Ketebul Music presents Shades of Benga Online News
…r online series Shades of Benga Online, to go alongside their book ‘Shades of Benga: The Story of Popular Music in Kenya 1946 -2016’. You can watch the latest episode below, and also find out more at their website here. Shades of Benga: The Story of Popular Music in Kenya delves 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 A…
Our journey to the Royal Drums: in the words of James Isabirye Story
…e drummers. I thought I was in great shape, because I knew Sebuwufu, a xylophone player who knew all about the drums and agreed to help me. Together, we found out that Peter Cooke had recorded the drums and we listened to some of these recordings. But then, Sebuwufu passed away in August 2015 and I realised I had a big problem now. He might have been the last person who knew the drums. But I remembered that Sebuwufu had heard of someone named Musi…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 2 – Flutes Story
…e we’ve come full circle. We are back with Albert Ssempeke. His father was one of the last royal flutists of the Buganda kingdom, and Albert has dedicated his life to rediscovering Buganda music through his Buganda Music Ensemble. We first met Albert in 2013, when we recorded his Ensemble playing various Buganda string-instruments. During that recording, James Isabirye, Tabu, Albert and I committed to restoring the Buganda Royal Drums. Left: Richa…
Singing Wells Approaches 5 Million Views News
…ce. 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
…and what are we doing badly? GT: You are doing a lot right. First, this is one of the best partnerships I’ve seen. The AMF is an implementation partner and has none of the ‘funder’ hang-ups I see elsewhere. Everyone digs in to get the job done. Second, you get it – it is about stories and I greatly respect the amount of time you invest The second thing is stories. You guys look out for real stories and try to tell the stories. This is really impor…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…963, the Ogara trio recorded the song “Selestina Juma” at the African Gramophone Stores, famously known as AGS, in Nairobi. Curiously, the song bears a distinct beat of ska, the precursor of today’s reggae. The trio’s guitar work was evidently inspired by influences from way beyond Luoland and was pretty much ahead of its time. It is possible that its ingenuity came from itinerant guitarists from the Congo, Uganda and Zambia who were already visit…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…dle players and 2 thumb pianos. They also have the traditional Ugandan Xylophone. All instrumentalists also sing and are supported by three ladies who sing and dance. The three core members are: Walusimbi Nsibambi Haruna: He the Founding Director of Nile Beat Artists. Walusimbi was once the Global Youth Earth Day Ambassador for Africa after winning the Global Youth Earth Day Ambassadors Competition in Marikina-Philipines. Nabayaza Sumaya Baiga: Sh…
Discussions with Peter Cooke: ethnomusicologist and Ugandan music expert News
…re, 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 Seco…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…recording studio. We have been able to set up the computers in the kitchen of one of our cottage rooms and have the groups either perform on our dining patio or our porch. We had three groups today and the drivers were sent out to round them up from the surrounding areas. The Bigwala Cultural Group One of this group’s primary purposes is to restore the Bigwala, the big Ugandan trumpet, to Ugandan musical culture. According to our local musical exp…
Central Uganda: Day 0 – Nairobi/London to Entebbe Story
…were at the airport guesthouse with a Nile Special (and their daily supply of one Pringles can) in hand before midnight. It felt good to be back on Ugandan soil in the familiar environment of the Airport Guesthouse. An early start the next day meant not staying up long on arrival – little did we know that a thunderstorm of biblical proportions was on its way….. A Note About Our Sponsors We are very grateful to have two sponsors for this recording…
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. …
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…
SWP Uganda 2013 – our proposed itinerary News
…ce) and ‘Nasale’, playing traditional instruments such as the Embaire (xylophone), Ndingidi (tube fiddle) and Efumbo (long drum). Once the recording sessions are finished we will pack up the studio and drive the short distance to Mbale, the location of our recording session on Thursday morning. Day 4: Mbale & Nakisenyi – Music of the Bagisu and Basoga On this morning we will meet the Elgon Ngoma Troupe who perform Bagisu music. Steve met the leade…
A recording studio which fits into the back of an SUV Story
…have two mobile recording units, each capable of recording from four microphones plus other sources at a high resolution to Apple MacBook Pro laptops. The benefit of the systems we have chosen is that they can run off the battery power of the laptops if we are in the situation where we do not have a generator (or there is a power cut mid-session which happened to us when we recorded to the Batwa at the Traveller’s Rest Hotel in Kisoro, Uganda!) W…
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…
73,603 views on YouTube News
…es mean more and more people are finding us and enjoying what we are all about – bringing the more traditional sounds of East Africa to an enthusiastic audience. Thanks for watching! Our top 3 video hits In third place, this is the Nyerere Wa Konde Music Club from Sita Village, Gede in Kenya’s Malindi District. It was the very first video we uploaded to YouTube following our field visit to the Coast Region to record the music of the Mijikenda tr…