Ketebul Music: A Year in Review News
…ed Ewaala Turkana with the Loiyangalani Stars. We had first met them with Singing Wells in 2011 at the Turkhana Festival where we worked with the Loiyangalani tribe of Lake Turkana. This tribe had previously discovered oil and water; when we started working with the group, the leaders said that with our help they also ‘discovered their music.’ We then recorded a CD, working with Hivos, and brought them to Nairobi to record the CD. These musicians…
Preserving Threatened Heritage News
…e village, one of the two villages which play Bigwala music, attributes the music’s decline to two main factors: western influence and the 1966 abolition of kingdoms by former president Milton Obote. But, there is hope as the National Council of Forklorists in Uganda (NACOFU) has been helping the villagers to preserve the music, by encouraging them to grow gourd trumpets, teach it to the youth and increase the profile of the music, by performing i…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…our first visit to Womex, we booked a stand at the trade fair, with the main intentions being to spread the word of the project and the work we are doing in partnership with Ketebul Music. Ketebul have attended Womex before, and we would have benefited from the presence of our partners on this trip, but we were a last minute addition to the program. I got there late on Tuesday night and got to the arena early on Wednesday morning to set up the st…
Obuell-Lira and the Macedonia Band Story
…mes served to spare someone from being accused a rebel collaborator. How you can help the Macedonia Band We aim to help support the communities we meet by sharing their music and dance through Singing Wells. You can support the Macedonia Band by donating directly to our charity The Abubilla Music Foundation. Donate via YouTube here Donate via BelieveIn here…
Clowns Story
…On our first recording day during the Northern Uganda Field trip 2012 we had the pleasure of working in front hundreds of children who slowly climbed a tree to watch the proceedings. They were delighted by the cameras and we had a lot of fun showing them their smiling faces. This little boy was the biggest show off….
SWP Uganda 2013 – our proposed itinerary News
…n who has been mentioned in several circles so far as being one of the remaining custodians of Basoga music history. Nathan ‘Mata’ is a composer and songwriter who plays the ‘Endongo’ (thumb piano). Mata, (Lusoga for ‘milk’) as he is popularly known, has lost his sight and lives in very humble conditions with his family. He said he was glad we had visited him and was looking forward to our return in November.” After our recording session with ‘Mat…
The Birara Batwa Community Story
…celebration song accompanied by horns. The whole community celebrates by joining the dance. ‘Umusambi’ – a song about the crane – the national bird of Uganda. The Batwa mother sings and in slow motion imitates the movements of the bird. She wears bells on her ankles to make a sound like the crane. The song is often performed at festivals or weddings. ‘Inanga yabatwa’ – a story-telling song. The leader gathers the community together and through the…
The Batwa Community Story
…ch has developed in forests where they once lived. The plight of the Batwa in Uganda is now being recognized and there are initiatives in place to support their communities and help them reclaim their traditional way of life. The United Organisation for Bawta Development (UOBDU) was founded in 2000 to address land problems and develop sustainable livelihoods. UOBDU has identified four key areas of support: land & housing; education and adult liter…
A recording studio which fits into the back of an SUV Story
These images, taken during our various field visits to date, show the Singing Wells mobile studio set-up…and also prove that you can pack everything you need for a fully functioning, professional recording studio into the back of a small utility vehicle. Here’s a quick summary of what’s in all those bags…… We have two mobile recording units, each capable of recording from four microphones plus other sources at a high resolution to Apple MacBoo…
The Key to Sustainable Aid in Africa? Perhaps we should follow the music. News
…cal troupe. Supporting tribal music, therefore, is a key component in sustaining a healthy village, which is a key conduit to delivering all the more urgent and important aid, from medicines, to clean water, to sustainable farming techniques and financing, etc… We are finding ourselves caveating what we do less and less – we are doing our little bit to support the leaders of healthy villages, so they do can help fascilitate all the other aid that…
What people say about Singing Wells News
…ally are so important. I met Tabu Osusa and Bill Odidi while doing some training on audiovisual archiving in Kenya as part of a British Library World Collections Programme initiative. It was a great pleasure and it is wonderful to see these fruits of their expertise and enthusiasm.” Angela Impey, Convenor of MA Music in Development, SOAS University of London “As a charity dedicated to the documentation and dissemination of the music of marginal gr…
The biggest smile Story
…men in northern Uganda such as inequality, HIV/AIDS, gender based violence and food security. In December 2012 we recorded the group for the Singing Wells project – click here to Discover the Music. …
Group of the Month – Watmon Cultural Group News
…es us take one of the 50 groups we have recorded in the field since the beginning of the Singing Wells project, and feature recordings, stories, videos, interviews, and other content we have gathered in East Africa. Our first group of the month is the Watmon Cultural Group. We have videos from our Uganda 2012 trip, as well as recordings made in both Naguru and at the Entebbe Airport Guesthouse, where due to the generosity and patience of the manag…
Fiona’s story Story
…iona Nyiraguhirwa This is Fiona, a very special young girl from the Kanyabukunga Batwa community who we met when we took the Singing Wells project to Uganda in 2011. Fiona has been able to attend junior school through the sponsorship of the United Organization for Batwa Development in Uganda (UOBDU), an NGO based in Kisoro. She is a wonderful role model for the Batwa community and is proving that, with the right opportunity, Batwa children can ach…
Alice’s story Story
…c of her own community, Gatera. Alice is unique within the Batwa community in Uganda as she is the first (and, to date, only) Batwa who has been to university. Her education started in 1993 at Gitovu Primary school but after Year 3 she had to leave as her parents were unable to pay the fees. The Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA), an NGO supporting the Batwa, decided to sponsor a group of Batwa children to study at Mabuyemeru School. Alice…
A quick summary of the Singing Wells Project News
…village. But they went to the village and the village elder came out, explaining that he was a member of the Macedonia band, and proceeded to lead the village men in singing Uganda Land of Freedom, some of them playing the Likembe. The government forces in frustration spared the extended band and went to the next village. Again, the elder led the village men in a rendition of Uganda Land of Freedom. They went to village after village and everyone…