Christine Kamau – “The Jazzist” News
…alive..#very best wishes and I hope we can keep in touch. Christine BBC Africa Beats: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17831507 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thejazzist Reverbnation: https://www.reverbnation.com/christinekamau …
From Kisoro to Nairobi to Lake Victoria Story
…n anything else. But keep in mind – when the slaughter happened it was the decedents of folks with less than 10 cows slaughtering the decedents of folks with more than 10 cows. 250,000 people are buried in mass graves 50 metres from the memorial centre. What is hardest to understand, travelling through Kigali, is that the slaughter started here. This is an urban centre filled with incredibly friendly Rwandans. And yet, when the President’s plane w…
Day 6: The Studio @ Traveller’s Rest Hotel, Kisoro Story
…time). Their wait allowed us to capture some photos of their members which demonstrate wonderfully the age range across the group and the fact that music here in Africa is for the whole community, from the very young to their much respected elders. This lady was one of the principal dancers and she out performed many of the younger members of the group… You can see her in action in the later part of the amazing, high energy performance… As always,…
Day 5 (PM): The ‘Togetherness Group’ from Kanyabukunga Story
…be able to continue her education into High School and beyond. She is a wonderful role model for the Batwa and is proving how, with the right opportunity, Batwa children can achieve the same educational goals as any other child. Here are the videos which include a Batwa song called ‘Abagyeni Beza’ which is in praise of visitors to the community, telling them that they are beautiful. A lovely song for us to hear! https://youtu.be/MIxv2AOZ7XU https:…
Congratulations Singing Wells! News
…at pleasure and it is wonderful to see these fruits of their expertise and enthusiasm. Janet Topp Fargion, Lead Curator World and Traditional Music, British Library website: http://www.bl.uk online gallery: http://sounds.bl.uk main catalogue: http://cadensa.bl.uk/cgi-bin/webcat…
Day 5: Recording the Mperwa Dancers Story
…/QHo5Eb2Az20 https://youtu.be/wxzzC5qcweU https://youtu.be/mhzNpJLsZFA https://youtu.be/h_mVjup7_6s https://youtu.be/1zjh68iNClw Jessie leads the first Influences session and Winyo accompanies the lead singer and drummer on another…… …and then serenades one of the women outside her hut! The children like to get involved in what we are doing. These young boys enjoy exclusive access to the sound recording area, keeping a close eye on Andy and Willie…
Day 4 (later): Recording for ‘Influences’ with the Birara Dancers Story
…irst night. One thing to remember, which will become clear on subsequent videos – every time you see them singing, there is a baby on their back. 90% of the Batwa women we met had a baby on their back. They would sing and dance through a song with the baby sleeping and if they baby woke they would slide the baby around to nurse. These babies quite literally ate and slept music. So here are the three lead female vocalists, recording one of their so…
Day 4: UOBDU and the Birara Dancers Story
…artist, Francis Sembagare. We woke up early and were greeted with this wonderful view from the garden of the Traveller’s Rest Guesthouse: After breakfast our first stop was the office of the United Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda (UOBDU), where we met Henry Neza, the Capacity Development Co-ordinator, and Alice Nyamihanda, Tourism Officer and the first University graduate amongst the Batwa communities. They are to be our hosts and tr…
Diamond Jubilee Pageant at Windsor Castle News
…fferent parts of the world, reflecting the countries which The Queen has visited during her reign. Representing Kenya, the show will feature: Performers from the Masai, Samburu, Luo, Kamba and Kikuyo tribes The Nairobi Chamber Chorus considered the topmost choir in Kenya today Cultural Pavilion At the entrance to Windsor Castle there will be a Cultural Pavilion which will contain a backdrop of graphic representations of all the countries tha…
Day 1 & 2: Preparing to leave for Kisoro, Uganda Story
…formances per tribal group (CD/DVD quality) Full interviews with tribal leader, group leader and key members of the community (on camera) Stills and video of the village and community One ‘Influences’ session. To remind, an ‘Influences’ session is when a Ketebul or Abubilla artist works directly with the local group on a song, either one he/she has been working on, or one inspired by the visit. This is extremely important to the Singing Wells phil…
Best of Singing Wells 2011 News
…e’ve recorded over 150 songs from more than 25 local music groups and uploaded 36 videos of these performances to YouTube (so far). Every performance was unique and special – we loved them all – so picking just 10 songs for a ‘Best of’ album was not easy. Here are our final choices….it’s just a small reflection of what was an extraordinary year of recording music in East Africa. We hope you enjoy listening. Please get in touch and let us know what…
A Year in Review March 2011 – March 2012 News
…also worked hard to find tribal musicians who were creating music that sounded wonderfully fresh and modern. Much of this we captured in what we called ‘Magic Minutes.’ Below, you will discover the Otacho Young Stars, with their modern take on the Orutu. But then watch the magic of the Nyatiti and Luo drums in two ‘magic minute’ sessions: The Kalenjin project, Great Rift Valley, Kenya: Scheduled for March 2012, we will be travelling to the…
May 2011 – Jimmy reports back on the pilot phase News
…. Their music is relatively well known at the national level and is highly dependent on percussion with vocal solos and harmonies and is pretty rhythmic. Very sexy. There are various styles including sengenya, chechemeko (actually a dance style) and mwanzele which has been exported to Nairobi and souped up as ‘nzele’. The Mijikenda (literally “the nine clans”) also employ the use of a vast array of impressive instrumentation such as kayambas, mari…
Discovering music roots with SWP News
…local call girls in tow – the kind with skin falling off their faces after decades of chemical assault by skin lighteners. On our second morning at the hotel (and weren’t we glad we were leaving), this lady passed by our table, which I was manning as the others loaded the trucks, and asked of me what “TV station” we were. I wanted to inform her we were from You-Got-Caught TV but instead volunteered the nature of our mission. She seemed relieved, s…
Meet the team from Ketebul Music News
…projects coming from Singing Wells Patrick Ondiek: Pato will lead the video/photography aspects of Singing Wells, including field capture and DVD’s and visual archiving. Pato: Photography, Videographer, Archivist. Willie Gachuche: Willie is a Ketebul Sound Engineer who will assist on field and studio recordings for Singing Wells. Willie: Sound Engineer for Field and Studio Projects Polycarb Onyango (Winyo): Winyo is one of two Ketebul artis…
More on the launch of the Ketebul Music website News
…ley Burden about the challenge we gave them…… “Ketebul Music required a website design that delivered a strong sense of the colourful music of East Africa and the traditions that their non-profit organisation aims to help preserve. Using our experience from working with Abubilla Music and Sideways Recordings we were well placed to understand the functionality that a music organisation needs in their web site. Taking this experience we developed a…