Day 8: Entebbe to Nairobi and Ketebul Studios Story
…h they borrowed from the Congo but make their own, 2) adungu (stringed instrument) and 3q) certain vocal harmonies that are very unique. Q: And how did we do? A: I think we did very well on the likembe with Macadonia and Rubanga Kingom. We also recorded a great adungu group (Adungu Cultural Troupe). And we really captured wonderful, traditional vocal harmonies with Anyim Lac, the beautiful old ladies who sang so softly. And there were some real po…
Meet our ‘Influences’ artists News
…grew, she has later shared stages with such greats as Uganda’s own Susan Kerunen in a girls group called “Anyira” a luo word meaning “the girls”, led by Miss Susan Kerunen herself. After she then emerged as a professional backup singer with her first song being “Aluru” from Uganda’s own Michael Ouma’s debut album, still in the same light she joined Miss Tshila in a girls band called “Tshila and the Diamond’s”, still in this journey she worked with…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Kampala (a driving story) Story
…well paved two lane road. We have moved from sheer terror that we will be run off the road by Mac trucks to a growing lack of confidence that we will arrive in Kampala before the hotel kitchens closed. Given that we forgo lunch as a rule we find ourselves highly dependent upon night time eating. Just over the sounds of speeding trucks and crashing bikes on the shoulders, you can begin to hear the faint rumblings of our tummies. Two lane nice road…
Akello sings ‘Influences’ songs for Singing Wells News
…performed with the Watmon Cultural Troupe Akello Biography Akello is an African contemporary and urban music performer who sings in most popular languages like Acholi, Luganda, Swahili and English..After years of working with a few of Uganda’s leading contemporary and world music greats such as Kaweesa, Susan Kerunen, Myko Ouma, Tshila and Kinobe Herbert..she is indeed a rare talent with a rich textured organic voice. Akello begins a new jour…
Northern Uganda: Day 5 – from Pakwach to Soroti (a road trip) Story
…the party in power it seems – at least by our road test. During the day, trucks are trucks. They lead a lot, overburdened with their cargo and the dozen or so folks hitching a ride to supplement the drivers income. Then there are the ‘taxi’s’ – in Uganda, these are the white vans with English names, ferrying folks up and down the highway. They are fun because each is covered with decidedly random words, like Gorgeous, Amen, Big Mama, Jesus Love,…
Hannah interviews Evelyn Ojok – Acet, Northern Uganda News
…nly performed by the women). Today the reason there was a man playing the drums is because one of our women is sick, normally there are no men in the performance. In Gulu when I want to meet with the other women I play drums and they all come, usually in the evening. I want to push the music to it’s highest level so that we can get some sponsorship from NGOs or from the Ugandan Government. I have opened up a bank account for us to make this easier…
Northern Uganda: Day 4 – night recording at Fort Murchison Story
…antastic, especially given the full day of travel. They had about 15 bul (drums) and 2 drummers and a smallish ndara (xylophone). Their lead male singer was about 6 foot five and commanded the whole group and the growing audience with a loud voice, great dance and fun drumming. They sang Myeli, Wuon Nyaci, Cwara Rac, Ngeta Romo, Atyekedec Gen, and Apako Orang’a. Each of their songs followed a rough pattern: the lead singer sang out the main theme…
How music archives can help communities News
…0’s. The father had passed away many years before and his native language ‘Rutwa’ was fast dying out. When Bunjagare heard his father’s voice he danced for joy and thanked Kidd for ‘bringing his father back to life’. Listening to the recordings had allowed him and other members of the community to reflect on a time when the Batwa were respected as a people and for their culture, a time when they had ‘sat beside kings’. Chris Kidd is now working as…
Northern Uganda: Day 4 – Pakwach to Widiang’a, Nebbi Story
…dara (the amazing Ugandan xylophone) The Rigi-Rigi (similar to the Kenyan orutu) The Agwara (trumpets) The Adungu (the harp we’ve encountered every day now) The group was formed in 1993 and is professional, touring Kampala and other parts of Uganda, sponsored by NGO’s and typically campaigning for things like HIV Awareness, Cultural preservation, etc… Except for the fact they wear clothes under their animal skins, they work very hard to be as trad…
ATTA is following Singing Wells News
…can talk to about the project. Earlier this month I was their guest at the World Travel Market at Excel and I met representatives from a number of organisations and companies in the travel and tourism industry operating in the East African counties we are visiting during our field recording trips. I met Nigel Vere Nicoll, Chief Executive of the African Travel & Tourism Association and explained a little about Singing Wells and our aims to record a…
Reporting back on recording trip to Kisoro, SW Uganda News
…so learned a great deal about their history and their lifestyle in Uganda today. The following week, we invited ten of the Batwa performers to the Ketebul Music studios in Nairobi to record more songs, and in particular, collaborate with contemporary music artists to generate new material for ‘Influences’ – a series of new songs influenced and inspired by traditional themes. Our aim is to provide a lasting benefit for the Batwa community in Ugand…
A day in the field with Singing Wells News
…are where we film and record a musician performing solo on his or her instrument and are notable by the interesting nature of the instrument or the virtuosity of the performance. We then move to our second ‘set’ or angle on the site. Locations are chosen aesthetically, based on what is available. Other considerations include any useful shelter (it can rain suddenly and heavily) along with the direction of the sun and any sources of noise. Once we…
Day 9: Ketebul Studios with Ben Kisinja Story
…rategy through 2014, sorting through about 10,000 receipts of expenses (we run a very tight shop, thanks to Steve’s leadership), we welcome Ben into the studio to record. The Otacho Young Stars stayed the morning as well. We had a full crew to support Ben – Johnnie and Bishop on guitar, Nina and Winyo on vocals. Watch this space. We also continued our work to capture new artists for Missing – Global Remix, our 2012 fund raising song. We had Prasad…
UOBDU report on Singing Wells visit to the Batwa, Kisoro Uganda News
…to record the music of the Batwa. Since then we have been pleased to hear news updates from our friends and hosts at UOBDU about the Batwa communities we visited. This week UOBDU Coordinator Zaninka Penninah sent a detailed report to us with feedback about all the music groups who performed for the Singing Wells project. The good news is that being involved in the project seems to have given the groups a new and added pride for their music and ha…
Day 8: Ketebul Studios with the Otacho Young Stars Story
…ing throughout it all. Other than recording, we continued to blog our little hearts out, write up trip reports, strategies, lessons learned, etc… The good news is we have now fully planned out field visits through 2014. Jimmy 10 March 2012…
The Tribal and Musical Structure of East Africa – Worldmap Research News
…world. Fipa Tribe identified – embedded information shown How did you make Worldmap work for Singing Wells? As Worldmap is open source we were able to use a map of the distribution of tribes in Africa created by a Harvard professor named Suzanne Blier. By using her research we could create a map of only the tribal borders of East Africa, from a layer she had created. Once we had a map that only represented these tribal groups we then attached furt…