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…ssage represents the rest of the Batwa people. I listened to the recording of my song – it was so nice, so sweet.’ The day ended with her joyfully dancing to her own record, with her newborn baby in her arms. It was a moment that made so much of the work put in by the entire team completely worth it. And it has inspired us to continue searching for more voices like Jovah’s that need to be heard. A Ugandan Lullaby We spent a day on our Uganda trip…
Day 3 – Monday 3rd July 2017 Story
…ed to as ‘the nipple’. According to him, this is in fact the umbilical cord of the instrument (in vernacular pende thum), which makes the resonator stronger and more difficult to break. Finally, Sewa told us he got the knowledge of nyatiti making from his step‐father and commented on the custom of making a sacrifice upon completion of each instrument in an equally liberal way: “it’s upon the client”. Thus, our day with Sewa Oriwo was, I believe, v…
Guy Morley Staff Profile
…ation. No Nation is an independent UK based arts programming and promotion company. Some of the festivals that Guy has programmed include The Big Chill, Brighton Festival and African Soul Rebels. Guy is also a freelance music promoter and DJ. In the course of his career he has produced a radio show called Afro Base, on Juice 107.2 and Totallyradio.com and been the resident DJ in several venues in Manchester. Working under the name Yam Yam, Guy Mor…
Elgon Ngoma Troupe Group
…iences’ minds. As the bands have grown there are roughly 160 total members of his group, of which 100 are performers. They are roughly divided between the two bands. For income, they do performances and also work four acres of land to feed themselves. Many of the members also do arts and crafts or a skilled trade – Julius’s dream is to open up a hair and beauty studio so they can support the bride with her beauty and music. He hopes the troupe wil…
Days 10 to 12 – Monday 10th July to Wednesday 12th July 2017 Story
…hildren, held by Rapasa at a private residence in Karen (Nairobi); including short interviews with 4 students and with the school director, who talked of the importance of including traditional instruments into the curriculum….
Day 1 – Saturday 1st July 2017 Story
…ape (resembles the traditional Luo hut shape), symbolism of the number (8) of strings of the nyatiti, his tuning techniques and order of string tuning, together with the story of his personal attachment to his instruments collection (owns 14 nyatitis). Upon our arrival to Kisumu City, we had another semi‐formal interview that would birth ideas for other hypothesis and arguments to follow up on. We met Meshack Okoth Okumu, who was to be our fixer i…
Watmon Cultural Group Group
…n on the 25th November 1951 in Kipgum district, Awedi village in the north of Uganda. He was fond of playing music as he grew up, playing the nanga (a harp) in the field as he tended the family cattle or worked on the farm. He lived in Awedi until 1991, when he moved to Kampala, due to the rebel fighting. He started a small group of dancers, performing Acholi traditional dance which he had learnt when he was young, both from grandfather in his vil…
Andy Patterson Staff Profile
…and producer from the North East of England. He studied at the University of Surrey as part of their Tonmeister course, graduating in 2005. He has since worked in the music industry in a variety of roles, performing both engineering and technical duties for a wide range of clients, from the world of pop music through to film composers. He has worked with Abubilla Music for around 5 years and has co-engineered and produced all of the releases to d…
We assemble in Kisumu Story
…ological research in East Africa, with a special focus on dance traditions of Kenya. She possesses comprehensive knowledge of qualitative research methods, data collection and analysis, and is experienced in academic writing, content creation and editorial. Kahithe has a master’s degree (MPhil) in Ethnomusicology and Dance Anthropology from the University of Paris X Nanterre and is currently finalising her PhD in Anthropology (ABD) at the same uni…
Kahithe Kiiru Staff Profile
…ological research in East Africa, with a special focus on dance traditions of Kenya. She possesses comprehensive knowledge of qualitative research methods, data collection and analysis, and is experienced in academic writing, content creation and editorial.Kahithe has a master’s degree (MPhil) in Ethnomusicology and Dance Anthropology from the University of Paris X Nanterre and is currently finalising her PhD in Anthropology (ABD) at the same univ…
Hannah Calascione Staff Profile
… …
Day Three: Bungoma Town to Kakamega Story
…g exactly when the rains came crashing down on us. While they had a couple of traditional songs, most of their performances were to allow students to feature specific instruments. Songs were: Mwana Wa Mbeli: famous Lua Song about first born child. Luseno: a song to feature the Shirili (which are these?) Pelele: A local beer, this was great song sung by band leader solo. Isukuti Drums: song featuring the drummers Tsing’oma: Shirili Instrumental We…
Day Two: February 17, 2020 (Stonetown) Story
…movement where they moved their hips and buttocks completely independently of the rest of their bodies. They wore a sash around their hips to accentuate the movements. Songs: Ewe Mwana Mimi Nakwambia – this means Hey baby, listen to me. A love song telling the woman he loves, Mwana, to be patient Yalait – Love song to Yalait, a woman’s name Hongera Mwanangu – Congratulations my child, used for weddings to congratulate the newlyweds or the bride….
Day One: 7 March 2022 (Shikangania and Mukumu) Story
…according to plan until a group of mourners appeared from nowhere with a coffin of a dead relative that had just recently arrived from Nairobi. Although the burial was planned for the following day, the emotional villagers were already wailing loudly and playing mournful dirges. This dramatic twist of events threw us off guard and we were forced to stop our program temporarily. As required by local custom, we dutifully went to commiserate with th…
Introduction: Project overview and objectives Story
…ific SW project series. Speaking from the position of research consultant, my recommendations and comments will refer largely to the ethnographic data collection part, complementing Abubilla and Ketebul’s work in relation to SW’s mission and to the novelty of this specific series. According to its original concept, the Singing Wells Masters series aims at recording and documenting master players and instrument makers of various Kenyan/African inst…
Day Three: January 20th, 2019 Story
…ee groups: Group one: Baseki: This group was formed in 1975 by the parents of the current band members. They are from the Sukuma Ntuzu community and play in the Bulabuka style. The play drums, which they call Ng’oma ya bula buka. The drums are made from the Mahama tree. We recorded eight songs with them: Balogi Wa Ngamboshi: This is about the Wizards of Balogi, where wizardry is perceived as a negative thing, evoking witch doctors and snake oil sa…