Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…lead and one rhythm, a water dispenser drum and vocals only, the group performed for us six original compositions. Among them, the popular hit composed by Luseno in 2006 entitled “Mukangala”. This inspired Fadhilee to join in and we recorded “Mukangala” Influences. Fadhilee also shared one of his original compositions called “We don’t know”, which we recorded in two versions, accompanied by Itenya on guitar only and accompanied by his back-vocals…
Support Singing Wells Page
…inging Wells recording session. Each group receives a payment for their performance, which they can use to help them continue practicing and performing in the future. The songs and videos we record are archived and published, giving each group further opportunities to gain an income from their music. Our Gift to You As well as a special thank you on our website, we’ll send you details of the song your donation funded and an MP3 download of the tra…
Day Three: February 18, 2020 (Stonetown, Mpendae, Maungani) Story
…joy it and have created their own brass bands. This band has been together for 20 years. Performers: Salmin Ali Borafya (trumpet, leader), Ali Borafya (base drum), Fatihi Hassan (trombone), Ali Rajab (trombone), Ahmed Hassan (drum), Mahmud Ali (cymbal), Abdalla Iddi (tabla). Dancers/singers: Pili Idi (lead singer) Aisha Khamis, Zainab Khamisi, Aldeh Jonas, Nafla Khamis. Director: Omar Mohamed – he didn’t play in the band but directed it and spoke…
Day 7: Friday, February 24th, 2017 Story
…e This is our last day and we saved it for Henry Mkanyia. Because he is so central to the history of Tanzanian music, we asked Henry to assemble members of his original group DDC Mlimani Park Orchestra. We assembled at Nafasi Art Space, which is very similar to the Go Down Art Center in Nairobi, hosting artists of all kinds from musicians to painters to dancers. Henry brought two members: Hasaan Rehani Bichuka, his lead vocalist and Juma Ubao (aka…
Day 3: Monday, 2017 February 20th Story
…Kenya’s Ida Odinga warning ‘sugar daddies’ off underage girls. The wife of former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga was telling men who pay young girls’ school fees in exchange for sex, to stay away. She attributed much of the rise of this phenomenon to the breakdown of village traditions and the fact that the women in the villages are no longer teaching young girls about the ‘ways of men.’ To be clear, she also blamed the men!] We talked to one…
Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…cers pulls it back by the tail just before it strikes. Breath-taking. This form of performance is new to us (but, of course not to Tanzanians) and we’ve not seen it in Kenya or Uganda. In fact, ‘clown’ acts are quite central to Tanzanian dance as are acrobatic acts. We spoke to Leo about this. “Yes, we love to bring comedy to our music. If you look at most circus troupes that are touring in the world today, a huge number of the acrobats and clowns…
A Report by Professor James Isabirye – Indigenous music learning in contemporary contexts: Nurturing learner identity, agency, and passion News
…r website here. We are very grateful to be partnered with such a visionary for the future, and protector of traditional East african music and instruments. We know that generations to come will be grateful for the work he has put in to continue these traditions. He has also written a report analysing how indigenous learning can inform modern schooling, in which Singing Well’s gets a featured mention as collaborators within his project. You can rea…
Fundraiser for Matthew Watmon News
We are sad to say that a special talent, and a dear friend of Singing Wells, Matthew Watmon is currently in a critical condition in hospital. We are urgently trying to raise funds to support him and his family in this difficult time, and we hope that some of our followers may be able to help us. If you are based in East Africa, please get in touch with Matthew’s brother, Constantine Odida ((MTN) +256-782-236-742 and (Airtel) +256-704-261-037). I…
Our journey to the Royal Drums: in the words of James Isabirye Story
…itional music. From a government perspective, it is the music you roll out for foreigners, like the Pope, or on some special occasion. But otherwise you ignore it and don’t value it. We don’t support it and we are losing the myths, the dances, and the songs that define us. If you lose that sense of identity how can you know where you’re going as a society? If you don’t know your roots, how do you know who you are? This matter has concerned a circl…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 2 – Flutes Story
…wing songs: Sematimba ‘Ne Kikwabanga Anamwa Nganga (with accents over the ‘g’s’) And with that, we faced a thunderstorm and packed ourselves up for the hotel, and packed in the hotel for our flight on December 4th back to Nairobi. We will not provide a field report for December 4th, but stay tuned for December 5th, when we continue recording Uganda musicians, but not in a field. In a studio. To a click track. With other professionals. As we seek t…
Singing Wells Approaches 5 Million Views News
…s is a project worth showing people! We can’t wait to bring more songs and stories to the world. Keep an eye out on the Singing Wells Youtube channel for the footage and recordings from our field trip to Zanzibar and Pemba….
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 1 – Reflections Story
…Step 4: if there is support, build the infrastructure. This involves seeds for gourds for trumpets, or drum-making for drums. Inevitably something needs to be invested in the infrastructure. Step 5: Bring on the young. Inevitably, you then need to bring on the people to learn and enjoy this music. And here we had an interesting debate. Some of our palace musicians felt the young people didn’t care anymore. But it was Ben Nsumugo Ntabula who provid…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 2 – Interviews with Musicians of Uganda’s Royal Palaces Story
…h me. We then gave the trumpeter the music of the International Library of African Music. They had assembled a CD for us of Hugh Tracy’s recordings of the palace musicians that he recorded in 1952. The trumpeter loved the picture of the trumpets on the cover and knew some of the players, but he was certain he was not on the recording. “I was still learning during this time and was not good enough,” he said. Ben Nsubuga Ntabula Next we interviewed…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 1- Drum Making and Palace Players Story
…nstruments: the knife (Akambe), awl (Olukato), hammer (Ennyondo) and wedge for tuning. For this step, the re-stringing, he stopped after a few strings, explaining that he was ruining his drum by showing us. Here, you saw the real skill levels of the drum maker. With his hands moving very fast, he was taking out the stitch of nylon string, cutting off the former holes, creating new holes and re-lacing the drum skins together with leather strings. V…
Central and Eastern Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Jinja Story
…The traditions died as the kingdoms died and he felt the trumpets had gone for good. In fact, the knowledge of how to grow the gourd to make the trumpets was lost and the seeds for the long gourd were almost impossible to find. A tradition literally dying on the proverbial vine. James Isabirye found James Lugolole around 2005 and set out to restore the tradition. They formed a new group, which we recorded in 2013, and they re-discovered the gourd…
Musisi’s Story, Part 1: The Fall of the Buganda Kingdom Story
…polish with love. So beautiful. And they were fighting over the ivory and forgot about me for a moment. And I was just standing there and then the commander of the soldiers came in and he had lots of medals and I figured he was the boss, so I decided to surrender to him. I was just a boy and was so scared and this was really traumatic for me. I lost my home, my job, my music in a single day. I was just happy for the day to end. I’m telling you al…