Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 1 – Nairobi to Kiongwe to Muranga Story
…e of Twone Mbee. Audio Team This team always includes two sound engineers, one of whom sets up the mixing station (in this case Andy) and the other that sets up the microphones (in this case Steve). They are assisted by ‘all hands’ for the set up and break down of the session, as the audio equipment is the most extensive. Also assigned to the audio team is “Mr. Clapperboard” (Audio 3, in this case, Nick) who handles the clapperboard and therefore…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 0 – London/Nairobi Story
…Day 0 is always a day of prep and planes. The Ketebul and Abubilla Music teams, with assorted guests, assemble in Nairobi to launch the first of our 2014 Field Recordings; this time focused on Central and Eastern Kenya. Here’s our team….
Central Uganda: Day 7 – A Magic Day in Entebbe Story
…to three separate lullabies: from Jovah, from Passy and from James. We did one with guitar and one version without. Here’s the Lullaby Song: I Hear the Sound: Jacinta had written song inspired from her 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 Africa…
Kenya’s Amazing Musical Instruments News
…means “box.” To play it, a musician holds two metal rings called “ogeng’”, one in his right hand, one with his right big toe. Both are placed on a wooden box. With his left hand he hits either ogeng’ (each with a different sound), or the side or top of the box (which also produces different sounds). He also has the option of sliding the rings along the top as he plays to elongate the note and change its pitch, making the instrument sound more like…
Interview: fusion band Ndoto Afrika News
…lf and Ndoto Afrika – what’s your story? They say stories live forever and one famous Kenyan writer keeps saying that a story is good, until another is told. We are here to share with the world how wonderful it is to be born and raised in Africa. Sadly, the urban African youths are so consumed with the modern technology that they no longer are willing to sit by the evening fire and listen to stories. So we will have to transmit these stories to th…
Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…ndure. After these two songs, Julian took over the lead with his drums and xylophone to play Chiina Chedya Mayi, a beautifully chilled song about the loss of a mother.. Here is their music: The Elgon Hero Brass Band Following this very traditional tribal music, the contrast couldn’t be greater – on marched the Elgon Hero Brass Band. Here’s the band with our Influences artist, Jacinta. They performed the following: Malaika (Influences): They starte…
Before They Pass Away News
…their cattle, and the Maasai in Tanzania. Singing Wells too has travelled extensively across Kenya, meeting remote tribes like the Pokot Tribe, the Marakwet Tribe and the Ameru Ethnic Community. In a Ted Talk, he shared some of the fascinating rituals that he came across on his travels. Nelson’s objective, he says, was to reveal ‘beauty’. “I believe that I had to choose the most beautiful people on the planet in the most beautiful environment that…
Happy new year from Singing Wells News
…g Wells YouTube channel. Our channel features videos from our trips across Kenya and Uganda, including visiting the tribes of the Kenyan Coast, Central and Eastern Uganda, our work to share the music of the Batwa community and the Luo community. We’ve told the story of repatriating Kenya’s music heritage after 50 years and celebrated magic moments – where we’ve found an extra-special artist on our journeys and recorded their work. 7. We spoke to a…
Central Uganda: Day 1 – From Entebbe to Kidinda Story
…up, which were 8 men who collectively played the Amadinda, a 22 key wooden xylophone. There total group size is 15. The musical style is Kadinda. The group lead is Waswa Hood and he started playing when he was 17. There were two other original members: Kiwuwa Buruhan and Sulayiman Sserubiri. The group started in 1939 performing for the Kabaka (the Ugandan King), but then stopped performing in the king’s palace in 1966 when the king was removed. Th…
Singing Wells surpasses 500,000 YouTube hits! News
…atwa community and the Luo community. We’ve told the story of repatriating Kenya’s music heritage after 50 years and celebrated magic moments – where we’ve found an extra-special artist on our journeys and recorded their work. To celebrate our 500,000th YouTube hit, we’ve put together a selection of our most popular videos. We hope you enjoy, and please keep visiting our channel and sharing the traditional music of East Africa with the world. Reco…
Who’s looking at you? Story
…This little fan joined us along Lake Victoria to record some of the best Nyatiti players in Kenya in November 2011….
Our top Singing Wells songs for April News
…’re celebrating our all-woman groups with a selection of music from across Kenya. 1. Gacharaigu Gitiro Women Group, Kimunya We recorded the Gacharaigu Gitiro Women Group in Kangema, Kenya in 2014. The group, formed in 2006, is led by Fidelia Nyambura Mwangi. Their songs are dedicated to self-help. Its style is Ndumo, an old women’s dance purely for entertainment and preservation of culture. For all their songs, the ladies used the Kigamba (leg sha…
Rediscovering Afropop and its influences News
…riving through Nairobi’s Westlands and talking to a girl about Sauti Sol – one of Kenya’s most popular bands. She described their music as ‘Afropop’, a contemporary music genre that combines traditional African music and Western popular music. Afropop influences The Sauti Sol band members have named a musician that influences them as Daudi Kabaka. Kabaka was a popular Kenyan artist whose songs include African Twist.The traditional Benga sound is a…
Discussions on music and culture with a young Kenyan News
…rgy is. Well we’re not going to give up that easily, so what can we do to excite people? One of the challenges with building any kind of platform or promoting an initiative to young people is that it has to connect really closely with what they stand for and believe in, otherwise it won’t work. If you could find a way of making Singing Wells relate to what young people believe in, that might just work. I reckon film or TV would be a great way to g…
Meeting Ketebul: an interview with Tabu News
…d the music will be lost.We play a very important part of bridging the gap between young Kenyans in the city who don’t go to the villages and might never hear the traditional music of Kenya, and old musicians don’t come to the city. We can only make traditional music popular with access to it. But why is this so important to you, specifically? I care deeply about culture. You cannot do without music in this world. Everything is tied to music, it’s…
Our top 5 Singing Wells songs for March News
…But the more I’ve found out, the more meaningful this song is. Ochieng was one of the founders of Benga, a Kenyan music genre adapted by the Kikuyu musicians of the ’60s. We were privileged to have the chance to record him and preserve his music in March 2014. Sadly, Ochieng died soon after. Had we not recorded and documented these songs, they might have been lost forever. 3. Mariene Traditional Dancers – Mpandi mautini This group was formed in 20…