Day Two: January 19, 2019 From Tarime to Buturi to Bariadi Story
…roup: Our first group, from the Mara Regio (Roria District) was formed in 2012. They are from the Abhasimbete community. Their style is Rirandi and they play the Zeze/Endongwe (a one stringed instrument similar to the Kenyan Orutu and Ugandan Rigi Rigi), Rirandi (a giant horn, similar to the Uganda Big Wala, but made with 6 gourds, not one), Ekeborogo (flute), the Ekedomwa (drums), Ama’ghorro (huge leg shakers), and Firimbi (whistle). They wore Am…
Eridat Makwiri Group
…zune, playing the Litungu. Song meanings “Wangoyo”: This is a song about co-wives. One lady was lazy. And she would wait for the co-wife who had already woken up and prepared the food. The wife who had prepared the food tried to keep the food away from the lazy wife and the lazy wife would go complaining to the husband. The message in the song is to not wait for everything to be done for you. “Paulo Wawanyera”: This is someone’s name, meaning Paul…
Nyota Ze Meremeta Group
…Zanzibar and promotes other musicians. Other members of this group include: Ramadhan Muhidan (accordion), Ali Ibrahim Musa (Kanan or Qanun), Tatu Hamisi Amur (accordion), Asha Khemisi Amur (violin) and Malick Anas (fiddle). Malick is 75 and has played with the Professor since 1961. All songs were very Arab influenced by all the lyrics are Swahili. They played five songs: Bashraf Ilyas: An instrumental song written for the Professor’s father Na Mu…
Day Three: January 20th, 2019 Story
…Watoto wakalime Freestyle on Kulima Magic Moment Busumabudo, focus on percussion https://youtu.be/dHeTdA5m5gQ Group 3: Awilo: The group, which is a comedy circus act, is from Ikungu lya nkoma and performs in the Bununguli style. They are from the Sukuma community and were formed in 1981. They played the Ng’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…
Bigwala Cultural Group Group
…n if they are poor, lame, sick or blind, you just stay with them. Further reading UNESCO: Bigwala, gourd trumpet music and dance of the Busoga Kingdom in Uganda. Inscribed in 2012 on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. Click here for the link to the UNESCO website….
Ayub Ogada Group
…Bomas of Kenya in the 1980s. He remembers he had gone for 6 lessons (at a 100 shillings) only and then continued practicing and experimenting by himself. It was equally interesting to hear his theory of the name nyatiti, which he translated from the Luo word nyar as queen and titi, making it “the queen of the clan”. The most interesting points Ayub had made were on the difference between playing at home, in an informal or traditional setting and…
Culture Musical Club Taarab Orchestra Group
…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 drums and 1 tramboline. They produced a wonderful rich sound. Performers: Taimour Rukuni Taha (secretary general, accordian), Maulid Haji Mkadam (musical director) We didn’t get the rest of the names as there…
Gacharaigu Gitiro Women Group Group
…ocation, Muguru Ward, Muguru Division, Kamgema District and was formed in 2006 and dedicated to self-help. Its style is Ndumo, an old women’s dance purely for entertainment and preservation of culture. For all their songs, the ladies used the Kigamba (leg shakers) The group played 6 songs: Ndumo: sung by Wambui Mwangi. Ngucu: sung by Charity Muthoni and Grace Njuguini Muthuo: sung by Mary Wambui Kimunya: sung by Grace Njuguini Gitiro: sung by Mary…
Day Five: January 22, 2019 Mwanza Continued Story
…Kagera Bukoba and part of the Wahaya Community, this group was formed in 2000 and performs in the Akasimbo style. Their instruments are: Kangote (Drums), Akafotho (hand whistling), Enganja: Clapper – two wooden ‘bricks’ struck together, and they wear Ebisheshe (grasses). We recorded four performances: Wachumba Walya: A song about someone who is too mean-spirited to support his community even though he has lots of money, it is about a man “who eat…
Conclusion: Challenges and Recomendations Story
…had to deal with is the time limitation. The entire programme was shot in 11 days, which included master classes and a studio session in Nairobi. Considering the ambitious amount of information we wished to gather from each interviewee (as per the original concept) and the accompanying demonstration, it would be advisable for the recording schedule to focus on one individual ‐ one instrument maker per day only. Also, possibilities of postponed se…
Day 1 – Saturday 1st July 2017 Story
…ism 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 in the area. Son of late Okumu Orengo, a well‐known ny…
Super Phoenix Band Group
…d leader Julius Intenya. The musical style is Mutibu. They played roughly 8-10 songs, including several goes with our influences artist. These songs included: Shapeless: A song about a women who lost her shape, lost her curves. Alusiola: A song about a neighbour that gave his cow to someone else. But the receipient then took care of the care and it had calves. The original owner than seized by the cow and all its calves with no warning. Alusiola i…
Recording, archiving and sharing the traditional music of East Africa Page
…t the widest audiences and become a source of inspiration for new musicians. Here for Research? Click here! Whether you are a Musicologist, a student or just interested in the field, head this way to see more of our detailed field reports, group biographies and in-depth information regarding the various different instruments and styles of music we have encountered on our field trips. Here for the Music? Click here! Want to just enjoy some beautifu…
Imachina Group
…les that don’t carry out these rituals and ‘are afraid of the knife.’ Nuli Musata: This is a song that is encouraging the young men to be brave and go forward. Magic Moment: We then did a magic moment isolating the percussion….
Day Two: 8 March 2022 (Ilesi) Story
…d the previous day, we had worked with the Obasie Palnyang family band in 2018 while the patriarch and founder of the group, Obasie Palnyang, was still alive. By one o’clock the group arrived and our technical team went straight to work, setting up the musicians but before we could start recording, and just as the previous evening’s session, it started to rain. Luckily we were partially indoors so we did not get too wet. After about an hour the sk…
Ekhunjwe Musical Group Group
…strative areas of Samia district. Ekhunjwe ya Abasamiawas formed in April 2008 with common focus on using music as a tool for community development. The group promotes traditional African values and acts in both education and local economy. Members also engage in traditional crafts like basket weaving and jewellery making for exhibition and sale. Their Chairman Mr. Bwire also chairs the County Culture Committee and says he is “biased towards ethno…