Central Uganda: Day 6: Kampala to Entebbe Story
…d the factors influencing the spread of HIV and how the community can come together to deal with it. Very tragic song telling the story of deaths with man sobbing at one point. The Lead vocalist is Jane Babirye. Akabira (Worship Song): Means a small forest where spirits tend to run, deep in the trees and high in the mountains. But they are not always well cared for and they then tend to cause havoc with the rest of family members (please note simi…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…he only festival since 2005. Many people are performing around the country today due to those festivals. The group is very literate in music and we had a clear vision from 1990 of what we wanted to do. We are not doing badly and have a comfortable life from the performances. Some musicians who didn’t even have a bicycle not have houses. We are showing you can have a musical career. We are growing our knowledge and getting better at representing th…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…oup’s primary purposes is to restore the Bigwala, the big Ugandan trumpet, to Ugandan musical culture. According to our local musical expert, James Isabirye, it was close to dead, but a Unesco project has helped to draw attention to the group by pointing out the instruments and its players are threatened with extinction. He also says there is a horn shortage because people don’t grow the right kind of gourds in the right shape – so he has a standi…
Discussions with Peter Cooke: ethnomusicologist and Ugandan music expert News
…ndrew and Paul Tracey before their evening show Wait a Minim.” “My work in Uganda led me to begin exploring that country’s traditional music initially with the aim of collecting useful materials for teaching purposes. That exploration has continued since then, apart from during the chaos of the periods of the rule of Amin and the Second Obote regime (1969-87).” Most notably for Singing Wells, in reference to our latest project, is Peter’s work to…
Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…ional voices that is hard to find. I know Robert felt we should invite him to Ugandan festivals. He’s the king in villages, playing at beer parties in villages, invited by the elders in traditional ‘rites of passage.’ Here is his music: The Journey to the Next Site We then packed up and said good bye to the Elgon Ngoma Troupe Centre. It was illustrative of their passion that they continue to perform in all corners of the field –they didn’t need ca…
Happy new year from Singing Wells News
…to preserve this fantastic traditional instrument, so in 2015 we went back to Uganda to check on the progress of the project. 4. We learned about the art of drum making During our 2015 trip to Uganda, we had the privilege of being able to watch and record the making of the Entenga drums. It’s an incredibly skilled job, requiring the maker to cut up a tree and shape the wood, soak and cut cow hide to size and string the drum – ensuring it’s in tune…
Central Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Budaka Story
…ray – lots of partying, lots of late nights. The singers are deploring him to get a job, settle down, find a woman and return to the quiet, moral life of the village. Magic Moment: We concluded with a magic moment with the Omulere (flute) player and the Endingidi ( ‘tube fiddlers’) The flute player was George Wandela. The two Tube Fiddle players were Wilber Mutanse and Geoffrey Wamagaga. Here’s their music: While the dancing and percussion were fu…
Central Uganda: Day 1 – From Entebbe to Kidinda Story
…and they are from Masaka Nyendo. They have performed for roughly six years together and their musical style is Nganda from Buganda. They are called the ‘Boys’ band, but there are girls in the group too. They sang three songs: Mbidde (Medley): The Mbidde is the banana plant that makes the local brew and the song talks through each step to make the brew that locals consume (we will hear this song again from the Bukaala Twesitule Troupe): Butuuse: Th…
We’re discovering the lost music of the Ugandan Kingdoms News
…ng the lost music of the Ugandan Kingdoms. Our journey so far has taken us to the capital of Uganda – Kampala, over to Jinja in the east and back in search of musicians who haven’t played in the royal palaces since they were children. We’ve been posting regular updates about our journey which you can read on our Field Reports section. Including: Some background and the beginning of our journey to discover the lost royal drums of the Buganda Kingdo…
Singing Wells surpasses 500,000 YouTube hits! News
…and recorded their work. To celebrate our 500,000th YouTube hit, we’ve put together a selection of our most popular videos. We hope you enjoy, and please keep visiting our channel and sharing the traditional music of East Africa with the world. Recording Nyerere Wa Konde Music Club perform in Gede, Kilifi, Kenya on our Singing Wells Pilot trip in 2011. A brief collage of the story of the recording of the music of The Batwa in Uganda and then back…
Central Uganda: Day 0 – Nairobi/London to Entebbe Story
…the easy part of the trip. We then had to clear all our equipment through Ugandan customs. Everyone was polite and helpful. But it took almost 1.5 hours. By that time we were caught up in a UN group that passed very slowly through customs. We made it to the hotel at around 1630. It was great to see our old friends at the hotel. We had a quick dinner and a few free drinks (we had charmed some flight attendants on the plane to contribute to Singing…
Sponsor a Singing Wells recording session News
…Uganda. We have a jam-packed schedule to keep to: we’re going to be following the story of Uganda’s Royal Instruments, identifying key talent and inviting them back to Nairobi for recording sessions at our partner Ketebul’s studios, and travelling into eastern Uganda to record several tribal groups in the region. Check out our previous work in Uganda. Now we’re looking for sponsors to help fund our important work discovering, preserving and promot…
From the streets of Kisoro Uganda to a professional recording session… Story
…Tiny Moses, backed by Winyo, plays guitar and sings in the Ketebul Studios in Nairobi. We discovered Tiny Moses during our visit to Kisoro Uganda to record the Batwa trips. Along with Francis and his wives and Jovah, we brought Tiny Moses and his team back to Nairobi to record them in a professional studio. Johnny and Bishop, on guitar and bass respectfully, joined Winyo to help Tiny Moses. Go here to listen to the result. …
Singing Wells discovers ‘the voice’ Story
… This is Jovah Nyiramajoro. She is the leader of the Mperwa Dancers – the music group of the small community of Mperwa Batwa living on the outskirts of Kisoro, SW Uganda. She is a beautiful woman, full of joy and passion for the traditional music of her fellow Batwa tribes people. But wait until you hear her beautiful voice – we were blown away……..
Hitching a ride Story
…y enough to have a bike and took advantage of the passing lorry. Most people seemed to be on foot and many of the Batwa make the arduous journey to town three times a week, without being able to hitch a ride….
Ten More Singing Wells Stories News
…te’ performance of their favourite bit of song or dance. Kenya In contrast to Uganda, Kenya’s musical groups are aging and dying out. But we found one extraordinary ‘boy’s group’ and their energy is seductive. They told us the full story of Male Circumcision rites, which this performance shows, here. A word about brass bands: It isn’t every day you discover a brass band in the middle of Africa, but it isn’t every day you meet Julius, an orphan det…