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…ked to Congolese rumba and West African highlife, but differs sharply from South African kwela, taarab, chakacha and kidumbaak; the most well-known Swahili music forms from the coastal strip of East Africa. The peculiarity of the Benga beat comes from the combination of a sharp lead guitar overriding the rhythm and bass. The pace of the guitars, with a steady rise to a climax or crescendo and an equally quick refrain, together with the arrangement…
Martin Fredrick Muyeshi Staff Profile
…ing Songs of Protest and the book Shades Of Benga: The story of Popular Music in Kenya, to which he contributed his photos. His work has also featured on Voice of America’s “Music Time In Africa” under the Host Heather Maxwell as well as the Singing Wells project, which focuses on archiving traditional music in Africa, among other projects….
Video playlists from Kenya 2018 Story
…ww.youtube.com/watch?v=WZWLQCNVUtE&list=PL6jxUA468Mq9Pd2xlX3D7Ru2MTTuT8KqS South Teso Jazz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VW0wNmuq8I&list=PL6jxUA468Mq_tVAwWIrPTe9FlbEmAWWBb Obasie Palnyang https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieNi3J-ky4E&list=PL6jxUA468Mq_807_5aRNd5562pLxoHfIl Omong’oluk Traditional Dancers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILMAhvkRtg0&list=PL6jxUA468Mq9LNfV2MxN2k1JwC-xu5n06 Samuel Namatete https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtkGVQFNoPw&l…
Here for the Music? Page
If you are here to experience some of the very best music East Africa has to offer then you are in the right place. For some of our stories, videos and the chance to listen to some of our Singing Wells Albums, head to the links below. Stories Read some of our most memorable stories from the field, featuring stunning photography taken by our team. Learn more about the communities we meet, the instruments that are being played and the background st…
Mission Page
…and with Singing Wells we aim to: Preserve the rich music heritage of East Africa Introduce East African tribal music to a new generation of musicians and music fans Offer tangible and lasting benefits to the musicians and village communities we visit Encourage the development of village music groups, particularly within the young community, and demonstrate that preserving cultural music heritage will help sustain a vibrant and successful communit…
Kahithe Kiiru Staff Profile
…ment. She has 8 years of experience in ethnomusicological 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 finalisi…
Elgon Ngoma Troupe Group
…embers 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 will give them opportunities to travel away from their homes, but also…
We assemble in Kisumu Story
…ment. She has 8 years of experience in ethnomusicological 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 finalis…
Get on the Map Page
If you are making music in East Africa, then we’d love to feature you on our map. Please fill in the options below to get in touch: To Upload music to the Dropbox – go to: http://soundcloud.com/singingwells/dropbox Note: submission of the form grants The Singing Wells project permission to embed any links contained within the form on the map of East Africa. Submission of the form does not guarantee that your group or music will be featured on t…
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…ck in 2011, we had a mission to preserve the rich musical heritage of East Africa, by filming different musical groups on our yearly field visits. But aside from this, we have always aimed to showcase this incredible music with the wider global music community to show just how innovative and exciting this music is. With that in mind, as we approach our 10 year anniversary, we want to truly combine these two missions and celebrate how music in the…
James Allen Staff Profile
…He has 20 years of experience in international business and has worked in Africa extensively during that time. Jimmy launched Abubilla Music in 2008, a small label dedicated to developing young recording artists. The following year he began developing the idea for the Singing Wells project with Ketebul Music, sharing their passion for preserving and promoting the traditional music of East Africa. Jimmy has an MBA from Harvard University and an MA…
Albums Introduction Page
…e Singing Wells project is to record and share the music we record in East Africa and one of the ways in which we can share this music is through our albums series. For each project we undertake, we curate an album of the resulting recordings. In most cases, this will include at least one recording from each group recorded. Where it works artistically, we’ll arrange the tracks on the album in chronological order of the recording date – so you can…
Instruments Introduction Page
…have found so far on our travels. The instruments are tagged by their ethnicity, their recording location and the type (simply broken down into Stringed, percussion or wind at present). This also makes it easy to find links between instruments – the Rigi Rigi and the Orutu being very similar is one good example. We hope to find more instruments as we record more throughout East Africa, and as we do, we will bring them to you through this page….
What We Do Page
…both Kenya and Uganda. Our long term goal is to visit each country in East Africa and research, document and record the music and dance of the major traditional music styles of each region. Click on the following links to read our field reports from each of our visits: Music of the Mijikenda – Kenya’s Coastal Region Music of the Luo – Nyanza Province, Kenya Music of the Kalenjin, Great Rift Valley, Kenya Music of the Batwa, Kisoro, Uganda Music of…
Tabu Osusa Staff Profile
…he Project Coordinator of Ketebul Music’s Retracing Series. Supported by the Ford Foundation Office of Eastern Africa, the Retracing Series is a research based documentary project whose main objective is to research, archive and document the musical culture of Kenya. Tabu is the East Africa Project Co-ordinator for Singing Wells. His extensive knowledge of the East African music industry is integral to the strategic planning of the field visits an…
Here for Research? Page
…interviews, historical information and first hand accounts of the way East African music has developed and grown. Instruments In depth information and photography of the different musical instruments used in East Africa. This database is constantly evolving as we discover and record more instruments. The instruments are tagged by their ethnicity, their recording location and the type (simply broken down into stringed, percussion or wind at present…