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
…amed a musician that influences them as Daudi Kabaka. Kabaka was a popular Kenyan artist whose songs include African Twist.The traditional Benga sound is about 60 years old with its formative years occurring between the late 1950s and the 1960s. Its roots run deep in age-old Luo musical instruments. Singing Wells and the ‘bridge’ between traditional and modern Tracking the story of Sauti Sol’s musical influence excites us, as it’s a reminder of ho…
The coolest dude at Homa Bay Story
…A wonderful picture of one of the Kochia Dancers who we recorded on the banks of Lake Victoria at Homa Bay, Kenya, in November 2011….
Discussions on music and culture with a young Kenyan News
…aditional music mix – they were popular! So not all hope is lost for young Kenyans? Look, we aspire to a western life and we enjoy western music, but we have our own way of speaking in Kenya, our own slang – our own twist. There’s still some authenticity but it’s about mixes and making the most of these influences. We can’t go backwards but you could try and ensure that going forwards all is not lost for traditional music. How do you think Singing…
Meeting Ketebul: an interview with Tabu News
…ll 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 important! We…
From the streets of Kisoro Uganda to a professional recording session… Story
…Tiny Moses, backed by Winyo, plays guitar and sings in the Ketebul Studios in Nairobi. We discovered Tiny Moses during our visit to Kisoro Uganda to record the Batwa trips. Along with Francis and his wives and Jovah, we brought Tiny Moses and his team back to Nairobi to record them in a professional studio. Johnny and Bishop, on guitar and bass respectfully, joined Winyo to help Tiny Moses. Go here to listen to the result. …
The lovely painted faces of the Marakwet tribes in the Rift Valley Story
…This is one of the beautiful singers from the Sagat Traditional Dancers; we recorded them on March 7, 2012 during our trip through the Rift Valley, Kenya. Her white dots represent the soil and the harvest; their beads are traditionally given to them after female circumcision. These dancers had walked over 50 kms the night before to make sure they arrived in time for the recording….
Our top 5 Singing Wells songs for March News
…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 2003. They are from the Ameru Ethn…
From African Twist to Benga News
…lls. Our goal was to record some of the most important ‘bridge’ artists in Kenya – a group of musicians who have built a connection between the music of their villages and modern music. They were the founders of Benga, the African Twist, Luhyia ‘Omutibo’ and the ‘Yoddeling’ sound adapted by the Kikuyu musicians of the ’60s. We dedicated six days of studio time at Ketebul Music in Nairobi to record this set of legendary musical artistes, all of who…
The repatriation of Kenya’s music heritage News
Many hundreds of recordings by an early generation of Kenyan musicians are currently being returned to the communities in which these songs were made in the 1950s by English ethnomusicologist, Hugh Tracey. The repatriation of these recordings began in August, during a two-week pilot project in Kenya’s Rift Valley led by Prof Diane Thram, Director of the International Library of African Music (ILAM) in South Africa and the team from Ketebul Music,…
Ten More Singing Wells Stories News
…to do a ‘one minute’ performance of their favourite bit of song or dance. Kenya In contrast to Uganda, Kenya’s musical groups are aging and dying out. But we found one extraordinary ‘boy’s group’ and their energy is seductive. They told us the full story of Male Circumcision rites, which this performance shows, here. A word about brass bands: It isn’t every day you discover a brass band in the middle of Africa, but it isn’t every day you meet Jul…
Current Leading Figures News
…ries which aim to to research, archive and document the musical culture of Kenya, the latest of which ‘Retracing Kenya’s Songs of Protest — Music as a Force for change in Kenya 1963-2013’, was released recently. His extensive background of involvement in the East African music industry can be found on his About Page at Ketebul Music and his thoughts on some of the central issues surrounding East African music are here in his interview with James,…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…o on the Putumayo site, he highlights the positive change that you can see today; ‘one can hear world music in television commercials, film soundtracks and other mainstream outlets on a daily basis. A hit world music album that may have previously sold only 15,000 copies today can sell hundreds of thousands of copies.’ Putumayo is living proof of this, as they have sold over 20 million CDs since it began, showing world music can be commercially vi…
A History of Recording East African Music News
…ountries as she was lucky enough to receive funding from various projects: Kenya National Archives, Kenya Conservatoire of Music, a teaching assignment Kenyatta University and she worked with Mennonite Central Committee and Peace Corp. She was able to use her role as teacher and lecturer to spread the importance and beauty of traditional African music to young school children in Indiana, up to university students across the US and Canada. Oyer’s l…
ILAM, Repatriation and Jimmie Rodgers/Chemirocha News
…ernet, because here’s the song: It was recorded by the Kipsigi people of Kenya, the largest sub-groups of the Kalenjin, and was inspired by a Jimmie Rodgers record left behind in their village by missionaries. We recorded the Kalenjin in 2012. Jimmie Rodgers, was, of course, a famous American country music singer in the 20’s and 30’s. This teaches us several things: All music is inspired by all music: everyday in Singing Wells, we have to remind…
James Isabirye and Tabu Osusa Discuss East African Music News
…actly. Rather than embrace our identify we aspire to be something else. In Kenya, all the young musicians want to play Hip Hop and want to become like a musician from LA, all gangsta style. But that is not them. James: What do they know about the criminal gangs in LA? They repeat the vulgar, violent language of these songs and don’t know their meaning or origin. So it just sounds vulgar – some Kampala teen-ager singing F this and F that in a bad A…