Unyago Group
…chain-smoking rebel!). She followed Siti Binti Saad as a major Taarab vocalist and was considered queen of Taarab and Unyago music and died at 103 in 2013. Amina Abdalla still performs in her house, which is called Raha Leo. Folks go to see her there from all over. The other members included: Fatima Juma (dancer and singer), Raya Abdalla (drums), Fatima Hamza (drums) and Tatu Hamisi Amur (please note she was in all three groups). The drums includ…
Super Phoenix Band Group
…about a girl that left her husband because he was too poor. She went away and earned lots of money and returned to him. He realized that she did love him but needed them to have more money so he was grateful on her return. Imbalekha: This is about very bad men who chase all the married young women from their village. They make life very difficult for the women and gossip all the time. Achitsa: About a father who was very proud of his daughter and…
Kizazi Kipya Kidumbak Group
…A. He met us at with the first group and brought us to this one. They sing and perform mainly for weddings and celebrations. Performers: (all male): Juma Fadhul Juma (leader and secretary but did not participate), Fadhili Faki (director and plays violin), Mohamed Khamisi (violin), Khamisi Vuai (bongos), Khamisi Bato (bongos), Ameri Sefu ( Sanduku – sinle string base), Ahmed Juma (sticks and table), Sheha Makame (shaker= cherewa) Dancers and chorus…
Richard Sewanyana Group
…song of any of the ones they had been playing since he joined the palace. And he couldn’t. And they were very mad because he had taken a salary as a player and they felt he was a robber. So when my father realised he had been found out and that he wouldn’t replace his father there was a panic and a desire that I go to the palace to replace my grandfather. So I played in the place of my grandfather for about two months, but then there was suddenly…
Day Four: January 21 2019 Mwanza Story
…as poor and settled on Man 2 who was even poorer. Meanwhile Man 1 got rich and lady came back to him and the song asks, “So how did it end up?” Magic Moment on a song Ndono. They then did a lot of dances with ‘modern’ music on speakers. https://youtu.be/uRfFn7ZgUrU Group 2: Camera: Camera, who has been performing since 1999, is from Nzega and from the Sukuma community, playing in the Kadete style. Camera plays the Kadete (like the Zeze from earlie…
Day Three: January 20th, 2019 Story
…ocal women of questionable virtues Balimi: A song about farming where the band brought up children from the village and taught them about hoeing the soil to the song. Later we saw several videos of how this song is used in the fields to motivate farmers, who hoe to the beat. Throughout Tanzania, we saw school kids walking to/from school with their hoes, where they often tend to small plots at the school. Serengeti: We are near the national park…
Irimbene Cultural Dancers and Self-Help Group Group
… Irimbene Cultural Dancers and Self-help Group, formed in 2000 with 21 young men, and is led by Edward Kiogura. They play in the Authi style and are from the Ameru ethnic community, from the Irimbene Village, upper Kiungone Sublocation, Abogeta West Division. The group uses Mbere (shakers) worn by Bernard Nkonge, Ginfold Mbae, Amos Munthi and Fraras Ikunda. They also use a flute, Coro, which is performed by John Mwiti….
Mr Bado Group
…and music for generations. He is the son of the legendary mwanzele singer and composer, Nyerere wa Konde. He was greatly influenced and inspired as a child by his father’s Mwanzele playing as well as by Maulid Juma’s Taarab, and Bhalo’s Chakacha. He started singing in 1994 while studying in Mombasa, and is now an accomplished music producer in his own right, and he runs his own studio in Watamu called Bado Records, where he records his own music…
Aynu Traditional Group Group
…n earth by spirit (the creator of men). Spirit created a man (gboro-gboro) and a woman (meme), and then domestic livestock. Meme had wild animals in her womb so that after the gazelle had broken out all animals followed from her womb. Man was the last to come out. The first human beings are said to have been twins: Arube and O’duu. Arube was a boy while O’duu was a girl. These twins, unlike their parents Gboro-Gboro and Meme, were believed to have…
A Report by Professor James Isabirye – Indigenous music learning in contemporary contexts: Nurturing learner identity, agency, and passion News
…s and Social Sciences, Kyambogo University, Uganda. His research interests include: social constructivist learning and teaching, decolonization of music and general education, and the roles of indigenous practices in those processes….
Fundraiser for Matthew Watmon News
…ondition in hospital. We are urgently trying to raise funds to support him and his family in this difficult time, and we hope that some of our followers may be able to help us. If you are based in East Africa, please get in touch with Matthew’s brother, Constantine Odida ((MTN) +256-782-236-742 and (Airtel) +256-704-261-037). If you are based elsewhere in the world, we have created a GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-mathew-watmon…
Ketebul Music presents Shades of Benga Online News
…, examining external influences from the English waltz to Afro Cuban Rumba and how they helped mould new music styles across Africa. Rumba was brought to Eastern Africa via the itinerant Congolese musicians Edouard Masengo and Jean Bosco Mwenda who’s intricate guitar-picking styles largely shaped the present Kenyan sound, with the Benga playing a dominant role. Currently, you can get advance copies from Ketebul Music Studios or place your order by…
Singing Wells Approaches 5 Million Views News
…wing people! We can’t wait to bring more songs and stories to the world. Keep an eye out on the Singing Wells Youtube channel for the footage and recordings from our field trip to Zanzibar and Pemba….
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 1 – Reflections Story
…identified a whole set of extraordinary musicians from our 2013 visit to Uganda and have invited them back to do studio recordings. But today, we focused on two things: 1) Discussing in detail some of our observations from our time exploring the royal instruments of the kingdoms of Uganda 2) Recording again Albert Ssempeke’s Buganda Music Ensemble. Given that we first decided to rediscover the Royal Drums after recording Albert’s group in 2013, we…
Singing Wells Youtube Channel hits 2.5Million views News
…Since 2011, we’ve been sharing our work discovering, recording, archiving and celebrating the traditional music of East Africa, and its an amazing reward to see the impact our work is having. We want to take this opportunity to thank you all for supporting us over the last few years, and for creating such a thriving community in the comments below. As we build towards our ten year anniversary in 2021, we are thrilled to know that we have the supp…
The Return of Bigwala News
…a promising future for this important thread in the tapestry of Uganda’s cultural history. Sources: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ugandan-music-bigwalahttps://ich.unesco.org/en/news/uganda-young-ugandans-mobilized-for-safeguarding-bigwala-music-and-dance-00251https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1333991/bigwala-busoga-royal-music-dance…