Hitching a ride Story
…Looks like a good way to get along…….
Current Leading Figures News
…ation, with no promise I will be able to fund another, or can I take this money and start to make a difference?” He took the money and invested in the traditional kadodi drum. From only two members with drums, Julius now oversees two groups made up of 160 members, of which 100 are performers. With the youth centre, although Julius primarily wishes to provide a stable support system and income for his previously disadvantaged band members, he also…
A History of Recording East African Music News
…ng every opportunity to promote African music. However, he could not stay away from Africa long, and in 1946 realised someone needed to fully dedicate their time to “appraising the social value” of traditional African music, otherwise it would disappear. Tracey would have to step up and be that someone, especially at a time when African radios wanted to broadcast in their own regional vernaculars but had no recordings of regional music to play. He…
Singing Wells in Numbers…. News
…Andy did a litte homework for this one: Number of recordings of groups: 374 (this does not include other recordings like Magic Moments, Influences, etc…) Number of groups recorded: 83 Number of hours of music: 27 hours and 30 minutes. …
ILAM, Repatriation and Jimmie Rodgers/Chemirocha News
…nal musicians, b) ensure that we can leave the recordings in a sustainable way, with villagers having access to the recordings and c) record new village music that builds off the earlier recordings. The Ketebul team is working closely with ILAM to identify the July pilots. Tabu also asked us to take a moment to tell you the story of Jimmie Rodgers/Jimmy Rogers/Chemirocha. Tabu told this story to Jimmy in 2011 and it remains his favourite Hugh Trac…
James Isabirye and Tabu Osusa Discuss East African Music News
…rnment program on culture, we need to give the artist the stage and a microphone and an audience. Let people rediscover their culture through great artists doing great things. You don’t rediscover you heritage with a government policy. James: Exactly. One other issue. Part of the problem we have is our ‘everything now’ culture. 50 years ago, if you got a job, you knew that if you worked hard and stayed with the job and got promoted you could buy a…
Ketebul Music: A Year in Review News
…will be the main stand, talking about music through a set of panels. Everyone wants to be involved. One major project we still need to finish is Kenya at 50, both a documentary and coffee table book – which presents 50 years of music. We still need to finish this. A gentlemen named Andy Eisenberg, a Oxford Professor, gave us access to a collection of music and photos, from music promoter Peter Colmore. We are getting all the genres of Kenyan musi…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…onsuming music. In Africa – 60% have electricity whereas 86% have a mobile phone. This is again another area in which the Singing Wells project may be interested in the future – mobile phones and ring back tones as a method of delivery for music. Mike and I also attended the African music networking session which became the launch for a new initiative by the Cape Verde government. It has been calculated that music is their biggest export and so ha…
The Birara Batwa Community Story
…ho was walking the long, mainly uphill route back to the village. This was one of our first lessons about the Batwa – many of the communities live a long way from town and have to make this arduous journey to buy provisions two or three times a week. The Birara Community live on a small plot of borrowed land at the top of a steep hill. We parked on the track a the bottom of the hill and carried all the recording equipment up a narrow path to the t…
The Batwa Community Story
…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 literacy; income generation and forest access & benefit-sharing. By way of example, the Batwa Cultural Trail is a recent initiative launched by…
A recording studio which fits into the back of an SUV Story
…ftware – an industry standard for recording and music production. The microphones we have chosen are industry standard models used in studios the world over but, most likely, not seen in the villages of East Africa. The equipment has been carefully selected so it can easily fit into a few holdalls and four rugged peli-cases which protect everything while in transit, whether it be on a plane from Nairobi or in the back of the van on a bumpy track t…
The Key to Sustainable Aid in Africa? Perhaps we should follow the music. News
…sing these problems. At times, it seems to be assumed that eventually everyone will move to the cities. MK Rajakumar, the great family practitioner/philosopher, former WONCA President from Malaysia, points out that, in the totality of human history, cities are a very recent and potentially ‘unnatural’ phenomenon. He suggests that this helps to explain why so many urban people feel more at ease, somehow ‘at home’, in the rural areas. It does raise…
What people say about Singing Wells News
…sted on YouTube here) Atesh Sonneborn, Associate Director, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings “Andy, It was a real pleasure to speak with you this morning. Your work is inspiring” Janet Topp Fargion, Lead Curator World and Traditional Music, British Library: “I was so excited to be referred to the Singing Wells Project website. I’ve shared it with a lot of people because these sorts of collaborative efforts at recording, archiving and disseminating m…
The Beat of Kenya News
…s way: two drums, one from the Luo tribe, the other from the Luhya tribe), one nyatiti (Luo), one orutu (Luo), and a fifth instrument called the litungu (Luo). Click here to go to Andrea’s blog : The Beat of Kenya Andrea Dyck, Curator of Contemporary Cultures, The Manitoba Museum Andrea Dyck received her Master’s Degree in History from the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba, where her research focused on immigration and ethno-re…
A story of Batwa traditions Story
…nd tells stories of the old Batwa traditions before they had to move from their forest homes – the hunt in the forest and the celebrations and meal following the hunt. In this way the children learn about what it is to be Batwa and so will never forget the traditions and way of life of the ancestors….
A quick summary of the Singing Wells Project News
…ds that are ready for prime time – someone just needed to give them a microphone. Here are the Otacho Young Stars…. Why aren’t they the biggest sound of Kenyan music? Has the Otacho ever sounded cooler? Is this a song in priase of Mr Manager? Or does it say something far deeper – why do we need to praise a leader simply for doing his job? What does it say that this needs praise? 8. Singing Wells is about discovering roots and recovering the great…