Listen to more ‘Influences’ tracks from Singing Wells News
…an Influences track performed on location in the field during our visit to Kenya in march 2012 to record the music of the Kajenjin tribes. One of the most exciting moments of the trip was discovering this extraordinary musician from Kapsokwony, Ben Kisinja. His music is typical of the Sabaot tribe and he plays the ‘burkandit’ – a guitar simliar to the nyatiti played by the Luo tribes. Here he performs with Eddie Grey, one East Africa’s leading Jaz…
The First Singing Wells Influences Session Story
…The lush greenery and bustling activity of traders along the roadside not apparent the night before. We turned off the main road, and picked up our fixer Ndeche. We journeyed further from the main road past a school and into the village of Sila. The welcome we received from the villagers was warm and kind, and we began recording, with the recording team sheltered from the blazing sun, under a gazebo, hastily bought two days before in Nakumatt in…
The origins of Singing Wells Story
…they begin to sing, a different song emanating from each well. The animals appear from the bush, seeming to recognize the unique song of their master. Once the animals have had their fill the herdsmen climb from their wells and disappear into the bush. The songs tell stories of Samburu traditions and help the herdsmen keep a steady rhythm while they lower and raise their buckets. These ‘singing wells’ illustrate the importance of traditional songs…
Winyo performs with Batwa musicians for ‘Influences’ News
…eatures song collaborations between contemporary musicians and the music groups we have discovered during our field recording visits. When the Singing Wells team visited Kisoro in SW Uganda (Nov 2011), we were joined by Winyo, a singer/songwriter from Kenya. Here is a video from that trip and the music is performed by Winyo collaborating with Tiny Moses, a wonderfully talented musician from the Micyingo Batwa community. The track was recorded at…
‘Missing’ – Singing Wells fundraising song for 2013 News
…March 2013 saw the release of an original track from Abubilla Music, re-mixed for the Influences series. The song is called (The only thing that’s) Missing and it was first recorded for the Abubilla Music album Misery Marmalade and other Spanish Jams. Here is the video of the new ‘Influences’ version, featuring musicians from Kenya, Uganda and the UK collaborating in this a unique song to celebrate and support Singing Wells….
Meet our ‘Influences’ artists News
…a Winyo has joined the Singing Wells team of three recording field trips – Kenya (Coastal Region); SW Uganda and Kenya (Nyanza Province). Eddie Grey As an artist, Eddie Grey has been considered a fore runner in the entertainment circles and specifically for his contribution to jazz in East Africa. His roots in music begin long before he first touched an instrument. He was born in what he describes as an ordinary family in a modest country side set…
Day 8: Entebbe to Nairobi and Ketebul Studios Story
…ht is calling for boarding… There’s another line at the gate to go through Kenya security. Big queue and one very angry mzungu who was fed up. We all had to take off our very dirty boots which was unpleasant. Final line up to go through boarding gate which was a walk down stares on to tarmac and up to our very nice and pleasant Kenya Airways flight. We left and landed on time and all bags were waiting. We felt pretty sure that no baddies could hav…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Kampala (a driving story) Story
…eras, we needed to have all three cameras and audio start recording to a clapper board and keep recording through the whole take. We learned to get all the computer and cameras on the same time signature. We learned the roles of each camera (1 is stationary, full group, 2 is politely called fingers/feet and faces and 3 is context and overcoming the weaknesses of 1 and 2’s position). We even sorted out after a while how to stop the groups from star…
An Evening with Mserego Mwatela Group News
…a Massai, the founder of Msergo Mwatela Group, from the Coastal regions of Kenya. He originally performed with his father’s group and then he founded this group in 2007. They use a number of styles, most notably Sengenya, which we covered fully in our March 2011 field recordings in Malindi. We interviewed Swalhe Mwatela Massai and his grandson, Ali Tungwa : Q to the grandfather: In contrast to Uganda, we have seen many villages in Kenya where th…
Singing Wells – The Story So Far News
…the project to date, starting with our launch in 2011 when we travelled to Kenya’s Coastal Region to record the music of the Mijikenda. Full of stunning photos and excerpts from our field reports, the 110 page book is a detailed representation of our mission to celebrate and share the unique cultural music heritage of East Africa. Support the Singing Wells project and buy a copy! You can buy a copy of the Singing Wells book at the Blurb Bookstor…
ATTA is following Singing Wells News
Our friends at Hills Balfour and the Kenya Tourist Board continue to be wonderful ambassadors of Singing Wells, introducing us to interesting and interested people who we can talk to about 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 fie…
The Tribal and Musical Structure of East Africa – Worldmap Research News
…generally used in East Africa: broadly in Uganda and in specific parts of Kenya. Interestingly, the distribution of broad musical styles are distinctively different. While one would assume that Kenyan music is dominated by percussion, it is clear from the maps (above and below) that actually string and wind instruments are most prominent, and, largely, string and wind instruments are played together: Distribution of all string instruments Distrib…
African Strings: The Nyatiti and The Adungu News
…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 guitar is played in a style reminiscent of the nyatiti. This is because the nyatiti has always acted as a ‘bass’, supporting the rhythm during a piece of music. This is demonstrated above in our recordings from November last year. The first major Benga ba…
Day 9: Ketebul Studios with Ben Kisinja Story
…night wheels up, we will officially end the ‘field visit.’ Now the hard work begins of producing all the videos… Jimmy March 11th, Joma Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi Kenya…
Lango Tribe Profile – Music of Northern Uganda News
…, that the Langi are also related to Dodoth, Lotuko, Topsa, and Turkana of Kenya. Together with the Iteso, Kumam and Karimojong, they comprise the Atekerin family in Uganda. Customs: The Lango have a cultural distaste for witchcraft, and a strong work ethic. They live in small groups, and recognise no tribal chief, except those chosen to defend the common interest in the time of war. Hutchinson in “The Living Races of Mankind” adds, ‘The Lango are…
Day 5: Recording the Marakwet Story
…s world class athletes. The Journey Most the Olympic gold medallists among Kenyan athletes live within 100 kms of Iten and it has become the legendary source of great long distance runners. Over 1,000 Kenyan runners train here and the roads are filled with athletes training for London 2012. In addition, over 300 foreigners train here, mostly from Europe. We went to the main training centre and interviewed a project manager about why so many people…