Day Three: Bungoma Town to Kakamega Story
…were too young to open an account at bank so saved their money under their pillows. Wilbert then travelled to Nairobi to find someone to record their first songs. They went to Sawa Studios and in 2009 recorded their first album, Khabere Wefwe (these were songs dedicated to their heroes). They turned these recordings into cassettes to sell at the bar for 100 shillings per tape. After a year they also did videos to their songs. Then they met John Ch…
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…want to be involved in this project please download the brief above and get in touch with us at info@singingwells.org…
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…
Group 2: Sophie Nzayisenga Story
…spent time with her father and grandfathers, all of whom played the inanga professionally (her paternal grandfather even played for the king’s palace). She was born in a village in the south of Rwanda. By age seven she was doing festivals and by nine years old she had left the country to play a festival in Bulgaria! She was accepted as a female inanga player because she started so young and people loved seeing this child perform. By the time she c…
Day Zero: February 15, 2020 – Assemble in Zanzibar Story
…and succession of another, the British did not approve of, led to the Anglo-Zanzibar War, the shortest war ever fought. It was over in 7 minutes because of the strength of the British navy. The islands gained independence from England in 1963. A month later the Zanzibar Revolution occurred. Several thousand Arabs and Indians were killed. Thousands more were expelled leading to the Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba. Soon the islands joined the Mainl…
Day One: The Iteso People and their Music Story
…e you tube video) we were recording; they were: Omuian’gi: A song about ‘in-laws’, where the in-laws are always complaining about the cooking of the daughter in law. They are never satisfied. Imadede: The name of a man with horrible manners. He gossips. He poisons neighbours if he is jealous of their success. In the song, the performers ‘call him out’, letting the whole village know this is a man of bad character. Achaung Kakolong: This is a song…
Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…g’. We were welcomed by his son Donald Obasie, who is a fine artist. The 80-year-old Obasie grew up with music, since his grandfather Okomol was a traditional percussionist. Obasie himself started playing music in 1958 and has mastered several Teso traditional instruments. Today he plays with an old friend – Mzee (Edler) Ikobulo (born 1932) and his daughters as back-vocals. Through a series of 8 songs, he showcased three major instruments: ADEUDEU…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…ng Olero on nyangile (sound box) and Fredrick Ouma Olero on lead vocals. In 2007 and 2008, these youngsters were members of Apoly jazz band, a group that was formed by Polycarp Otieno, then a schoolteacher at Bondo primary school and well known for his skills in the adaptation of traditional folk songs. Apoly later moved to Yago primary school next to Ranen center in Migori County and is credited with teaching Otacho Young Stars the art of playing…
Group 7: The Impano Group Story
…ounced Imano group, silent P), which means “Gift” or “Talent”, a young five-part group that do modern takes on traditional songs and mix the inanga with the guitar. They have one guitar player, one inanga player and three vocalists. Yvanny is the songwriter, when they do originals. Yvanny, Livingston and Karinijabo met when they studied music together at the technical school, and Deborah was in a church choir. Kirenga taught himself guitar and met…
Group 1: Inganzo Ngari Group Story
…The dance truly represents Rwanda as the agaseke is different to other (non-Rwandan) baskets. In all the dances, the dancers wore bell shakers on their legs called amayugi. As the sun was starting to set, we were regaled by the Ikinimba (meaning “Jumping”), a dance about the people who live in the mountainous Northern region of Rwanda, who want to jump to get to the peak of the mountain. They performed with tuck jumps, unlike the Masai in Kenya wh…
Contact Page
…ul Music The GoDown Arts Center P.O Box 21737-00505 Nairobi, Kenya (A company limited by guarantee. Registered no: 134230) www.ketebulmusic.org…
Our Sponsors Page
…th the United Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda (UOBDU). http://www.iie.org Soundcloud Type of sponsorship: discounted services Our entire archive is available to listen to on Soundcloud, and their players power the audio playback on our site – click here to visit our archive. Thanks to Soundcloud for their continued support in the Singing Wells project. You can sign up for a free Soundcloud account which will give you the ability to…
What We Do Page
…ordings. Our mobile studio allows us to record audio via up to 8 different professional quality microphones and video with three HD cameras. Following each visit, this material is post produced to provide an archive of audio tracks and videos. We are in contact with The British Library about adding the Singing Wells collection to their archive of World and Traditional Music but we also endeavour to make our recordings accessible to the widest poss…
Global Influences Project: Artist Submissions Page
…nt to learn more about the Global Influences Project, head to singingwells.org/global-influences-project SHONA X EKHUNJWE MUSICAL GROUP This next collaboration comes from DJ and producer, Shona. This is our first submission using the beats from the Ekhunjwe Musical Group, and we love how this music has been transformed from traditional dance accompaniment, to a house track that you could hear in any major club this summer! “It was a thrilling and…
Video playlists from Kenya 2018 Story
…t=PL6jxUA468Mq9NQ-zWTvuNk2xUKNJQr6Uh Bugnoma Roots Band https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESB-pxQBUYE&list=PL6jxUA468Mq9OAlm-PXg8Z-Pgb_ckPZHK…
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…