The Key to Sustainable Aid in Africa? Perhaps we should follow the music. News
…d. On our second goal, we only have to remember Francis and Jessie playing together in Kisoro. And as we plan for our next trip to Kampala this Autumn, we can’t wait to publish new songs, new dances and new stories from East African music. But, we always recognized that there was a hierarchy of needs in East Africa. No matter how threatened the culture of music was, we understood that East Africa was facing ‘bigger problems’ – be it famine, diseas…
A recording studio which fits into the back of an SUV Story
…new techniques and face new challenges. For our next field recording trip to Uganda (November 2013), this is the list of everything we will be taking with us: 2 Apple MacBook Pro 2 MOTU Traveler MK3 Audio Interface 4 Headphone amps 8 Sony MDR-V600 headphones 2 Shure mics & stands 2 Rode Lavalier omni-directional mics 2 Rode NTG-1 condenser Shotgun mics 1 Matched Pair of AKG C414 XL Microphones 1 Matched Pair of Rode NT5 Microphones 2 Rode profess…
What people say about Singing Wells News
…e future.” PSN Europe Magazine Read the review of Singing Wells here. Mark Totokwa via YouTube “This is good stuff – a good example of a sustainable project both in context and content. A big thank you to those behind this project and most importantly to the resourceful musicians. A job well done!” (Posted on YouTube here) Atesh Sonneborn, Associate Director, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings “Andy, It was a real pleasure to speak with you this morn…
The biggest smile Story
…rful smile on the face of one of the members of Omee Odokomit, an all women dance troupe led by Evelyn Ojok. The t-shirt she is wearing reads Kikopo Pa Mon, an annual drama competition hosted by Women’s Global Empowerment Fund to address issues facing women in northern Uganda such as inequality, HIV/AIDS, gender based violence and food security. In December 2012 we recorded the group for the Singing Wells project – click here to Discover the Music…
Group of the Month – Watmon Cultural Group News
…ngwells and on Twitter here: http://www.twitter.com/singingwells – if you do tweet any links, please use the hashtags – #gotm and #singingwells We’ll update this page with any new items we add to the site over the course of the month. Check out the featured content links below to find the Watmon Cultural Group page from our Musical Map of East Africa….
Fiona’s story Story
…abukunga Batwa community who we met when we took the Singing Wells project to Uganda in 2011. Fiona has been able to attend junior school through the sponsorship of the United Organization for Batwa Development in Uganda (UOBDU), an NGO based in Kisoro. She is a wonderful role model for the Batwa community and is proving that, with the right opportunity, Batwa children can achieve the same educational goals as any other child in the district. Ever…
Alice’s story Story
…nd translations and recording the meanings of the songs. We were delighted to be able to record the music of her own community, Gatera. Alice is unique within the Batwa community in Uganda as she is the first (and, to date, only) Batwa who has been to university. Her education started in 1993 at Gitovu Primary school but after Year 3 she had to leave as her parents were unable to pay the fees. The Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA), an NGO…
A story of Batwa traditions Story
…are, the leader of the Birara Batwa Dancers who we met on our first day in Kisoro, Uganda. In this photo, Francis is telling stories of the Batwa people and their culture and heritage in a song called ‘Inanga yabatwa’. During the song, the leader gathers the community together and tells stories of the old Batwa traditions before they had to move from their forest homes – the hunt in the forest and the celebrations and meal following the hunt. In t…
A quick summary of the Singing Wells Project News
…ouldn’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 brought Akello to Northern Uganda. She joined almost every band. Here she is with the Watmon Cultural Group singing Amari… Or with the Adungu Cultural Group singing Awinyo… 6. Singing Wells is about capturing how cool, how relevant this music is through Magic Moments: Listen to the N…
Health and Safety? Story
…a Night Driving had taught the team to avoid it at all costs), but after the accident we had to drive back to Soroti to get it fixed. It was there we were able to find an engineer purely through word of mouth, and had a guy weld our wheel back together on the street while we waited in the car. He was standing right next to the car’s engine, wearing flip flops and no mask during the job (as pictured). But thank goodness for him! We were back on the…
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…
Victoria’s reflections on field trip to Northern Uganda News
…gine your world through your soulful eyes Their silence speaks volumes, a story to tell We’ll re-tell your story, we are Singing Wells We travel a road to a world far apart Your country, Uganda, it captures our heart Your eyes are a window that’s opening wide To tell us your story that’s hidden inside So sing us your story and dance us your life Share with us your memories and don’t let them die Sing us your history and dance us your life And your…
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
…oys who were intrigued with all our recording equipment. Andy invited them to listen to a playback of one of the songs through his headphones and this particular boy overcame his shyness to have give it a try. We could see how hard life is for the Batwa, living on small pieces of borrowed land on the fringes of society but the performance of the Mperwa Dancers did not portray this – it was full of pride and happiness. Once again, we witnessed ho…
The Influences Series from Singing Wells News
…usicians from Kenya, Uganda and the UK collaborating in this a unique song to celebrate and support Singing Wells. 71 Hours to Monday Our very first ‘Influences’ song was 71 Hours to Monday. An original song from Abubilla Music re-mixed to include percussion from Sau Paulo and vocals from Nairobi. (Read more about the background to this track here) For more videos from the Influences series click here Meet our ‘Influences’ artists click he…
Listen to more ‘Influences’ tracks from Singing Wells News
…nyo with backing vocals. (Click here for blog post) During our field visit to Northern Uganda we travelled with Akello, a singer/songwriter originally from an Acholi village near Gulu and now living in Kampala. Here she is performing her own song ‘Amari’ accompanied by the wonderful Watmon Cultural Group. (Click here for blog post) And here is Akello with another of her songs, this time accompanied by the Adungu Cultural Troupe who are based in Ka…