Day Zero: 6 March 2022 – Travel To Stream Story
…r mission to travel and stream in Western Kenya was made possible by funds from Hivos, with the additional support from the Abubilla Foundation. Travel to Stream After one week’s training and familiarization with the new software and equipment, we took the road to Western Kenya on the morning of Sunday, 6 March 2022. The Ketebul Music team met at our new offices at the GoDown Arts Centre on Kayahwe Road off Dennis Pritt by 9:00am. It took us an ho…
Day Three: January 20th, 2019 Story
…be/dHeTdA5m5gQ Group 3: Awilo: The group, which is a comedy circus act, is from Ikungu lya nkoma and performs in the Bununguli style. They are from the Sukuma community and were formed in 1981. They played the Ng’oma and entertained the kids with circus acts involving fire, razor blades, knives, etc… It wasn’t really part of the Singing Wells Field Visit but we were thrilled to stumble across it! From the village, we then drove a little over three…
Day Three: February 18, 2020 (Stonetown, Mpendae, Maungani) Story
…is band. He is a teacher at the DCMA. He teaches the Oud and plays the saxophone. All the students at the DCMA study traditional music such as Taarab as well as Western music. Members of the group: Suleiman Makame (keyboard, director), Hassan Mahenge (Saxaphone, assistant director), Mahsin Basalama (contra base), Christopher Weston (Cajon and high hat), Regina Juma (singer). There was supposed to be a violin player but unfortunately he couldn’t ma…
Day One: February 16, 2020 (Ngawala Hotel) Story
…Hamza (drums) and Tatu Hamisi Amur (please note she was in all three groups). The drums include: the small squat drum (Fumi), a very tall drum (msondo) and medium drum (Kinghaga). They played 8 songs, including:Aiche: Introduction Song Mamae Mwari: Mwari’s Mother Mpanda Waya: Someone who climbs a wire/cable, but really is very suggestive about a man Sikia Msondo: Listen to the Msondo, which is the tall drum Unyago Wangu: A song about the drums. Ma…
Day Three: 9 March 2022 (Kisumu) Story
…ded was the newly formed Asego Ensemble. These musicians travelled all the way from the southern side of the lake and had to wait for the whole day for their turn to record. By the time they came on stage at 8:00pm, they were rather fatigued but started their show with cover songs of other established groups and switched to their own compositions at our request. With a little encouragement from a few fans who were attracted to their ohangla music,…
Day One: 7 March 2022 (Shikangania and Mukumu) Story
…band led by veteran musician Jacob Luseno of the Mukangala hit. He broke away from Jacob Luseno’s group in 2007 and formed Super Phoenix Band. Like most of the Luhya beats, Julius calls his music Maveka a musical style close to Isikhuti and like most of the Luhya beats is on the 3/4 signature time. Maveka is the Luhya language for ‘shoulders’ which are shaken vigorously with this kind of dance. An accomplished guitarist, Juluis Itenya regularly p…
Day One: January 18, 2019. Assemble in Tanzania Story
…and we typically have two general mics for the group and 5-6 specific microphones for singers and musicians, b) we have three video cameras operating – one wide shot for full performance, one close up to capture details of instruments and one roving camera to provide a second angle on the performance and c) we interview all group leaders to understand group musical styles and background, instruments and songs. In almost every village, we struggle…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…ion: Treat House Resort – Rongo Field Notes: It was a smooth drive all the way from Kisumu to Rongo using the newly re-carpeted Katito-Kendu Bay road. We reached our destination in no time, given the vastly improved road network in the region. Along the way, we passed through Rodi Kopany, a small center with an interesting historical background. The name Rodi Kopany was derived from the words ‘Road Company’ because back in the day a campsite for t…
Support Singing Wells Page
…note, the Singing Wells project is funded by the Abubilla Music Foundation, the below link will direct you to make a donation to the Abubilla Music Foundation: — CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW — Donate your time, products or services We are always keen to hear from people who are happy to offer their time to help the project and from companies which may be able to support us with products or services free of charge. If you can help out in this respect…
Here for Research? Page
…Group that we have met. Each page has information about the group, videos from our visit, recording information and any related content we have about them on the site. Group Map The groups we have met, presented on a map so you can see each region that the group is from. A brilliant resource and great for comparing musical styles amongst groups that are local to each other. “Our goal is to record, archive and share the traditional music of East A…
Day Six: January 24, 2019 From Mwanza to Dodomo to Nzali to Nairobi Story
…mmunity, 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 instru…
Twone Mbee Group
…zembanie na ivinda’: (Chasing After Time). This song talks about the President’s call to stop corruption. The call to chase after time comes from the society that won’t condone these malpractices….
Maisha Bora Suba Group
…t group, from the Mara Regio (Roria District) was formed in 2012. They are from the Abhasimbete community. Their style is Rirandi and they play the Zeze/Endongwe (a one stringed instrument similar to the Kenyan Orutu and Ugandan Rigi Rigi), Rirandi (a giant horn, similar to the Uganda Big Wala, but made with 6 gourds, not one), Ekeborogo (flute), the Ekedomwa (drums), Ama’ghorro (huge leg shakers), and Firimbi (whistle). They wore Amahunsho (grass…
Day Two: January 19, 2019 From Tarime to Buturi to Bariadi Story
…. Examples included stopping use of plastics and keeping your waste water away from your drinking water. Magic Moment: We recorded the beats of Majirani, percussion only Magic Moment: Majirani again to record slightly differently. https://youtu.be/yQ52ZCL5Gro Group 3: Serengeti Group: This group, formed in 2016, was from the community of Kuria and played in the Ritungu style – this style refers to the form of dancing where the two lead dancers ‘no…
Unyago Group
…amza (drums) and Tatu Hamisi Amur (please note she was in all three groups). The drums include: the small squat drum (Fumi), a very tall drum (msondo) and medium drum (Kinghaga). They played 8 songs, including: Aiche: Introduction Song Mamae Mwari: Mwari’s Mother Mpanda Waya: Someone who climbs a wire/cable, but really is very suggestive about a man Sikia Msondo: Listen to the Msondo, which is the tall drum Unyago Wangu: A song about the drums. Ma…
Tarajazz Group
…is band. He is a teacher at the DCMA. He teaches the Oud and plays the saxophone. All the students at the DCMA study traditional music such as Taarab as well as Western music. Members of the group: Suleiman Makame (keyboard, director), Hassan Mahenge (Saxaphone, assistant director), Mahsin Basalama (contra base), Christopher Weston (Cajon and high hat), Regina Juma (singer). There was supposed to be a violin player but unfortunately he couldn’t ma…