Northern Uganda: Day 4 – night recording at Fort Murchison Story
…o play the song just with their part find it all a bit strange. So too for African village groups. They don’t go into studios and ‘lay down their track’ in some great over-dubbing session. They perform with a troupe, and they feed off of and help drive the dancing and the other instruments. The song Apako Oranga had an amazing Ndara riff and we wanted to capture it on its own. But the subsequent magic moment session lacked something – our friend w…
Northern Uganda: Day 3 – from Gulu to Awach to Pakwach Story
…nd. They formed thirty years ago and their goal is ‘Edu-Tainment’, helping African children learn key life lessons through song. They have 35 members, who all have full time jobs doing something other than music, so usually about 15-20 can make any performance. In general, the men all play instruments and the women all dance. They call their music ‘folk’ because it combines traditional musical styles with modern themes of war, disease, etc. Their…
The Tribal and Musical Structure of East Africa – Worldmap Research News
…uments that were surprisingly common that I would not have associated with African music, such as the Sansa, a type of thumb piano: Distribution of the Sansa Pokot Tribe (highlighted) Writing a profile for all of the different tribal groups was also fascinating. There are such a wide variety of different customs and beliefs in one area, and some tribes, such as the Pokot tribe from Kenya, were memorable for some of their cultural theories. Interes…
Northern Uganda: Day 1 – Entebbe to Gulu Story
…thern Uganda. Within minutes we were deeply immersed in the ‘classic’ East African road scene: big tall white bags of coal, with grass helmets, bricks in various stages of manufacturer (either drying or firing), pyramids of potatoes, tomatoes on patches of blankets under trees, tiny goats tethered near the road side to pick at a fresh patch of grass, bike rider riding with small loads or walking their bikes with large loads (this trips winner was…
Northern Uganda: Day 0 – London to Entebbe Story
…woman with whom he’s had a one year old son. He was passionate about West African music and did a paper on drumming in Ghana. So Vicki switched seats with Jimmy and talked to Andrew about the Singing Wells project for an hour. We then all settled down to watch Ted before landing about 8 hours later in Entebbe. All bags were gratefully recovered and we took a taxi for an 8 minute journey to the Airport Guesthouse Entebbe, where we were greeted by…
African Strings: The Nyatiti and The Adungu News
…enany, Western Thebes (right). Some scholars have rejected the theory that African harps and lyres today were originated from the instruments that were created first thousands of years ago, although there is strong evidence to suggest they were, not only due to their likeness, but because of the way the instruments have migrated with their players, as shown on the map (left). Below is a video made by Levy, one of three, describing his theories lin…
Lango Tribe Profile – Music of Northern Uganda News
…of different tribes, including the Lango peoples. Location: Northern central region or the “Lango sub-region” as demonstrated on the map. Population: about 1.5 million people Language: They speak Leb-Lango, a language similar to those of the Acholi and the Alur. They are part of the Luo group or “Western Nilotic Group”, and so all of the languages in this area are fairly similar to understand. Origins: Their original homeland was north of La…
Day 7: In Nairobi – sponsors, blogs and strategy Story
…is to be systematic in our field visits, to represent the breadth of East African styles, to record fairly, and to not judge whether any particular group or style is likely to be relevant to today’s generation of listeners. On the other hand, we are artists, seeking musicians and styles that can be fed directly into the current music scene – we are ‘seed’ collectors looking for music that can be replanted and grown in different soils. Our obligat…
Day 4: the Pokot Tribes Story
…terviews with Eddie and Nick. There are separate blogs here, which provide some more observations on what Ketebul Music and and now Singing Wells has done to the team’s view of modern music and more importantly, African music. For the record, the Ketebul crew all reported that the meal at the Eldoret Club, where we are staying, was the first great meal they had on the trip. Singing Wells team 6th March 2012…
Day 3 continued – an interview with Steve Kivutia Story
…also liked Salif Keita, an afro-pop singer/songwriter from Mali, his only ‘African music’ influence. Steve’s first job at Ketebul was as an intern working with Jesse and Gabriel on the Spotlight on Kenyan Music series. His feature artist was Makedem who ‘blew him away’ and he still views Ohanglaman as his favourite album. He also says Jesse was the perfect coach, so passionate about good music, but so meticulous about creating great music. Steve h…
Singing Wells – Origins News
…ing eroded. He says, ‘For reasons I can’t fully explain, contemporary East African music has lost touch with its tribal roots. Our most popular musicians find far more inspiration in western music than they do with East African music. I worry about this. As a people, we risk losing our deep cultural heritage – the role of traditional music and dance in our lives. And as musicians, we risk becoming undifferentiated. Rather than drawing upon what ma…
Day 1: In Nairobi, packing and talking to Tabu Story
…heir history, of war, of famine etc but there will be common themes as all Africans have similar challenges and experiences.” Ketebul is recording traditional East African music before it is lost forever. Tabu came up with the idea of ‘going to the tribes’ rather than dragging the tribes to studios” He describes the Singing Wells approach to mobile recording: “Recording the tribes in their home villages is very different than recording them in the…
Music of the Kalenjin: video playlist News
…k. They are perhaps most widely known as world class athletes as many of the legendary Kenyan long distance runners are Kalenjins, including Kipchoge Keino, chairman of the Kenyan Olympic Committee and the first African to win an Olympic gold medal (Mexico City 1968 in the 1500m). Video playlist The trip was facilitated by the generous support of donors to our charity the Abubilla Music Foundation. …
Day 2: Focus on the Nyatiti, Orutu and DRUMS! Story
…ent, played with bow, with notes determined by finger pressure against the central stick, ‘fretting’ notes. Here’s what one looks like close up: Here’s the band playing with Jessie and Winyo on an influences song… https://youtu.be/kWbhAfwJkkw https://youtu.be/9Pd3IwODTlY https://youtu.be/KmJULbLUzME https://youtu.be/gPaBQwODTtU https://youtu.be/2ta51sAwNoc Nyatiti Group Featuring Okumu Korengo. Another wonderful Nyatiti group led by Okumu Koreng…
From Kisoro to Nairobi to Lake Victoria Story
…servations: The Casket. We have travelled about 5,000 kilometres so far on African roads for Singing Wells. And we’ve observed Africans carry just about anything on their heads or their motorbikes – fruit of every type, doors, trees, chickens, etc… Our favourite, however, was to be greeted by a motor bike travelling directly towards us with a funeral casket on the ‘back seat.’ Given the safety of the roads, we praised the driver for ‘being prepare…
Samba Mapangala & Orchestra Virunga News
Legendary East African music and friend of Abubilla Music and The Singing Wells project, Samba 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…