Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 2 – Flutes 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, w…
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…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 2 – Interviews with Musicians of Uganda’s Royal Palaces Story
…around our neck when not playing. I learned to play the trumpet from my grandfather and father, and the village where I came from all learned to play the trumpet. The palace knew we had the best trumpet players. All children learned to play and it was the parents’ job to teach the children how to play. We didn’t live in the palace so we waited until we were called to play. Every day was a great day at the palace and the one thing I learned was to…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 1- Drum Making and Palace Players Story
…rope. The end result looks like a drum, with the skin tight along the top and bottom and stitched together along the edge. 6. Preparing the cow hide strings “I then cut animal skin strings by cutting around the skin to create a very long rope. I then take these long strings and soak them in water for 24 hours until they are very soft.” To do this, he takes a big thick piece of cow hide and then cuts around it in a long circle, going around and ar…
Central and Eastern Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Jinja Story
…iving Bigwala player from Busoga. He started there at 12 and his father, grandfather and probably others before were all trumpet players. The traditions died as the kingdoms died and he felt the trumpets had gone for good. In fact, the knowledge of how to grow the gourd to make the trumpets was lost and the seeds for the long gourd were almost impossible to find. A tradition literally dying on the proverbial vine. James Isabirye found James Lugolo…
Rediscovering the lost Royal Drums of the Buganda Kingdom: Day 1, Uganda Story
…e and instruments were destroyed, the King exiled, the royal musicians disbanded and much of the music forgotten. In 2013, we considered any idea of reviving the Entenga to be very unlikely, because we thought all the drummers who had played in the palace before 1966 had died. But in 2015 James discovered the sixty-something Musisi, possibly the last surviving drummer. Musisi was just a teenager at the time of attack and barely survived the night…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…rio’s guitar work was evidently inspired by influences from way beyond Luoland and was pretty much ahead of its time. It is possible that its ingenuity came from itinerant guitarists from the Congo, Uganda and Zambia who were already visiting Nairobi in the 1960s. Musicians such as Jean Bosco Mwenda, Edward Masengo, Nashil Pichen, Peter Tsotsi and Ugandan bassist Charles Sonko introduced exotic styles which were snapped up by their local collabora…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11: Ketebul Studios, Nairobi Story
…yer who was the first ‘secular player’. He often visited Wanganangu’s homeland and recruited Wangangangu to pursue a musical career. We recorded 6 songs with Wangangangu over two sessions: Cal Wa Kadogo Ngurumo ya Saba Saba Muhiki Nyakairo Maito Njeri Rocine Kerokp Muumboro Osumba Rateng We first worked with Osumba during our trip to Nyanza in 2011; he is the founder of the Sega Sega band and ‘Flora’ remains a Singing Wells favourite. He is one of…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 1 – Nairobi to Kiongwe to Muranga Story
…ho acts as the on-site Singing Wells representative, formally meeting the band and handling all their questions about the project and their role in it. Tabu is typically joined by our local music expert, in this case Gregg, who took the lead in interviews. Gregg has a worksheet prepared in advance that he uses to capture information on the group, their songs, and their unique instruments or musical styles. Here he is with Christine Kosove of Twone…
Central Uganda: Day 7 – A Magic Day in Entebbe Story
…er time with us about hearing the sounds of African music. Last night, she and Andy played together, with Andy working out a guitar part. So first, we recorded the two of them. Then, we decided that if she was writing about hearing the sounds of African music, she should hear the sounds. So James worked with Jovah on a beautiful line, where she sang about the Batwa people being driven from the parks. Then Passy worked on a separate melody line fol…
A Tanzanian Effort to Salvage the Music of the Past News
…There’s ethnographic information about the tribes and the history of the bands, and some tracks even include the recommended dance steps that go with them. There are still bands performing in the muziki wa dansi style, which enjoyed something of a resurgence with the 50th anniversary of independence. One is King Kiki, who has been playing rhumba-inspired music in the Tanzanian capital, Dar-es-Salaam, for over 50 years. But he admits that this mus…
Central Uganda: Day 6: Kampala to Entebbe Story
…n’t trust their neighbors is a witch. Ssewaswa: This is about twins Wasswa and Kato and praising twins. Anamwinganga: This was apiece composed by his father in 1945 and recorded in the 1960’s. It talks about who will attack the king. He has all the security and people are there to protect him so he should be safe. N’agenda Kasana, Instrumental Ssematimba: Magic moment instrumental Tweyanze: It is an appreciation song to say thank you. James Isabir…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…Beat and the treasurer in group. Meddy was voted the best dancer in the Uganda in 2004 and in 2008. The Group performed five songs: Ikobo Kobo: The name is a type of herb. It is a song about a girl who is very bitter because her mother will not let her play with her friends freely. The mother explains to her that she was barren but the spirits helped her to conceive. The spirits set the condition, however: that she should never play in the rain….
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…y along age lines on the fundamental issue of fish vs. sleep. Tabu, Jimmy, Andy and Vicki voted sleep and we had food delivered to our cottages, ate and went to bed early. Steve, Patrick, Jacinta, Nick and Robert voted fish and went off the local casino for ‘the best fish in Uganda.’ Tabu was smartest of all, of course, and convinced the kitchen to cook fish in the traditional Kenyan style AND went to sleep early. We loved recording at the hotel s…
Before They Pass Away News
…le with the world, but also serves to highlight the struggles these communities face: constant threats of displacement from their land, potentially deadly diseases brought by newcomers, and loss of the habitat on which they rely. It’s now more important than ever to understand, respect and celebrate the world’s indigenous cultures and remaining tribes, before it’s too late. To find out more information about Jimmy’s work visit http://www.beforethe…