Promotion of Batwa cultural music: UOBDU report March 2013 News
…attractive. Due to this challenge, UOBDU had to purchase a few musical instruments (Drum and dancing bells) for Kanyabukungu group who danced for the Prime Minister of Uganda. Dancing costumes and traditional instruments remains a challenge among the groups in order to market their culture.ConclusionUOBDU is very grateful to the Singing Wells group for visiting the Batwa and their office UOBDU as well as promoting and supporting their cultural mus…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Obuell-Lira to Soroti Story
…8 Lukumbe players and four percussionists. If you recall the ‘bass’ of the Rubanga Kingom band in Awach was a small Likembe on an overturned steel tub. The Macedonia band’s ‘bass’ was a very large (3 foot) Likembe that act as bass and kick drum. They also had 16 dancers, all 12-15 year old girls from the village dressed in lovely robes. The whole band sang ‘response’ vocals to Johsua’s lead. He was also the lead Likembe player. The band is partial…
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,…
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…
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…
Northern Uganda: Day 3 – from Gulu to Awach to Pakwach Story
…yer is joined by a percussionist who will also pound the tub for the kick drum and then use a little metal brush as a tom. There are then lots of men with big sticks with metal on them which sound like a snare. All the men sing back up and become a beautiful chorus. 20 folks playing Likembe give you the soft rhythms of Calypso, but as Tabu pointed out, it is more accurate to say Calypso sounds like the soft rhythms of a good Likembe band. Here’s a…
ATTA is following Singing Wells News
…bout 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 and celebrate…
Northern Uganda: Day 1 – Entebbe to Gulu Story
…and passing was generally safe. Still, each of the cars counted about 5 ‘brushes with death’, any one of which would be a lifetime of stories for London. We drove. We ate our packed lunch. We drove. We drove. And we raced faster and faster to make it to Gulu before DARK, our true horrible enemy on drives. Darkness just fell as we hit Gulu, which was fine, as we slowed right down and joined the chaos of the Gulu city center. We pulled into our hot…
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 9: Ketebul Studios with Ben Kisinja Story
…s so good, we decided to put together a magic moment. Watch this space for videos. We recorded right through to 9PM and the ‘northern folks’ rushed to the airport. The Ketebul crew continued to work in the studio, led by Jessie who loves bringing Singing Wells musicians into the studio. Hunter and Jimmy will board our flight at about 11PM and with a 12 midnight wheels up, we will officially end the ‘field visit.’ Now the hard work begins of produc…
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…
African Strings: The Nyatiti and The Adungu News
…ed upon to play at weddings or funerals, as it can be played as a solo instrument. The intsrument is often performed with a dance, called ‘Goyo Otenga’. Otenga is the Luo word for eagle, and so dancers move their shoulders, arms, fingers, legs and feet like an Eagle. The Luo often use the nyatiti in ‘Benga music’, a genre of Kenyan popular music. Guitarists from Western Kenya sought to imitate the instrument, and so in Benga, the electric bass gui…
Day 7: In Nairobi – sponsors, blogs and strategy Story
…we spend with them recording. We are investing increasing time in group histories, background on costumes and songs. We then said goodbye to Kathy that evening as she flew back to London. Jimmy and Hunter will continue with the Ketebul crew through the weekend to produce songs/videos from the Kalenjin visit and as we start our studio recordings of the Otacho Young Stars (from our Nyansa trip) and Ben Kisinja (from this trip to record the Kalenjin…
Background on the Music of Northern Uganda News
…ere the men drum around the outside and women dance in the middle without drums (typically in Uganda, drums are only for men). A group of elderly men would perform it during the time of crowning the chief and then when he dies. It is also performed to entertain important personnel on big occasions. Being the only royal dance, it is one of the most important of the many dances of the Acholi: 2. We then plan to record a group performing the Otole wa…
Day 5: Recording the Marakwet Story
…by amazing runners. But there is also a mystique to the place and foreign runners feel like some of the magic might rub off on them.” Because the Olympics were approaching the place was filled with runners and documentary makers, all telling the story of this beautiful place. In fact, we were confused for a CNN crew! You can read more about Iten and its famous athletes here: Running with the Kenyans From Iten there is a beautiful tarmac road that…
Day 2: Nairobi to Kitale & an interview with Pato Story
…ey talks and the whole crew were there by 09.00. Everyone. That‘s the good news. The bad news was no one brought a key for the studio, forcing Tabu to have to drive home and back. We left an hour later. Drive good, but long (roughly 400 kms) with a few little thunder storms and the normal fun with roadworks and trucks. Nice chicken grill in Nakuru for lunch with full team. Fun fact, Nakuru is the birthplace of Nakumatt, the most successful retail…