Current Leading Figures News
…that promotes world music, and NACOFU (National Council of Folklorists of Uganda) . A Ugandan himself, the preservation, recording and archiving of his country’s music is very close to his heart. He believes “Ugandan Folk Music is the sincere, honest expression of my country’s values, feelings, thoughts, musics, history, aspirations……not copied from any where, not just learned but inherited.” He sees music, traditional music with history, as a wa…
The story of Anyim Lac Story
…iscovering Anyim Lac It was day 3 of our field recording visit to northern Uganda. We were staying at the Acholi Inn in Gulu and, as usual, gathered in the early morning for the day ahead. We travelled about an hour from Gulu to Awach and the small community of Paibona Tuga which is well known for the music of the likembe, the thumb piano. We found the ideal setting for the performances – under the shade of a large tree which not only served to pr…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…d the Massai who sing of the dangers of cattle raiding – and two others on Uganda; one featuring the Bugandan Royal Court Music and the second is about the Busoga Kingdom. Unfortunately there are no short clips available of the programme on YouTube from East Africa, but across the continent on the West, here is a sample of the World Route programme in Equatorial Guinea. 6. Putumayo Putumayo is a World Music record label that was established in 199…
Amone Watmon Matthew Story
… Our story with Amone Watmon Matthew We had spent 4 days in the north of Uganda, travelling back through Soroti and into Kampala, where, arranged by Jimmy of the Adungu Cultural Troupe, we arrived in the Naguru area of Kampala. Jimmy led us to another location for the recording, away from the road – a space in front of a house where Matthew Watmon lived. We were introduced and in the time before the group had even managed to begin to unload the…
A History of Recording East African Music News
…ondon However, as Cooke’s aim is, and always has been, to make traditional Ugandan music available to Ugandans, he was determined to see his work accessible there and it is now available at the Makerere University, although it wasn’t a simple decision; ‘until I was assured that a well managed archive was being set up at Makerere I was loath to deposit my materials there, after what had happened at Kyambogo Teachers’ College. The Makerere archive e…
Tracey Instrument Collection News
…servant who had his fingers cut off for trying to play with the princess. Ugandan-style laced drum This style of drum is typical of Ugandan drums. The body is made from wood with animal skin stretched over the top and bottom and then laced together. See similar drums in action with a Magic Moment from the Namaddu Troupe… Amadinda loose-note xylophone The first xylophone pictured has 17 keys and the second has 12, and were both made by Andrew Tr…
ILAM, Repatriation and Jimmie Rodgers/Chemirocha News
…inspired by early African village music. We listen to the likembe music in Uganda and here the steel drums of Calypso music. We listen to Benga blues and here the music of Cuba, demanding that we look further into the circles travelled between musicians between the Congo and Cuba, and we listen to Samba drumming and particularly the tambourin only to be reminded of the Watmon Cultural Group’s use of the Calabash. Our heads appropriately spin and w…
Promotion of Batwa Culture/Music: UOBDU report Nov 2013 News
…erwa groups extended their sincere gratitude to Abubilla and singwells for promoting their music. While Mukingo, Gatera and Kabahenda requested UOBDU staff that were distributing these uniforms always to promote their talents such that they can benefit from them. Lastly the Kanyabukungu group appreciated all the stakeholders that were involved in this initiative especially Abubilla Music Foundation and requested for more sensitization for the Batw…
Ketebul Music: A Year in Review News
…Professor, gave us access to a collection of music and photos, from music promoter Peter Colmore. We are getting all the genres of Kenyan music. I would like the book to be done by types of music. It needs to involve DJ’s, musicians, writers, etc… We have almost all the material. It is now about making a big impression. My dream is we launch this book during the Smithsonian conference next year in Washington DC. In terms of artists, Winyo is doin…
Preserving Threatened Heritage News
…es so close to our heart, such as Uganda. An article on the website of the Ugandan daily newspaper, New Vision, warns about the need to preserve ‘Bigwala’, the royal music of the Busoga region. Bigwala music is performed at ceremonies such as coronations, funerals and, recently, other social events. It is the music of gourd trumpets and is accompanied by a specific dance. UNESCO cites Bigwala music as playing ‘a significant role in contributing to…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…atch and the group would be one we’d be keen to work with if we venture to Uganda. Find out more about the film here: http://www.sweetdreamsrwanda.com/ New Friends at the festival We met a lot of new friends – as that was the point of our being there. We were spreading the word of the project and its aims and objectives, with listening stations for passers by to listen to the music we had recorded. We had a few instruments from our collection on…
Obuell-Lira and the Macedonia Band Story
…ce and music and asked them to listen to his music. The band began to play Uganda Land of Freedom and the rebels started to gather round, starved of music and the chance to relax. An argument broke out amongst the rebels – most wanted to continue the raid and kill the musicians but a small group started to argue that the band could serve a purpose and help provide welcome distractions for the rebels. Eventually, after a few tense hours of debate,…
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
…etary of a cultural organisation called National Council of Folklorists of Uganda – NACOFU. James turned out to be very resourceful on the music and culture of Uganda and organises an annual tribal music festival. He was very impressed by the Singing Wells project agenda and very pleased to be part of the project and suggested we explore even more collaborations in the future.” After recording these two groups we will head back to Kampala for the…
The Birara Batwa Community Story
…owledge on culture and pass on the knowledge to the young ones in order to promote and preserve the Batwa culture which includes music and dance.” Listen to the music of the Birara Dancers This is a song recorded for the Influences series – Francis singing Inanga Nyamunini accompanied by Jesse Bukinda from Ketebul Music on guitar This is the song ‘Uganda’ performed by the Batwa women and recorded in the Ketebul studios: How you can help the Birara…
The Batwa Community Story
…National Park which was once their home. This short video produced by UOBDU explains about the current situation facing the Batwa people in Uganda And another short video promoting the Batwa Trail…