Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…oir with alternating lead vocals. Their style is Embaire, which is the xylophone. Their instruments were: Embaire, Xylophone Endigidi, tube fiddle Enkwanzi, pan pipes The performance was simply spectacular. Our search for the best xylophone players in Uganda is declared over! What a group. Obutasoma (Education), with lead singer Muniru Ayubu Obwiire Bukyeire (The Time Has Come), with lead singer Kisubi Eliasa Magic Moment: We loved the xylophone a…
Interview: fusion band Ndoto Afrika News
…and listen to stories. So we will have to transmit these stories to their iPhones and iPads in the form of music, the universal language. Where are you from? From Kenya, in the East of Africa. To be more specific, we hail from a small village in Siaya County where most of the renowned Luo musicians come from. Ever heard of Otieno Aloka (the famous Ohangla artist)? He is our next door neighbour back at the village. We borrow each other’s salt from…
Central Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Budaka Story
…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 hop…
Central Uganda: Day 1 – From Entebbe to Kidinda Story
…ying to set up (and stay standing up). We were here to record two groups today. The Kidinda Cultural Group Our first group was the Kidinda Cultural Group, 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 gro…
Central Uganda: Day 0 – Nairobi/London to Entebbe Story
…thunderstorm of biblical proportions was on its way….. A Note About Our Sponsors We are very grateful to have two sponsors for this recording trip. Firstly, The Mara Group are sponsoring a full recording day and have chosen to support our day in Mbale (Day 4: Thursday 21st Nov). We are also very pleased to have the support of Gorilla Tours, owners of the Airport Guesthouse who have provided one of the transport vehicles and a driver for the week,…
Before They Pass Away News
…to sustain the musical heritage of East Africa, we want to promote it in today’s world. With this in mind, we’ve been following the work of British photographer Jimmy Nelson with interest, who spent four years travelling to meet and photograph some of the world’s last surviving tribes. His book, Before They Pass Away, is a fascinating insight into these communities’ ways of life. Nelson’s breathtaking photographs capture how these last remaining t…
Meeting Ketebul: an interview with Tabu News
…r a long time Kenyan’s have just been music consumers. In exchange for our buying other’s music, we want them to see them buying ours. Who inspires you, and who are your influences? Anyone who is doing something original inspires me. I don’t like copycats. I like music from Jazz to Hip Hop as long as it sounds original. In terms of musicians who inspire me, Fela Kuti – the King of Afrobeat – is a big inspiration. His music had a lot of good messag…
Our top 5 Singing Wells songs for March News
…the kind of song everyone should listen to when they wake up to start the day with positive vibes. 2. Ochieng Nelly – Osare I’ll admit, a few weeks ago I knew very little about the history of Benga. But the more I’ve found out, the more meaningful this song is. Ochieng was one of the founders of Benga, a Kenyan music genre adapted by the Kikuyu musicians of the ’60s. We were privileged to have the chance to record him and preserve his music in Ma…
The story of Anyim Lac Story
…couldn’t miss the opportunity to capture the true sound. With a lapel microphone on our lead lady and another microphone directly on the adungu, we asked the group to continue. At the end of the session we played the recording back and a magical voice and sound emerged – the old lady, sitting on the blanket in the middle of this village surrounded by her whole community, had a beautiful, strong, pitch perfect voice. Incredible. Click here to go to…
Amone Watmon Matthew Story
This is Amone Watmon Matthew who we met on the final day of our December 2012 recording trip to Uganda. Our story with Amone Watmon Matthew We had spent 4 days in the north of Uganda, travelling back through Soroti and into Kampala, where, arranged by Jimmy of the Adungu Cultural Troupe, we arrived in the Naguru area of Kampala. Jimmy led us to another location for the recording, away from the road – a space in front of a house where Matthew Wa…
Ten More Singing Wells Stories News
…ich this performance shows, here. A word about brass bands: It isn’t every day you discover a brass band in the middle of Africa, but it isn’t every day you meet Julius, an orphan determined to save orphans. Click here. Benga: The beauty of cultural integration: I was able to tell two stories involving music as part of my day job, so I will let you read the story as I tell the story of Benga music as a lessons of Corporate Strategy (click here)….
Current Leading Figures News
…ation ceremonies to a crowd of over 40,000 people, and perform every Wednesday to each other during a recital hour. However, when asked if they record their own music, James says “We lack good equipment to record the music professionally but it is an idea that requires serious and immediate consideration. ” NACOFU, which he is a member of, is attempting to address this problem – to document folk music – but is currently looking for a partner to he…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…Bloomington Campus of Indiana University and is open for listening from Monday-Friday: 10am-12pm then 1pm-5pm, except during the Summer when it is only open 1pm-5pm. 9. Centre de Recherche en Ethnomusicologie CREM (Research Centre for Ethnomusicology) is a French institution in Paris, which houses an extensive archive of world music; a vast and crucial resource for ethnomusicologists and PhD students. Collaborations with Government departments, ot…
Archiving Guidelines News
…growing.”[1] The second is FEDORA. However, it is clear that to set up an online data repository, to be used as an archive, substantial technological knowledge is needed – but this guide is most definitely a great help for gaining understanding of all the issues needed be considered when setting up an online music archive. Storage of Audio Materials Guidance for the care, handling and storage of audio visual materials can be found on the Library…
A History of Recording East African Music News
…oesn’t have a history is a dead one.” His recordings are available to play online, for anyone, in the Klaus Wachsmann Collection at the British Library. Copies of his recordings can also be found at the UCLA archive, but cannot be streamed online. David Fanshawe 1942 – 2010 David Fanshawe recording the Luo Tribe, Kenya, 1973. Photo Judith Croasdell David Fanshawe did not limit himself to the confines of ethnomusicology and is described as an ‘in…
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. …