Day 9: Ketebul Studios with Ben Kisinja Story
…s (we run a very tight shop, thanks to Steve’s leadership), we welcome Ben into the studio to record. The Otacho Young Stars stayed the morning as well. We had a full crew to support Ben – Johnnie and Bishop on guitar, Nina and Winyo on vocals. Watch this space. We also continued our work to capture new artists for Missing – Global Remix, our 2012 fund raising song. We had Prasad Velankar, a wonderful Indian percussionist join us to put on new per…
Background on the Music of Northern Uganda News
…o tribal identity, as many villages were evacuated and millions were moved into displacement camps. Being away from home, the traditional music of one’s tribe and ancestors becomes much more important for recovery and a way of holding on to normality. (The Tribal Structure of Uganda) Lira: We will then visit Lira and listen to the music of the Langi tribe. Go here to learn more about The Langi. Unfortunately Steve and Patrick were told that the mu…
Day 8: Ketebul Studios with the Otacho Young Stars Story
…of four days. We now want to repeat this for every field visit and decided to invite the Otacho Young Stars, the great find of our field visit to record the Luo, and Ben Kisinja, the great Kalenjin musician we recorded earlier this week. Saturday was all about the Otacho Young Stars. Let’s remind you who they are – here are two clips: We focused our recording time on Mr Manager, their quite sincere thank you song to a factory manager that came to…
Day 7: In Nairobi – sponsors, blogs and strategy Story
…and, we are artists, seeking musicians and styles that can be fed directly into the current music scene – we are ‘seed’ collectors looking for music that can be replanted and grown in different soils. Our obligation here is to judge, is to prioritise, to separate groups and find some groups that we should be bringing back to the Ketebul studios and supporting with contemporary studio musicians and sound engineers ready to bring new arrangements. T…
Day 6: Recording the Tugen & back to Nairobi Story
…at this recording business and have learned a lot. We have divided things into seven key roles, 3 on audio, 3 on video and one interviewer. All play secondary roles, the most important of which is our Influences artist who must be either a second assistant for audio or video. We have written a second blog on lessons – we felt it is important that if others want to launch a Singing Wells project of their own they benefit from our learning. The Sce…
Day 5: Recording the Marakwet Story
…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 travel all this way to train on the red dirt roads around Iten. She answered: “First, the altitude (roughly 2300 meters) is perfect – right at the peak of natural altitude where you can still t…
Acholi Tribe Profile – Music of Northern Uganda News
…ld visit to Northern Uganda we will come across a mix of different tribes, including the Acholi. Location: The Acholi people are located in Acholiland, a sub-region otherwise known as the Agago, Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo and Pader distrcts in Northern Uganda. Population: There are about 1.17 million Acoli in Uganda. History: They came to northern Uganda from Bahr el Ghazal in South Sudan. In the late seventeenth century, they develop…
Abubilla Music remix an original Batwa song for Influences News
…beautiful people who are compared to the beautiful white Inyange (Egret) bird. Musicians from Abubilla Music in London have added to the track for our Singing Wells Influences series. Here is the first ‘rough mix’ of the song….. …
Day 4: the Pokot Tribes Story
…s. The songs were: Kinyakar, Kamatakar, Chepo Nandi, Kamitoi, Kaperwo, Chemining Tie, Chepo Chepkai, Kimnakiy Mitinge, Kisech. Click here to go to Song Translations Everything Else Everything else from today can be divided into three key events. First, we survived the drive. There were a few scary moments, the first being driving to the village for the shoot – straight up a very steep hill. This was not a hill for most humans and certainly wasn’t…
Day 3 continued – an interview with Steve Kivutia Story
…bu because of his legendary status within Kenyan music. Tabu invited Steve into a meeting where he brought some songs he had worked on. Steve was still a big Hip Hop fan and loved R Kelley. He also liked Salif Keita, an afro-pop singer/songwriter from Mali, his only ‘African music’ influence. Steve’s first job at Ketebul was as an intern working with Jesse and Gabriel on the Spotlight on Kenyan Music series. His feature artist was Makedem who ‘ble…
Music of Northern Uganda News
…Odwar in 2005, transforming a former colonial golf club to a place for training and exchange and to promote and celebrate local cultural achievements. Joyce and David aim to engage people in post-conflict Northern Uganda in the creative arts; resuscitate local arts, crafts and arts education and recover, heal and develop local cultural traditions. With Joyce Laker Director TAKS Centre in Gulu Although Steve and Patrick were not able to meet a…
Singing Wells – Origins News
…mals 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 in the life of the Samburu tribes people. We think that Singing Wells is a very good name for our project which aims to preserve, celebrate and share the unique m…
Day 3: Kitale to Kapsokwony, Kenya Story
…enjin style. Tabu describes this style as very traditional and the way of singing is very unique to the Sabaot clan of the Kalenjin. The guitar is called a burkandit, and is a homemade guitar somewhat resembling the Nyatiti of the Luo. He was joined by a percussionist who played the karachimek, which is essentially two sticks on the ground played by two sticks. Tabu first met Ben in 2007, when working on Spotlight on Kenya Music Vol.4. He sang a s…
Day 2: Nairobi to Kitale & an interview with Pato Story
…sic and not good. I knew the second it started. I was so glad it started raining and we could get out of there.” [Editor note: we did not include this group in any Singing Wells materials.] So here is Pato’s favourite Singing Wells track – Jovah from the Mperwa Batwa community in Kisoro performing with Jesse on piano at the Ketebul Music studios This track is also on our album Best of Singing Wells 2011 Jovah – Ye Warararaye by singingwells We ask…
Bill Odidi reporting on Singing Wells from London News
…erviews with Kenyan musicians who are now based in the UK. They also had the chance to visit Kenya House in Stratford as a guest of our friends at the Kenya Tourist Board. Here’s Bill’s article published in Business Daily Africa: http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Where+the+world+got+real+flavour+of+Kenya+in+London/-/1248928/1480860/-/djb5mf/-/index.html Photos from Kenya House …
Day 1: In Nairobi, packing and talking to Tabu Story
…s and naturally join in when others are singing. There isn’t any formal training in tribal music. It is mother to child.” Tabu goes on to describe the role of tribal music,” Their music is a ‘way of life’. They use music for communication, passing on information and entertainment. Music is always present when there is a birth, a death, a wedding or other ceremony. Each tribe will have unique stories to tell of their history, of war, of famine etc…