The story of Anyim Lac Story
…the middle of this village surrounded by her whole community, had a beautiful, strong, pitch perfect voice. Incredible. Click here to go to the Anyim Lac band page …
Current Leading Figures News
…hy, with his emotionally-fuelled words, he works so hard to breathe life into Ugandan folk music for the current generation. He is especially concerned with teaching Ugandans values, and allowing them to value themselves, through music; music teaches people “values, patriotism, humanism, love, hope, faith, hard work, discipline, science, leadership…. teach them all. The best place to preserve values, and music does this, is in the hearts of people…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…oken word, instruction, and sounds from around the world’ and is committed to ‘to cultural diversity, education, increased understanding, and lively engagement with the world of sound.’ They currently have more than 3,200 albums and 45,000 tracks and, through the dissemination of audio recordings and educational materials, are seeking to expand this legacy. Their vast content is relatively easy to search – though of course it helps to know what yo…
Amone Watmon Matthew Story
…e. His aim is to teach his children (even those that are not his own) the music of his heritage. We are proud to have worked with the Watmon Cultural Troupe and the resulting recordings and videos are a treat. Click here to go to the Singing Wells group page. You can view more videos from the group on YouTube (click here) where you can also make a donation to support the group through our charity, The Abubilla Music Foundation. …
A History of Recording East African Music News
…to persuade their government to fund them properly. They also need to pull together.’ Nearly all of Cooke’s material is available online at the Peter Cooke Uganda Collection, British Library There is an archive of his work at the Makerere University in Uganda, which must be listened to onsite. The availability of this archive to the general public is unknown to Cooke (though his concern is that it should be available to everyone) His personal webs…
Tracey Instrument Collection News
…rom wood with animal skin stretched over the top and bottom and then laced together. See similar drums in action with a Magic Moment from the Namaddu Troupe… Amadinda loose-note xylophone The first xylophone pictured has 17 keys and the second has 12, and were both made by Andrew Tracey to replace the endara log xylophone (above) which stood outside the ILAM building as it was wearing from student use. The xylophones are played on the ends by th…
ILAM, Repatriation and Jimmie Rodgers/Chemirocha News
…l you the story of Jimmie Rodgers/Jimmy Rogers/Chemirocha. Tabu told this story to Jimmy in 2011 and it remains his favourite Hugh Tracey story. Here’s the story as told in Muzik: “And then the big bomber: the song I consider Tracey’s single most outstanding recording, “Chemirocha,” a paean to Jimmy Rogers (yes, the country singer) by some Kenyan girls. The song is haunting but made more so by Tracey’s introduction on the LP record (not included o…
Promotion of Batwa Culture/Music: UOBDU report Nov 2013 News
…r the equipment and the uniform. All the groups in general were very happy to get such unique uniforms that would make their groups visible; in particular the Birara and Mperwa groups extended their sincere gratitude to Abubilla and singwells for promoting their music. While Mukingo, Gatera and Kabahenda requested UOBDU staff that were distributing these uniforms always to promote their talents such that they can benefit from them. Lastly the Kany…
Ketebul Music: A Year in Review News
…stribution remains a terrible problem for all of Africa. My worry remains, however, to create content and then worry about sales and marketing. No point in arguing about marketing until you have deep and rich content. Our government is pushing for local content which is good, but my view is that we first have to have great Kenyan content and then our people will want it because it is good not due to regulations. Spotlight: We are also working on S…
Preserving Threatened Heritage News
…sic heritage of the region and to help make this legacy relevant and fresh to today’s audiences.” And it is always great to hear of stories where others are attempting to do the same, especially in countries so close to our heart, such as Uganda. An article on the website of the Ugandan daily newspaper, New Vision, warns about the need to preserve ‘Bigwala’, the royal music of the Busoga region. Bigwala music is performed at ceremonies such as cor…
Obuell-Lira and the Macedonia Band Story
…aid over and over again that the music was neutral and only had allegiance to Uganda, not to one side or the other in the war. There were many scary moments when rebels would try to force them to declare allegiance or die. It was a miracle that the rebel leaders let them live and continue to play their music as ‘neutrals’. In 1992, the Uganda Army re-took control of the area. One of their first acts was to go to each village and accuse them of col…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…their work, and it looks great. Hopefully we can help the project and work together in some way in the future. Showcases Visited Mike and I were present at the opening concert – curated by Cerys Matthews at the fantastic Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay. The show was a showcase of traditional Welsh music including performances from Matthews herself, The Welsh Ballet and The Treorchy Male voice choir. I heard a bit of a day showcase from th…
Clowns Story
…On our first recording day during the Northern Uganda Field trip 2012 we had the pleasure of working in front hundreds of children who slowly climbed a tree to watch the proceedings. They were delighted by the cameras and we had a lot of fun showing them their smiling faces. This little boy was the biggest show off….
SWP Uganda 2013 – our proposed itinerary News
…oli communities. In September, Steve and Tabu from Ketebul Music travelled to Uganda to undertake a ‘recce’ and identify the music styles and groups which we will be recording for this next Singing Wells trip. We now have our outline itinerary to share with you. Day 1: SWP team assemble in Entebbe After flying in from Nairobi and London, the Singing Wells team will meet at the Airport Guesthouse in Entebbe. It’s the perfect place to stay on our fi…
The Birara Batwa Community Story
…‘Inanga yabatwa’ – a story-telling song. The leader gathers the community together and through the song tells stories of the Batwa traditions – the hunt in the forest and the celebrations and meal following the hunt. In this way the children learn about what it is to be Batwa and so will never forget the traditions and way of life of the ancestors. This is Bashitsi Bahire, the welcome song which the group performed for us. This was our first ex…
The Batwa Community Story
…h across much of what is now Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and DRC. In recent history however, the Batwa have become a displaced and largely forgotten ethnic group and their traditional culture and way of life is threatened with extinction. The Batwa community first became fragmented as other ethnic groups populated their homelands, cutting back the forest to provide land for crops and livestock. However, it was in 1991, with the creation of formal cons…