The Revival of Ohangla Music! News
…of our favourite Ohangla artists, Otieno Aloka. Giving A Trendy Sound To Traditional Ohangla Music Traditionally played at weddings and funerals, the music is having new life put into it by young artists like Otieno who use electronic production, combined with incredible musicianship, to create a whole new genre. Otieno’s song Kanungo Eteko is massive on Youtube, and we were lucky enough to record him in one of our sessions in Nyanza here: https:/…
Support for the Elgon Ngoma Troupe News
…ect, which houses children from disadvantaged backgrounds through performance of traditional music, through breeding and meat production. Donate to Elgon Ngoma’s gofundme page here! And you can watch one of their brilliant performances, recorded on our 2014 field trip, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkyDtBXfunI Watch Julius, the leader of the group, explain who the Elgon Ngoma troupe is, and their mission: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5…
Remembering Our First Ever Influences Session 8 Years Ago News
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The Return of Bigwala News
…la was when we captured a performance by the Bigwala Cultural Group in late 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2HnP36EVK4 The story of bigwala is a fascinating one, and quite unique in its association with the political history of the country. The gourd and musical style were for hundreds of years an integral part the kingdom of Busoga, and would be played at coronations and other royal ceremonies. When Prime Minister Milton Obote sought to un…
Rediscovering the lost Royal Drums of the Buganda Kingdom: Day 1, Uganda Story
…ause we thought all the drummers who had played in the palace before 1966 had died. But in 2015 James discovered the sixty-something Musisi, possibly the last surviving drummer. Musisi was just a teenager at the time of attack and barely survived the night of the attack itself (more on this here). James met him and realised that together they could begin to build the drums. Working closely with Albert and Shaban, a professional drummer who now lea…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…els such as Lolwe, Sungura, Oyundi, Duol amongst others. By 1979, Kanindo had become a household name in the region, controlling an industry worth several million shillings, and determining the fate of Benga musicians besides setting their standards. He is said to have, at times, played bands against each other, dropping some suddenly and giving bigger recording opportunities and visibility to others. It has been suggested that his management styl…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 0 – London/Nairobi Story
…and has been our primary contact person to support this trip (e mail: lkoome2000@yahoo.com) Raphael Sipalla (Audio 4) our ‘Influences’ artist (e mail: ruffmaud@yahoo.com) We will be interviewing them throughout this trip to provide additional color to our Field Reports. We spent our Saturday packing and preparing the vans for the trip. Let’s remind you of our team – we cheated and took photos from the trip that follows: Tabu Osusa STEVE KIVUTIA &…
Interview: fusion band Ndoto Afrika News
…g tune all day). We interviewed them to find out more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeRj9BrTT20 Hi Holly. Tell us about yourself 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…
Before They Pass Away News
…apua New Guinea’s highlands, he recorded how the Huli people shave their heads when they become a man, and continue to do so every day. With that hair they create wig that they decorate with feathers from birds, and that wig is a personal project that they continue to add to throughout their lives. He followed the Samburu people in Northern Kenya as they travelled across the land searching for new plains for their cattle, and the Maasai in Tanzani…
A History of Recording East African Music News
…They had a “gentlemen’s agreement” that any artists Tracey discovered who had commercial potential, he would forward to Gallo. He therefore started the career of some of Africa’s first popular musicians, such as Jean Bosco Mwenda. Masanga, by Mwenda, was one of the first truly popular songs in Africa. However, as Tracey’s particular concern was that the recordings he made were kept authentic and not manipulated for commercial use, he strayed from…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…ght and got to the arena early on Wednesday morning to set up the stand ahead of the trade fair opening This was our stand after setup (note the obvious mistake in the nomenclature….): Conferences Attended I attended a few of the conferences arranged by the organisers. Revenue streams in the digital environment was the first of these and looked at different examples from different territories – the main example being given as the Caribbean. This…
Group of the Month – Watmon Cultural Group News
…om our Uganda 2012 trip, as well as recordings made in both Naguru and at the Entebbe Airport Guesthouse, where due to the generosity and patience of the manager Jan Willem and the other guests, we set up a recording studio in the garden. You can join us on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/singingwells and on Twitter here: http://www.twitter.com/singingwells – if you do tweet any links, please use the hashtags – #gotm and #singingwells We’l…
The Tribal and Musical Structure of East Africa – Worldmap Research News
…ore marriage, and functions as a method of preventing a married woman from committing adultery. 1% of Ugandan women undergo the procedure, compared to 95% of Pokot girls. Times are changing, however. Since the Female Genital Mutiliation or ‘FGM’ Act in 2009 the practice has been on decline, but this year in particular Pokot men have come to women’s aid by rejecting the practice. There were reports in February of this year of men demonstrating with…
African Strings: The Nyatiti and The Adungu News
…ome in a variety of different sizes and are often played as an ensemble: Tradition: Traditionally, the harpist was the only musician ever allowed to play in the room of the royal ladies, whilst there would often have been a harpist situated in the Kabaka’s palace (the chief of the Baganda tribe in Uganda). In some cases, a harpist was blinded by royal command either to make him immune against the charms of his audience or to keep him dependent upo…
Lango Tribe Profile – Music of Northern Uganda News
…. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Otiso, Kefa M. (2006). Culture and Customs of Uganda. Ohio: Greenwood Press. (Lango at everculture – 2012) Lango – http://www.everyculture.com/Africa-Middle-East/Lango.html#ixzz2AhrHntF4 …
Lugbara Tribe Profile – Music of Northern Uganda News
…gs presiding over them as like other ethnic groups in Uganda. They mainly had chiefs who were their leaders. They formed friendly alliances with neighbouring chiefdoms to ensure their security against attacks from other ethnic groups. Rather than an army, every able-bodied man had the duty to protect his village hence all able-bodied men were automatically considered a soldier though this was not a permanent duty. Language: They are divided into m…