Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…which involve acrobatics, ‘clown acts’ and yes – snakes. Our snake was an 8-10 foot python, fat and seemingly healthy, feeding on 4-5 live chickens or rabbits a week. The Snake Dancers came out masked in Unga (flour), with a big box (spoiler alert: contains a snake). The first part of their act is pure comedy and acrobatics. One dancer knows what is in the box and is teasing the other to open it. There are mock fights, gymnastics, clown faces and…
Fundraiser for Matthew Watmon News
…ease get in touch with Matthew’s brother, Constantine Odida ((MTN) +256-782-236-742 and (Airtel) +256-704-261-037). If you are based elsewhere in the world, we have created a GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-mathew-watmon The donors of Abubilla Music Foundation, who support the Singing Wells project, will match these contributions up to £1000 so we greatly appreciate your support at this time. We are sending our prayers to Matthew…
The Revival of Ohangla Music! News
…’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://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPaBQwODTtU…
Support for the Elgon Ngoma Troupe News
…eld 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=d5Wk0YnbByk&fbclid=IwAR27BBeDBEx-5jMqkKxFTL9vtS5NxBwun0psDF9hCNmfQe0PQodki2Cns3U…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 1- Drum Making and Palace Players Story
…t on the skin (as we saw our royal drummers do), but you can’t pitch lower without going back to the drum maker to re-tighten the skins. Abass makes beautiful drums and he is very generous with his time. He educated us for almost two hours during a very busy day in his shop. We are proud that we have his drums as part of our royal drums. We asked him if the royal drums used in the palace pre-1966 would have been made in his village. He responded,…
Remembering Our First Ever Influences Session 8 Years Ago News
…ng as his family and Winyo performed this great improvised session. Stay tuned for exciting announcements about the 10th anniversary of Singing Wells! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8zR1Hq0VXc&lc=z232gt5hrrr5jbjpz04t1aokg3gsm0mrvnsg3wkih113bk0h00410…
The Return of Bigwala News
…ad in the tapestry of Uganda’s cultural history. Sources: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ugandan-music-bigwalahttps://ich.unesco.org/en/news/uganda-young-ugandans-mobilized-for-safeguarding-bigwala-music-and-dance-00251https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1333991/bigwala-busoga-royal-music-dance…
Rediscovering the lost Royal Drums of the Buganda Kingdom: Day 1, Uganda Story
…yed, the King exiled, the royal musicians disbanded and much of the music forgotten. In 2013, we considered any idea of reviving the Entenga to be very unlikely, because 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…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11: Ketebul Studios, Nairobi Story
…a lot of records. The early sixties was mostly about studio work but by 70-71, when Benga was really at its peak the Sega Sega band was very big – we were always performing out in events and functions. We did okay and I made enough to buy my farm and build the house in which I still live. My biggest song was Baba otonglo which was about how hard it was to make ends meet. It was very popular but the government didn’t like it and I was interviewed…
Central Uganda: Day 7 – A Magic Day in Entebbe Story
…, ‘When you came things changed for us. We received money which we used to buy household things, chickens and clothes. We now have a plan to buy goats, a male and female for every member of our community. You changed our lives and we invite you to come back and see us again so we can show you what has changed for us. You have invited me to Entebbe and I want to jump up so high! I feel so good from deep within me. I am no better than the other Batw…
Interview: fusion band Ndoto Afrika News
…ndow Shopping 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…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…ad 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 Womurembe: When you are walking and living with someone by your side, they are the special one and you don’t look at anyone else. Mwene Wamwenda:…
Before They Pass Away News
…pockets of the world, there are still tribes that have preserved centuries-old traditions. Singing Wells records, archives and shares some of this cultural heritage that is at risk of fading out – East Africa’s music. Not only do we want to sustain the musical heritage of East Africa, we want to promote it in today’s world. With this in mind, we’ve been following the work of British photographer Jimmy Nelson with interest, who spent four years tr…
Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…lovely red-mud huts along the way. The village was a large one, probably 7-8 huts surrounding a central area with full size trees. The band had been there since morning preparing and had dug the pit for the xylophone – essentially, they did about 18-24 inches under the bass notes to ensure real depth (and literal depth). Muwewesi Xylophone Group The band consisted of about 8 musicians on the xylophone, 5 female singers in beautiful matching outfi…
Happy new year from Singing Wells News
…ng the maker to cut up a tree and shape the wood, soak and cut cow hide to size and string the drum – ensuring it’s in tune. Here’s how it’s done. 5. We visited the Ketebul team in Nairobi and interviewed Tabu In early 2015, one of our team members moved to Nairobi and so went to visit the Ketebul studios and meet the team. Harriet interviewed Tabu, who talked about some of the most exciting upcoming artists in Nairobi who are using traditional mu…
Central Uganda: Day 1 – From Entebbe to Kidinda Story
…ng about ready to provide backing vocals. Children began to gather as we un-loaded equipment. Most of them smile widely when our cameras turned toward them. Most came running to us to see their pictures show up on our camera screens. The musicians had built a performance hall, with a grass floor and tapestry ceiling and were busy practicing when we arrive. Given the rains, the village grounds were covered in about 3 inches of sticky beautiful Ugan…