Our journey to the Royal Drums: in the words of James Isabirye Story
…ther, we found out that Peter Cooke had recorded the drums and we listened to some of these recordings. But then, Sebuwufu passed away in August 2015 and I realised I had a big problem now. He might have been the last person who knew the drums. But I remembered that Sebuwufu had heard of someone named Musisi, a drummer that had played at the palace. Musisi had played the drums at the palace as a child and was keen to help. The only note I had was…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11:An Interview with Gregg Story
…with a vibrant musical community. This puts the soul, the software at the top of the developmental agenda. Have folks realised this? SW: What is your advice to us? GT: In the context of the vital importance of this, I ask myself ‘what is the future of this?’ What if there was no Abubilla Music Foundation then what happens to this project? My advice is to work hard now for sustainable funding that goes beyond one little UK charity. This is too big…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…g’ Kabaselleh, a Luo pop artist who occasionally teamed up with Laban Juma Toto, formerly of the Hodi Boys band, to produce some of the best rumba melodies sang in the Luo language. Kabaselleh’s love for rumba saw him adopt the name of Congo’s celebrated pioneer musician, Joseph Kabaselleh ‘Le Grand Kalle.’ Some of Ochieng’s sons like Babu Kabaselleh and Reggie Kabaselleh are now well-known musicians in their own right, same to his siblings who ma…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…he three core members are: Walusimbi Nsibambi Haruna: He the Founding Director of Nile Beat Artists. Walusimbi was once the Global Youth Earth Day Ambassador for Africa after winning the Global Youth Earth Day Ambassadors Competition in Marikina-Philipines. Nabayaza Sumaya Baiga: She is a senior member of Nile Beat Artists and is vice president of the cultural association in my university. During her school life she was best dancer in 2007 and 201…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…s also trying to start a gourd revolution so people start using them again to store liquids and stop using plastic) The coordinator and lead female vocalist in the group is Irene Nabirye. The group is made up of 6-7 Bigwala players and drummers, plus dancers and singers. They performed four songs and then we did a magic moment with their instruments; these were: Muwe Bwobona Asaba: When someone asks you kindly assist them Mperekera Omwana Womuremb…
Ten More Singing Wells Stories News
…nia Band, and their song Uganda Land of Freedom. Elsewhere, I’ve told the story of how this song became the music of survival during the rebellion years…(click here) The Calabash: Here’s one of our favourite bands in Uganda and one that shows that the music is still thriving in parts of Uganda because the young people are still a part…(in sad contrast to so much of Kenya) The Youth, the Music, the Village & Development Elsewhere, we have argued th…
Singing Wells in Numbers…. News
…Andy did a litte homework for this one: Number of recordings of groups: 374 (this does not include other recordings like Magic Moments, Influences, etc…) Number of groups recorded: 83 Number of hours of music: 27 hours and 30 minutes. …
Report from Womex 2013 News
…this year in Cardiff. The festival lasted from Wednesday 23rd to the 27th of October. The trade fair and conferences were held at the Motorpoint arena, with the evening showcases and events held at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay. For our first visit to Womex, we booked a stand at the trade fair, with the main intentions being to spread the word of the project and the work we are doing in partnership with Ketebul Music. Ketebul have attended…
A recording studio which fits into the back of an SUV Story
…st Hotel in Kisoro, Uganda!) We can also combine the two recording units into one to increase the number of inputs, while still working off battery power. The laptops use Avid ProTools recording software – an industry standard for recording and music production. The microphones we have chosen are industry standard models used in studios the world over but, most likely, not seen in the villages of East Africa. The equipment has been carefully selec…
73,603 views on YouTube News
…h over 21,700 views is ’71 Hours to Monday’- a global track from Abubilla Music featuring musicians from Sao Paulo, Nairobi and London which was produced to support the launch of the Singing Wells project in 2011. Keep watching! …
A new type of city Story
…hat the capital would be like; this image speaks a lot about the city. The number of ‘proper’ buildings were few and in only the small centre. It was hilly and most of the roads were not built for vehicles. The shops were small shacks mostly and at night stayed open, lit by candle light. There were animals everywhere and make-shift houses, which starkly contrasted to the taller office buildings you could see in the distance. Despite this unconvent…
The Boy with the Headphones Story
…SW Uganda where we recorded the music and dance of the Batwa people. The story of the Batwa can be read in detail by following the featured link below, but for now we will tell you about this little boy with the headphones. It was on our second day in Kisoro when we travelled to the Mperwa Batwa community. Consisting of just a small number of families, the Mperwa have settled on a small area of borrowed land just a few kilometres from the town. …
The origins of Singing Wells Story
…rdsmen climb from their wells and disappear into the bush. The songs tell stories of Samburu traditions and help the herdsmen keep a steady rhythm while they lower and raise their buckets. These ‘singing wells’ illustrate the importance of traditional songs in the life of the Samburu tribes people. We think that Singing Wells is a very good name for our project which aims to preserve, celebrate and share the unique music traditions and heritage of…
Day 8: Entebbe to Nairobi and Ketebul Studios Story
…nting: Drove 8 minutes to Airport. About 600 meters outside airport we had to stop and all get out of van and go through a metal detector. There was a large sign telling us not to bring in pistols and rifles. The van was then searched. At airport, we had to unload bags at departures, take them by trolly to bottom of stairs. Take all bags up the stairs. Find new trolly and proceed to next stage. All this would be fairly straightforward except we ha…
Day 7 (pm): Recording at the Airport Guesthouse, Entebbe Story
…ened: the rebels arrived to his village and asked him to show them the way to town. In a way this was a blessing, because his family was saved (often, on abduction, the rest of the child’s family would be killed, so they’d feel angry, distant and unable to return home). Once they arrived at the town they wouldn’t let Odika go and it was clear he was a prisoner. He only managed to escape once the rebels believed he was one of them, and stopped watc…
Day 7 (am) – back to Kampala: Naguru to Entebbe Story
…e carved into a hill, with rows and rows of streets below us, and an equal number of streets and houses piled up above us. There were cars, motorbikes and taxi’s driving past and planes flying overhead. Everything was for sale by everyone who walked by. No sleeping cattle. No flower beds. But, as always, there was wonderful music. The first group was the Adungu Cultural Troupe, masters of the Adungu. We had interviewed their leader on our ‘recce’…