Singing Wells in Numbers…. News
…Andy did a litte homework for this one: Number of recordings of groups: 374 (this does not include other recordings like Magic Moments, Influences, etc…) Number of groups recorded: 83 Number of hours of music: 27 hours and 30 minutes. …
James Isabirye and Tabu Osusa Discuss East African Music News
…they listen and guess what –everyone is listening to them. James: We need to move from being a nobody – neither a American/Englishman (but trying to be one) nor a Ugandan. We need to move from being a nobody to being somebody, to understand what makes us unique. When we hold festivals, we ask the musicians to talk to the audience, tell them their stories and who they are. For almost every festival, I am told by some government official that they…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…splay, and some even got played by some of our fellow Womexians as this photo from Louise shows: I gave an interview for Icelandic radio about the project. And around 150 people entered our competition to win an iPod shuffle – direct from one of our listening station. We’ll be making the draw soon. Cards in the Kalabash We were pleased to host a few meetings for our friend Guy Morley who used our stand as a meeting place. We were delighted also…
The Birara Batwa Community Story
…ommunities live a long way from town and have to make this arduous journey to buy provisions two or three times a week. The Birara Community live on a small plot of borrowed land at the top of a steep hill. We parked on the track a the bottom of the hill and carried all the recording equipment up a narrow path to the top. It was hard work- and we needed the help of one of our Batwa host to carry the generator – but the view, and the warm welcome f…
A recording studio which fits into the back of an SUV Story
…st Hotel in Kisoro, Uganda!) We can also combine the two recording units into one to increase the number of inputs, while still working off battery power. The laptops use Avid ProTools recording software – an industry standard for recording and music production. The microphones we have chosen are industry standard models used in studios the world over but, most likely, not seen in the villages of East Africa. The equipment has been carefully selec…
A quick summary of the Singing Wells Project News
…our mission is to bring this music to the next generation, to inspire them to look to their heritage for inspiration before they look elsewhere. We do this with ‘Influences’ artists… Like Winyo, an unbelievable Kenyan musician that was blown away by the music of the Batwa and couldn’t help but joining Jovah in song: 5. Singing Wells is about bringing together tribal music and wonderfully talented young performers like Akello from Uganda… We brough…
73,603 views on YouTube News
…was the very first video we uploaded to YouTube following our field visit to the Coast Region to record the music of the Mijikenda tribes. Is second place is a video from our field visit to Kisoro in south west Uganda where we met and recorded the wonderful Batwa people. The music is performed by Kamuntu ‘Tiny’ Moses accompanied by our Influences artist Winyo. And in first place with over 21,700 views is ’71 Hours to Monday’- a global tra…
A new type of city Story
…n the distance. Despite this unconventional type of city,I loved it. There was certainly a lot going on and during the week Akello told us many stories of the vibrant buzz in Kampala. Every night there’s music to listen to somewhere in the packed hub of 180,000 people . The image above of the tin houses and the Uganda House of Commons in the background was one of the first pictures I took on the trip….
The Boy with the Headphones Story
…Mperwa have settled on a small area of borrowed land just a few kilometres from the town. At first glance the setting appeared to be spectacular, with the lush valley and terraced hills of local farms as a backdrop and the magnificent Virunga volcanos in the distance. But we were quickly struck by the impoverishment of this small community. As we arrived, a group of women were gathered on a muddy terrace, washing their babies in a small plastic…
The First Singing Wells Influences Session Story
…fluence’ session was born. The recording is here for you to listen to, and to buy on the Mijikenda of Kenya album The father, Nyerere wa Konde was very gracious and offered us coconuts as a thanks for visiting and recording, which he, with the help of other villages prepared for us, using his knife. He was pleased and proud that we had journeyed to his village to record his music with his group. After which, the team packed up the equipment, loade…
The origins of Singing Wells Story
…t will soon die out, leaving videos and songs in the archives. We also had to work to make this music relevant and important to contemporary artists. A key part of a field visit, therefore, is to bring contemporary African musicians with us to perform with the tribal groups and to write new music influenced by these sessions. Winyo, a wonderful singer/songwriter with Ketebul Music, is one of our Influences artists and has been with us on three Sin…
Day 8: Entebbe to Nairobi and Ketebul Studios Story
…verse 2, they meet years later and our hero has a little money. He’s able to buy the young woman some perfume and she essentially says, ‘I’m yours.’ In the third verse he is singing to the village that the girl is now ready, in love with him, and about to visit the village. He’s won. Agiriama Anging: This song needs a little back ground. In the Coastal areas there are huge rivalries between villages and there are always, what the band calls, “hat…
Day 7 (pm): Recording at the Airport Guesthouse, Entebbe Story
…ened: the rebels arrived to his village and asked him to show them the way to town. In a way this was a blessing, because his family was saved (often, on abduction, the rest of the child’s family would be killed, so they’d feel angry, distant and unable to return home). Once they arrived at the town they wouldn’t let Odika go and it was clear he was a prisoner. He only managed to escape once the rebels believed he was one of them, and stopped watc…
Promotion of Batwa cultural music: UOBDU report March 2013 News
…with the Singing wells visitors. From their savings the group have managed to buy bed sheets and source pans and have kept or reserved UGX 180.000/= which will be used or spent in future. In addition to the Batwa cultural performance activity, the group members make contracts with other local people to work for them in the fields for a better pay. Gatera group’s plan is to register their group at the sub county and have a group name which will all…
Day 7 (am) – back to Kampala: Naguru to Entebbe Story
…kum, not far from Gulu up in Northern Uganda, and moved down to Kampala during the war. We love the instrument they played, the Nanga (below) so much we asked if they would join us in Entebbe to record more songs with Akello. We asked them to come with us to our next stop: our hotel in Entebbe, purely because we were desperate to have more time with the stunning musicians we met in the city. During the two hour drive to Entebbe we talked with Watm…
Hannah interviews Evelyn Ojok – Acet, Northern Uganda News
…ayer is that we will be able to become professional performers and be able to buy proper costumes, more instruments and better equipment to keep authenticity. Why do you like to perform? I am a woman’s leader for a local parish and my work has now spread to four different parishes, this gives me strength and hope. Working in this group has influenced women, they now have guidance and work to earn money for themselves. It is not only a musical grou…