Report from Womex 2013 News
…ted that music is their biggest export and so has set up the African Music Forum to make it easier for musicians to make a living – from visas and flights to financial support. It is an exciting time, and seems to chime in with what Eddie Hatitye announced for Music in Africa. Members of the Music Producers Guild led a discussion on ‘What do producers actually do?‘ – the answer seems to be ‘everything’. The role of producer has many meanings, but…
The Birara Batwa Community Story
…he ancestors. This is Bashitsi Bahire, the welcome song which the group performed for us. This was our first experience of the traditional music of the Batwa people and we were all overwhelmed by the quality of the performance, so before leaving the Birara we invited Francis Sembagare and the three female vocalists, Jolly, Paskazia and Vastina, to join us in Kisoro so that we could record more of their songs with the Ketebul Music artist Winyo….
The Key to Sustainable Aid in Africa? Perhaps we should follow the music. News
…ities. And most leading thinkers concerned with African development, argue for efforts to maintain village life, to work with people in a village, with all the support that entails, rather than to work with folks who are already displaced, on the move, entering the big cities for the first time (see the Millennium Village Project and some recent commentary about it – and here) The village is the preferred conduit for aid and support. With good wat…
A quick summary of the Singing Wells Project News
…is music to the next generation, to inspire them to look to their heritage for inspiration before they look elsewhere. We do this with ‘Influences’ artists… Like Winyo, an unbelievable Kenyan musician that was blown away by the music of the Batwa and couldn’t help but joining Jovah in song: 5. Singing Wells is about bringing together tribal music and wonderfully talented young performers like Akello from Uganda… We brought Akello to Northern Ugand…
73,603 views on YouTube News
…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 tribes. Is second place is a video from our field visit to Kisoro in south west Uganda where…
The Influences Series from Singing Wells News
…ch 2013 saw the release of an original track from Abubilla Music, re-mixed for the Influences series. The song is called (The only thing that’s) Missing and it was first recorded for the Abubilla Music album Misery Marmalade and other Spanish Jams. Here is the video of the new ‘Influences’ version, featuring musicians from Kenya, Uganda and the UK collaborating in this a unique song to celebrate and support Singing Wells. 71 Hours to Monday Ou…
Music of the Batwa: video playlist News
…ational Education….
Day 9 (AM): Ketebul Studio – Influences session for Cheri Story
…we worked with Mwenzele-Nyerere wa Konde Music Club on five studio songs. Today, we brought them back in to work with Stanley on his song Cheri, featuring Macadem. Here’s how the process worked today: Jaybee first worked with Stanley, Bishop and Johnnie to get the basic song structure down and put on a vocal ‘Chorus.’ Stanley wants the song to be a classic love song and the his vocals are really beautiful and sincere. We then asked Nyerere Wa Kon…
Day 8: Entebbe to Nairobi and Ketebul Studios Story
…needs a little back ground. In the Coastal areas there are huge rivalries between villages and there are always, what the band calls, “haters.” These are folks that hate your village and pray for terrible things to happen. One of the songs by this group is about the Band Leader’s wife – she was going into an operation and the ‘haters’ from another village were praying she would die. With that background, the song is about the band leader in 1991…
Hannah interviews Evelyn Ojok – Acet, Northern Uganda News
…me, we are only women (our style of ‘Apiri’ in Acholi is typically only 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 Go…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Kampala (a driving story) Story
…ght routines, we can learn more and more from each trip and get better and better. For the March Pilot in 2011, simply getting audio equipment to work in the field was the most important routine. Don’t underestimate the learning required to set up 8 mic recording session in the dirt, surrounded by cows. By Kisoro and the recording of the Batwa, audio was fully sorted and the team could set up and breakdown in about 20 minutes and record flawlessly…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Obuell-Lira to Soroti Story
…y their blood lust against the next village where 20 men were slaughtered. For three years, the ‘village band’ played for the rebels and were visited by all the leaders. They refused, however, to play rebel songs or support the rebel side. They said over and over again the music was neutral and only had alligience to Uganda not to one side or the other in the war. There were lots of scary moments when rebels would try to force them to declare alli…
Northern Uganda: Day 5 – from Pakwach to Soroti (a road trip) Story
…king on new thatched roofs or those needing repairs. A thatched roof lasts for between five and ten years. Then there are the charcoal makers and sellers. The thatch ladies ensure that the roads are dotted with thatch pillars. The charcoal makers burn the charcoal and then fill five foot high white bags of charcoal that line the roads in groups of 4-5. We often mistake them for nuns walking along the road in their beautiful white dresses. The whit…
Northern Uganda: Day 4 – night recording at Fort Murchison Story
…the fire light, and the flickering flames add mystery and drama to the performance. For some of the music, and we thought about Oramba yesterday, the song are fireside songs. Oramba is a hunter and the song is about the village wondering whether he will come back with a kill. Oramba is fierce, running around with a spear, lunging at the audience. Think about what that would be like for the children as Oramba drifts into the shadows only to fly ou…
Northern Uganda: Day 4 – Pakwach to Widiang’a, Nebbi Story
…Omiya Charles playing Mbeta. We loved these musicians the fun of the traditional dances. You got mad at the stubborn girl, you got scared when the hunter returned and you celebrated for the new chief. On the way to Fort Murchison where we were staying, we saw some spectacular stormy scenes as we crossed the River Nile:…
Reporting back on recording trip to Kisoro, SW Uganda News
…For a full report of the Singing Wells Batwa music recordings please click here: SWP report from Kisoro, Uganda Mperwa Dancers perform for the Singing Wells project …