Royal Entenga Drummers Group
…ded and much of the music forgotten. 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 leads the new band, they built a new set of Royal…
Makunga Group
…a (Wooden water troughs, played on ground like calabash, which was used in last song). The group started their performance with the most extraordinary set of customs – human shakers! We recorded seven performances: Intro, Freestyle recording of their entrance. Masasi: the celebration song after circumcision completed Nindo: Song on social issues Muhene: Song during girl ceremony where she reaches puberty and now must be hidden from village for 40…
Biluli Dutwa Group
…rcus, part acrobatics. A wonderful crowd pleaser! 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 salesmen. Simiyu: A song for praise for the region. Bahuni ba ng’wanza: A song referring to local women of questionable virtues Balimi: A song about farming where the band brought up children from the village and taught the…
Day Three: January 20th, 2019 Story
…’oma and entertained the kids with circus acts involving fire, razor blades, knives, etc… It wasn’t really part of the Singing Wells Field Visit but we were thrilled to stumble across it! From the village, we then drove a little over three hours to Mwanza, and stayed at Malaika Beach hotel, where we would stay for two days….
Richard Sewanyana Group
…B Kizimula to meet with Richard Ssewannyana. As we believe Musisi is the ‘last surviving’ royal drummer, we believe Richard is the last surviving royal flutist. Please, let’s be wrong here. We first interviewed Richard: “I am Richard Ssewannyana, son of Paulino Kajubi, whos father was Buko Ssempiira. My village is Ndese, in sub-county Kasawo, of County Kyaggwe. My grandfather used to play the flute in the palace but he was aging and wanted a fami…
Kochia Traditional Dancers Group
…nkey fur. They are accompanied by drumming, and the Tung’, the Luo horn. You can contact the Kagan Kochia group for bookings on +254 700 600881 Sources: www.hivisasa.com www.allafrica.com Homa Bay, Kenya Leader: William Odero Ondiek…
Watmon Cultural Group Group
…ampala, telling people he would like to start a dance troupe, and was met with a positive reaction. Eventually he had people coming to him asking to be a part of it, and from that point the group became an institution. In the fallout of the war against Idi Amin’s regime, many people were looking for an escape, and the troupe presented just such an opportunity. The group performed for President George Bush during a state visit to Uganda. They were…
Introduction: Project overview and objectives Story
…be presented in a finer ethnographic report to follow. “Masters of the Nyatiti” focuses on the nyatiti, an 8‐string lyre originating in the Luo community on the shores of Lake Victoria in Western Kenya. Most of the field recordings this report is based on were thus conducted in Lake Region of Kenya, notably in Kisumu and Siaya Counties. The details of these recordings will be described in a day to day report and followed by an evaluation of their…
Day Three: 9 March 2022 (Kisumu) Story
…they came on stage at 8:00pm, they were rather fatigued but started their show with cover songs of other established groups and switched to their own compositions at our request. With a little encouragement from a few fans who were attracted to their ohangla music, which is the favorite genre in Kisumu, the Asego Ensemble soldiered on ending their performance by 9:00pm. Profile: Peter Akwabi Peter Okutoyi Akwabi, was born in 1946 in Ebuhonga villa…
Day 3 – Monday 3rd July 2017 Story
…was placed on the resonator and installed using nails. He would then wash it with soap. The stages of nyatiti making we could not see were described later in an interview. Sewe explained how he treats siyala wood, from which arms and head of the nyatiti are made. He buries them in firewood to make the wood stronger. His explanation also revealed a more ‘liberal’ usage of many different types of wood for the resonator (ex. afene, maembe, ondero, m…
Culture Musical Club Taarab Orchestra Group
…ed in 1965 after independence. Generations of musicians have played in it. It plays traditional Taarab music with all female solo singers and male singers on instruments. It was clear that this orchestra had played together for a long time and were well rehearsed. They have a total of 45 people in their orchestra. They usually play with about 25 and we saw 15. Instruments in this orchestra we saw: 4 violins, 1 oud, 1 base, 1 qanun, 1 accordion, 2…
Mariene Traditional Dancers Group
…mcision; they are calling out to all that can hear that they boys are ready. Wikiri Mariri: Song is about herding… He asks a woman for thin porridge which is kept in the gourd during long trips away. He meets someone else that wants the gourd and dies with it. In the song he calls for those who will really listen to what he has to say (this is the wonderful refrain at outset) Magic Moment: Simon doing gospel interpretation of Mariri. Magic moment:…
Day Four: February 19, 2020 (Maruhabi Palace) Story
…nstruments and sang. The horn sounded like a snake charming horn and was quite loud. It added a Indian/ Arab feel to the music. Kizazi Kipya Kidumbaki – We drove to this group in Mahonda and the DCMA annex. Thabit Omar Ali is the assistant to the head teacher and is a teacher himself. at the DCMA. He met us at with the first group and brought us to this one. They sing and perform mainly for weddings and celebrations. Performers: (all male): Juma…
Day Zero: February 15, 2020 – Assemble in Zanzibar Story
…on the purpose of the trip. First, Zanzibar is an island off Tanzania, with a long colorful history. Before it was ‘controlled’ by the Portuguese in 1503, it was a base for traders between the African great lakes, the Arabian Peninsula and India. In 1698 it came under the control of the Sultan of Oman. Areas were developed to grow spices and this area, which includes Pemba, became known as the Spice Islands. The main trading was in spices, i…
Day Four: Ikolomani to Amalemba Story
…care and it had calves. The original owner than seized by the cow and all its calves with no warning. Alusiola is the name of the original owner. Modesta: A long song about a girl that left her husband because he was too poor. She went away and earned lots of money and returned to him. He realized that she did love him but needed them to have more money so he was grateful on her return. Imbalekha: This is about very bad men who chase all the marr…
Super Phoenix Band Group
…care and it had calves. The original owner than seized by the cow and all its calves with no warning. Alusiola is the name of the original owner. Modesta: A long song about a girl that left her husband because he was too poor. She went away and earned lots of money and returned to him. He realized that she did love him but needed them to have more money so he was grateful on her return. Imbalekha: This is about very bad men who chase all the marr…