Elgon Ngoma Troupe Group
…aced – either has orphans or from severely disadvantaged homes. He started to go to University but found that gathering the funds for tuition each time extremely difficult. He had raised the funds for another semester and then asked himself, “Do I want another semester of education, with no promise I will be able to fund another, or can I take this money and start to make a difference?” So he took the money and invested in instruments for children…
Here for Research? Page
…stain and celebrate the extraordinary cultural music heritage of the region and to help make this legacy relevant and fresh to today’s audiences.”…
Day One: January 18, 2019. Assemble in Tanzania Story
…while Tabu flew with Jimmy and Hunter to Kisumu (Jimmy and Hunter arrived from London on the 17th. We all met at the Kenya/Nairobi border and after two hours, cleared the border and drove to Tarime, where we met Jackline Odhiambo Aringo (Jackie Akinyi), a Tanzanian musician who helped organize our trip (see our interview with Jackie here). We arrived at the Kifa Hotel late in the evening, ordered our ‘dried fish’ and crashed. This, our second maj…
Wendo Group
…to perform at political forum. The group also uses the Vilingi (whistle). They performed 4 songs: Kiuluni Kui Landeni (going to London) Mbovoi Kisanga…
Albums Introduction Page
…ups we record. In the event that we have invited one of the musicians back to the Ketebul Studios in Nairobi to record, we will also include these recordings. The albums are available to download through our Bandcamp store in your choice of formats. The proceeds from the sale of our albums will be fed back to the musicians involved in the recordings, wherever possible. CDs may also be available in the future. Join the mailing list to find out when…
Ekhunjwe Musical Group Group
…ya Abasamiawas formed in April 2008 with common focus on using music as a tool for community development. The group promotes traditional African values and acts in both education and local economy. Members also engage in traditional crafts like basket weaving and jewellery making for exhibition and sale. Their Chairman Mr. Bwire also chairs the County Culture Committee and says he is “biased towards ethnomusicology” because “that’s where the beau…
Makunga Group
…ty, which they argued is the main indigenous community of Tanzania (always from the land, never migrated into Tanzania. The group was formed in 2018, but was built on a much older group. They perform in the Wuyina style. Their instruments/costumes include the: Ndulele (Horn), the Nindo (Shakers), the Mbega: (Animal Skins), the Muheme (Drums), the Kabati (Shakers), the Kalimba (Thumb Piano), the Zeze (Orutu), the Izeze (5 string large instrument),…
2. Naizungwe Drums – progress report 1 Story
…aking comprises 24 drums of big, small, medium and small sizes. We decided to make many because we would like to have enough drums for training a new generation of players. However, the basic number includes: 1 large Uganda drum (played with short heavy beaters) 3 smaller drums (played with long curved sticks) 1 medium drum (played with sticks) 1 long drum (ngalabi – hand-beaten) All together, 6 drums. Therefore, we are making four sets of naizung…
Day 2: Sunday, 2017 February 19th Story
…songs and do an “Influences” session. This gave the village children time to get to know us and understand our mission. By the end they were singing along to all the songs. In addition to being a professional musician, Leo also teaches music to school children so he is a natural with kids. On all the songs that he did, he had the whole village singing and laughing. We learned about the Bi Kidude and Unyago style. Throughout this trip we will enco…
Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…usic Foundation Crew (Jimmy, Hunter, Sophie and Elliot) arrived in Nairobi from London the night before. The Ketebul team (Tabu, Steve, Patrick and Nick) spent the evening preparing equipment. After a brief hold up at airport to check documents and buy a chicken burger, we were met by our drivers, Isaac and Abdullah, and drove immediately to our first field visit – to the home of Mzee Morris’s son, Rafael Nyunyusa Morris. “Retracing the lost drums…
Our journey to the Royal Drums: in the words of James Isabirye Story
…ents, build new instruments, build new groups, find opportunities for them to perform. From my conversations with Singing Wells, we are now calling this the ‘Bigwala Model’, although that sounds a bit grand, and sounds like we had a perfect grand plan. Of course, things evolved more organically. You’ll remember in 2013, Singing Wells came to Uganda and we started to discuss the issue of the royal instruments. At the Kampala Museum, Singing Wells,…
Ketebul Music presents Shades of Benga Online News
…into the foundations of modern Kenyan music, examining external influences from the English waltz to Afro Cuban Rumba and how they helped mould new music styles across Africa. Rumba was brought to Eastern Africa via the itinerant Congolese musicians Edouard Masengo and Jean Bosco Mwenda who’s intricate guitar-picking styles largely shaped the present Kenyan sound, with the Benga playing a dominant role. Currently, you can get advance copies from K…
Singing Wells Approaches 5 Million Views News
…traditional music of East Africa to a wider audience. It amazing to see the Youtube algorithm agreeing that this 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 and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11:An Interview with Gregg Story
…my village life. When we gathered for big celebrations, the entire village took to the road to walk for miles to a central location. We walked all night. And we sang all night. The old people walking with the children, all of us singing. And now we have a nice road that probably gets us to that site in 20 minutes by car. But what have we lost? We’ve lost the connection that comes with all generations singing together, with laughter and joy. We san…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…g’ Kabaselleh, a Luo pop artist who occasionally teamed up with Laban Juma Toto, formerly of the Hodi Boys band, to produce some of the best rumba melodies sang in the Luo language. Kabaselleh’s love for rumba saw him adopt the name of Congo’s celebrated pioneer musician, Joseph Kabaselleh ‘Le Grand Kalle.’ Some of Ochieng’s sons like Babu Kabaselleh and Reggie Kabaselleh are now well-known musicians in their own right, same to his siblings who ma…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 1 – Nairobi to Kiongwe to Muranga Story
…the Vilingi (whistle). They performed 4 songs: Kiuluni Kui Landeni (going to London) Mbovoi Kisanga Kumbaka Asee The group is led by Margaret Mbia and plays in the musical style of Kilumi, wathi wa kikamba. They are also from the Kamba ethnic community (ukamba wa kitui). They have 15 members and are inspired by kithio kya mukambu (Kamba tradition). They were formed in 1974. They use two drums called Kilumi, played by Makai King’ei and Koka Mbindy…