The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…me, like the soloist Zachariah, were in such demand he had to shuttle by taxi between sessions in River Road and Polygram Studios in Industrial Area. Because of his dexterity with the guitar and his ability to improvise on the fly, solo guitarist Vincent Bunde was nicknamed ‘Readyman’, which was later corrupted to ‘Redman’ by the Kikuyu musicians who worked with him because of difficulties pronouncing the name. The fact that he could speak kikuyu…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11: Ketebul Studios, Nairobi Story
…umira Centre. He’s teaching him the old Benga sound and they are composing new songs. One of the interesting conversations we had with him in the studio was about how current music is written. In his day, he wrote songs and performed them for a full year before bringing them into the studio – by that time he knew what worked with audiences and he evolved the song to something he loved. Today, artists go to the studio first – giving birth too early…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 3 – Nkubu to Mariene to Murungurune to Nkubu Story
…that is about to befall him, e.g., the circumcisers knife, responsibility (new ones that they don’t have), not going back to the mother’s hut, etc… In this context, the knife is cutting away his old life and forcing him into a new life. Ruuji rukuru, led by John Gitoriga, means ‘old water’ and is a song to prepare a boy for manhood. Water is a cleanser so the water cleanses the boy and moves him from childhood to a new life. The boy is taken to on…
Naizungwe Drums News
…Singing Wells with the hope that we would support him with funding for his new project. We are excited to announce that we have agreed to support James in his endeavours and will be posting about the project’s development, which has been under way for a month now. We will be documenting the progress of these drums with pictures and videos here, and more details about the project and the instruments themselves are to follow soon so you can stay u…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 2 – Muranga to Kangema to Nkubu Story
…23:30 each night. We counted 478 individual trips to our table she made on one night alone. Working Practices: A Typical Field Recording Session The basic steps we use in a typical session are as follows: Arrival/introductions/set-up The interview team immediately sits with the groups and talks through how the session will work and then collects information on the group, the songs and the instruments and musical styles. While this is being done, t…
Entenga: Performing twice for the king of Buganda News
…when I was young abatenga were there. They (referring to us) have played exactly like those who used to play at that time…” The players were then invited to shake hands with the king, and upon learning that James knew ethnomusicologist Peter Cooke, the king invited them to the palace to perform. They performed the song “Ganga alula”, a version of which we recorded during our visit in 2016. James played the Kyawakati and Entemyo, John Ssempeke pla…
Central Uganda: Day 7 – A Magic Day in Entebbe Story
…It is also important to say that today will be more unstructured. We have one formal new group, which we’ll describe below, but we have also invited artists from two of our trips to join us and create new music. For part of the session we were joined by Brad Gibbs from The Mara Group, who had sponsored part of this trip and wanted to see how things were going. Brad was joined by a colleague, Nicolas Farah, who was also very supportive of Singing…
A Tanzanian Effort to Salvage the Music of the Past News
…nveying information about how to take care of children or how best to help one another build a new, independent Tanzania. “It was all about love, all about unity, all about coming together and building a new nation”, said Benson Rukantabula, who also works on the project. But as with any state-sponsored propaganda, some messages were politically acceptable, while others were not. Also in the archives are other historical gems, including speeches (…
Central Uganda: Day 6: Kampala to Entebbe Story
…tion on social awareness and theatre. Their instruments include: Amadinda: Xylophone Endingidi: Tube Fiddle Emlwanzi: Pan Flute Adungu: Harp Entongoli: Bow Lyre Drums: Engalabi (Long drum, longest) Empuny (Main Drum) Entujza, 2 medium drums Namunjoloba, 2 small drums, one pitched very high and one lower Their members include: Ronald Muwonge (drums and dances) Denis Kasasira (long drums) Samson Basoga (Tube Fiddle) Isabirye Basoga (15 slab xylophon…
Discussions with Peter Cooke: ethnomusicologist and Ugandan music expert News
…heatre, London, I received my first lesson in playing the Kiganda amadinda xylophone from the South African musicians Andrew 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…
Before They Pass Away News
…ing weeks or months immersing himself in the tribe’s way of life. In Papua New Guinea, for example, Jimmy met with the Kalam tribe who decorate themselves with masks, wigs and plants to scare off potential enemies. In Vanuatu, he witnessed the traditional dance ceremonies that tribal people believe is crucial to gaining wealth. In Papua New Guinea’s highlands, he recorded how the Huli people shave their heads when they become a man, and continue t…
Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…ndure. After these two songs, Julian took over the lead with his drums and xylophone to play Chiina Chedya Mayi, a beautifully chilled song about the loss of a mother.. Here is their music: The Elgon Hero Brass Band Following this very traditional tribal music, the contrast couldn’t be greater – on marched the Elgon Hero Brass Band. Here’s the band with our Influences artist, Jacinta. They performed the following: Malaika (Influences): They starte…
Central Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Budaka Story
…usa Malinywa. Their instruments were: Ekongo: Thumb Piano Embaire (13 slab xylophone) Endingidi: Tube fiddles Omulere: Flute Engoma: Drums Efumbo: Long drum Engalabi: Shorter drum, but still ‘long’ Ensasi: Shakers Ekwanzi: Pan Pipes They performed four songs: Olumbe Namuna: This was a song about aids, beautifully but mournfully sung. You could feel the sense of loss as the female singers performed. Animals were sacrificed during the story to bring…
Happy new year from Singing Wells News
…tening to lots of traditional East African music. Before we start posting exciting news about the upcoming year, here’s a quick recap of what we got up to in 2015: 1. We went discovering the lost music of the Ugandan Kingdoms In Nov/ Dec 2015 we travelled between Kampala and Jinja in Uganda in search of the lost music and musicians of the royal palaces. We posted regular updates about our journey and the incredible people we met along the way. You…
Central Uganda: Day 1 – From Entebbe to Kidinda Story
…up, which were 8 men who collectively played the Amadinda, a 22 key wooden xylophone. There total group size is 15. The musical style is Kadinda. The group lead is Waswa Hood and he started playing when he was 17. There were two other original members: Kiwuwa Buruhan and Sulayiman Sserubiri. The group started in 1939 performing for the Kabaka (the Ugandan King), but then stopped performing in the king’s palace in 1966 when the king was removed. Th…
Rediscovering Afropop and its influences News
…ents and recording techniques – from Western music. Last week I was in a taxi driving through Nairobi’s Westlands and talking to a girl about Sauti Sol – one of Kenya’s most popular bands. She described their music as ‘Afropop’, a contemporary music genre that combines traditional African music and Western popular music. Afropop influences The Sauti Sol band members have named a musician that influences them as Daudi Kabaka. Kabaka was a popular K…