Day Four: February 19, 2020 (Maruhabi Palace) Story
…n song renamed. Similar to Akuna Matata. Kijiti These performers were all from the area and were an authentic representation of local traditional kidumbak music. Kirundo – this group performs in a fusion of traditional African rhythms from mainland Tanzania and Pemba, and contemporary African sounds. The three young men are all students at the DMCA performing with a well known drummer and teacher of music. This band has been together for 2 years…
Camera Group
…Camera, who has been performing since 1999, is from Nzega and from the Sukuma community, playing in the Kadete style. Camera plays the Kadete (like the Zeze from earlier and Orutu from Kenya). He is an extremely cool cat, who we actually discovered walking the streets with his instrument during the RECCE….
Albums Introduction Page
…h the music of the area we were recording in. Each album also contains a number of extra tracks that weren’t strictly part of the archiving recordings we were making. These recordings are of ‘Influences’ sessions – where a popular musical artist has joined us on our trip to collaborate with the groups 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 rec…
Ayub Ogada Group
…in a traditional setting. He picked it up later in his career and studied from a player/teacher at the national cultural centre of Bomas of Kenya in the 1980s. He remembers he had gone for 6 lessons (at a 100 shillings) only and then continued practicing and experimenting by himself. It was equally interesting to hear his theory of the name nyatiti, which he translated from the Luo word nyar as queen and titi, making it “the queen of the clan”. T…
Baseki Group
…le virtues Balimi: A song about farming where the band brought up children from the village and taught them about hoeing the soil to the song. Later we saw several videos of how this song is used in the fields to motivate farmers, who hoe to the beat. Throughout Tanzania, we saw school kids walking to/from school with their hoes, where they often tend to small plots at the school. Serengeti: We are near the national park and this is a song in cele…
2. Naizungwe Drums – progress report 1 Story
…the left of the video above). He comes from a famous family of drum makers from Kalalu village, Buyanga sub country, Bugweri County in Iganga district. Muhamudu was taught how to make drums by two of his uncles who shared their wisdom and experience with him, and tells us that ever since he was young, his relatives and neighbours have all been drum makers. This begins to make sense when he says that one drum offers 54 different jobs: cutting the t…
Day 3: Monday, 2017 February 20th Story
…he Gogo style of music which relies on the Zeze (stringed instruments made from gourds) and Ilimba (a lamellophone, or modified thumb piano). We will spend a lot of time with Chibite over the next two days and meet many different family members. For this first recording in Boma, the line-up was Ndahani Bwani, the older brother, his sister Ndekwa and two daughters Grace and Leah. Here’s the group: The group is a family group, with all members relat…
Day 2: Sunday, 2017 February 19th Story
…If you mix it, you will drink it. Kiingereza (English) This is Leo’s song from his album, Bangili (bangles) This was a wonderful day of recording for three reasons: We had the whole day so were able to record a large number of 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…
Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…stics, clown faces and general mayhem, until eventually the snake emerges. From then on, the dance is about how close the pair can get to being bitten or strangled by the snake without getting hurt. Occasionally the snake is set upon the audience but one of the dancers pulls it back by the tail just before it strikes. Breath-taking. This form of performance is new to us (but, of course not to Tanzanians) and we’ve not seen it in Kenya or Uganda. I…
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…
Our journey to the Royal Drums: in the words of James Isabirye Story
…rted to practice. We didn’t have drums at first, we just worked on the xylophone that uses much of the same structure. And over time the professor, Musisi, and the students gradually developed a great relationship and are so committed to each other. Then I had to order the drums. I ordered them from Mpambire, a village where all great drums are made. We sent Albert Ssempeke and Musisi out to pick the drums and tune them. We brought in Peter Gaira,…
Singing Wells Approaches 5 Million Views News
…ait 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 Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Jinja Story
…ses the xylophone instrument itself. We have recorded a lot of Ugandan xylophones over the years, but this time we really wanted to understand the players themselves as the arrangement mirrors in many ways the royal drums. There are generally six players, 3 on each side, configured very roughly as follows (I say roughly, because the notes each plays depends on the song): Akubaa Obuto: meaning player of the small slabs, this musician plays keys 1-4…
Musisi’s Story, Part 1: The Fall of the Buganda Kingdom Story
…om and had attacked the Parliament first, which was about a kilometer away from the palace. I realized it was very real when bullets started hitting the palace and the hut where we kept our drums caught fire. People started running around all over and I was getting scared, but I still carried my toothbrush. I was only 15 or 16 at the time and alone. In all the chaos the King arrived in my room and was carrying what I can only say was a magic elect…
The Return of Bigwala News
…chieve this. Bigwala is the name of a monotone trumpet, carved very simply from a long natural gourd that is a perfect shape and length for the sound to resonate. The gourds are marked and sawed at the point where the hollow fruit expands to a bulb, which creates a ‘bell’ shape that helps the sound to carry. Often multiple gourds can be bound together to create the right shape. It is also the name of the dance that accompanies this type of playing…
The Entenga Drums: Part 1 Story
…are playing on the drums of the person next to them, but the sticks never overlap. And all the notes need to harmonize, while the percussion is, well, percussive. It really is like the brilliant Ugandan xylophones with the added complication that no sticks can overlap. …