Samba Mapangala & Orchestra Virunga News
…ba Mapangala and Orchestra Virunga are touring the UK later this month, in support of Samba’s new album Maisha Ni Matamu (Life Is Sweet) on Virunga Records. We first met Samba in Kenya, on a recording trip as part of The Singing Wells project. He sang as part of a ‘Welcome’ concert put together by our friends at Ketebul, along with Winyo and Ayub Ogada. We’ll bring more news on his new album as we have it, but until then you can view his tour date…
Congratulations Singing Wells! News
…Just received this lovely email from Janet Topp Fargion at the British Library in support of Singing Wells……..
Day 3: From Nairobi to Kigali to Kisoro Story
…r equipment (we really wanted to return with it all!). We then took Kenyan Airlines (new plane with movies!) to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, population roughly a million. We were met by our drivers Arun and John and drove through heavy rains to the Rwanda-Uganda border crossing near Kisoro. After a rather lengthy crossing, we then drove on to our final desitination – the Traveller’s Rest in Kisoro. Five quick things: Rwanda: Beautiful country kn…
Day 1 & 2: Preparing to leave for Kisoro, Uganda Story
…ic respectively, set out to Nairobi on Saturday for Nairobi. All good with flights, visas, bags and customs and we were greated by Tabu Osusa. Checked into Fairview, had the obligatory fries in a chip basket and crashed. Day 2: 11.11.20 Day in Ketebul Studio: Jimmy and Andy meet the SWP team at Ketebul Studios to coordinate all the gear and prepare for our trip the next day and, importantly, to set out the 2012 Fund Raising Song, which will be a f…
Kenya (Coast): Day 4 – the road back to Nairobi Story
…groups were very large, but because of budgets we could only bring a small number. We had good production but we couldn’t get the whole band in their element . Gargar was an example. Huge women’s group with lots of culture things – women’s rights … we could only work with four. We realised it would be better to take the studio to them. We would get a better view and get a more authentic sound. Then Abubilla Music contacted Tabu for a project and w…
Interview with Fifty Cows – fixer for Singing Wells News
…f cattle on these raids. When he was younger he was more involved with the support of the older men but as he got older he also had to fight. The fighting was most intense in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. He says it was done in the name of honour or another ‘fictitious’ reason but in fact it was just stealing. The Pokot would retaliate and steal the cattle back. Often the fighting escalated with both tribes losing men and retaliating for their deat…
Music of the Mijikenda: video playlist News
…In March 2011, the Singing Wells team travelled to the coastal region of Kenya for their very first field recording trip. The team recorded music from various groups representing the Mijikenda tribes. Video Playlist The trip was facilitated by the generous support of donors to our charity the Abubilla Music Foundation. …
Day 1: The very first field recording day for Singing Wells Story
…nt, our two tables, our recording kit and our six mics. Andy ran the desk, supported by Jessie, Steve and Willie. Jimmy and Pato handled video, Winyo did a lot of photography and Tabu and Maddo watched (having retired after driving 10 hours the day before). Mwenzele – Nyerere wa Konde Music Club The group is led by Nyerere wa Konde in the Mwenzele style. The group featured a wonderful percussion trio, with the Lungo (broken glass moved in a big bo…
A Year in Review March 2011 – March 2012 News
…3. Francis Sembagare from Birara Dancers with Jesse from Ketebul Music on Guitar: We hope you are excited by our journey and enjoying the music. If you’d like to support our artists or the project please don’t hesitate to contact us. The Singing Wells Team …
Music of the Luo: video playlist News
…In December 2011, the Singing Wells team travelled to western Kenya on the shores of Lake Victoria to record the music of the Luo tribes. To read the daily field reports from this trip, click here . Video Playlist The trip was facilitated by the generous support of donors to our charity the Abubilla Music Foundation. …
Guy Morley – No Nation News
…Guy Morley is music programmer for the Big Chill festival – one of the highlights of the UK’s cultural calendar, and is the founder of No Nation, an independent arts programming, production and promotion company. No Nation has developed links across East Africa and has recently worked on a project for Sound and Music looking at the influence of early American country music in Africa. …
AMF receive grant to fund Batwa recordings News
…news that the Institute of International Education has approved a grant to support the Singing Wells trip to Uganda to record the music and dance of the Batwa people. We are delighted that our proposal was successful and that the IIE agreed with our rationale for taking the project to the Batwa to increase awareness of their unique music and dance traditions. In our proposal, we outlined our rationale as follows: “The overall aim of the Singing We…
Recording music & dance of the Batwa News
…wa in Uganda is now being recognized and there are initiatives in place to support their communities and help them reclaim their traditional way of life. The United Organisation for Bawta Development (UOBDU) was founded in 2000 to address land problems and develop sustainable livelihoods. UOBDU has identified four key areas of support: land & housing; education and adult literacy; income generation and forest access & benefit-sharing. By way of ex…
Global song released to support SWP News
…Abubilla Music have released a truly global remix of an original song from their first album Six Months of Saturdays – it’s called 71 Hours to Monday and combines musicians and vocalists from Sao Paulo in Brazil, Nairobi and London. All profits from the sale of the track will be donated to The Abubilla Music Foundation to support the The Singing Wells Project. Take a look and find out the story behind the song and the SWP: …
May 2011 – Jimmy reports back on the pilot phase News
…the sessions and write and perform songs inspired by the village music and supported by the village musicians. Train a new generation of sound engineers during these sessions to learn mobile recording techniques so they can continue to capture village music Create a multi-media song library of these sessions available to music lovers and ethnomusicologists on line and through CD and DVD releases. Create a separate video/audio song library of instr…
Reflections on the pilot phase by Pato News
…ove [CANON 5D CAMERA] goodbye, so when the studio session was done I escorted her, and Jimmy and Andy too of course to the airport… I would like to personally thank Abubilla for all the support and assure them of our commitment as Ketebul Music to the singing wells project. Our partnership is the beginning of good things to come….