumes for each song. The rest of the group played instruments and sang. The horn sounded like a snake charming horn and was quite loud. 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 a…
Mariene Traditional Dancers Group
…umcision; they are calling out to all that can hear that they boys are ready. Wikiri Mariri: Song is about herding… He asks a woman for thin porridge which is kept in the gourd during long trips away. He meets someone else that wants the gourd and dies with it. In the song he calls for those who will really listen to what he has to say (this is the wonderful refrain at outset) Magic Moment: Simon doing gospel interpretation of Mariri. Magic moment…
Day Five: January 22, 2019 Mwanza Continued Story
…ing onward to the New Dodoma Hotel. That evening we had a private meeting with Dr. Harrison G. Mwakyembe (MP), Minister, Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, The United Republic of Tanzania. Dr. Harrison G. Mwakyembe (MP) We also met with Mizengo Kayanza Peter Pinda. He was the Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania, from 2008-2015. He is now a Patron of the Cultural Yamnyausi Foundation. That evening both Ministers ho…
Day One: February 16, 2020 (Ngawala Hotel) Story
…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 Taarab and Unyago music and died at 103 in 2013. Amina Abdalla still performs in her house, which is called Raha Leo. Folks go to see her there from all over. The other members included: Fatima Juma (dancer an…
Day Four: January 21 2019 Mwanza Story
…id it end up?” Magic Moment on a song Ndono. They then did a lot of dances with ‘modern’ music on speakers. https://youtu.be/uRfFn7ZgUrU Group 2: Camera: 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 t…
Pius Wafula Group
…with a famous local group called “Webuye Jua Kali” up to 2009, when he founded his own group. Today the group counts 5 members who play the following instruments: LITUNGU – a 7-string traditional lyre; ISIRILI – a one-string fiddle; LUENGELE– a percussive idiophone, they use a wooden stool struck with wooden sticks; ENG’OMA – a generic term for drums, they use a plastic water container also struck with wooden sticks; CHISASI – shakers made out of…
2. Naizungwe Drums – progress report 1 Story
…enough drums for training a new generation of players. However, the basic number includes: 1 large Uganda drum (played with short heavy beaters) 3 smaller drums (played with long curved sticks) 1 medium drum (played with sticks) 1 long drum (ngalabi – hand-beaten) All together, 6 drums. Therefore, we are making four sets of naizungwe drums mainly to facilitate learning.” Below is a video documenting the progress of the drums thus far. https://you…
Day 3: Monday, 2017 February 20th Story
…c that most people know. Throughout this trip, we will spent a lot of time with Henry, starting with this first night of live recording at the Bagamoyo Country Club. Leo: Leo is Henry’s son and has been our Influences Artist for this trip. He was raised in a musical household, but Henry did not want Leo to become a musician. In fact, it was Leo’s cousin Isaac Vledi, who first tried to teach an 8 year old Leo some of Henry’s riffs, because Henry re…
Day 2: Sunday, 2017 February 19th Story
…ing for three reasons: We had the whole day so were able to record a large number of songs and do an “Influences” session. This gave the village children time to get to know us and understand our mission. By the end they were singing along to all the songs. In addition to being a professional musician, Leo also teaches music to school children so he is a natural with kids. On all the songs that he did, he had the whole village singing and laughing…