Day 2: Sunday, 2017 February 19th Story
…y the end they were singing along to all the songs. In addition to being a professional musician, Leo also teaches music to school children so he is a natural with kids. On all the songs that he did, he had the whole village singing and laughing. We learned about the Bi Kidude and Unyago style. Throughout this trip we will encounter multiple stories about ‘women for women’ songs. In this case, the women in the village have a special dance that is…
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…
Ketebul Music presents Shades of Benga Online News
…Music have just launched Episode 2 of their online series Shades of Benga Online, to go alongside their book ‘Shades of Benga: The Story of Popular Music in Kenya 1946 -2016’. You can watch the latest episode below, and also find out more at their website here. Shades of Benga: The Story of Popular Music in Kenya delves into the foundations of modern Kenyan music, examining external influences from the English waltz to Afro Cuban Rumba and how…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
Rediscovering the lost Royal Drums of the Buganda Kingdom: Day 1, Uganda Story
…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 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…
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…
The Entenga Drums: Part 1 Story
…e best drummer and we were blessed to have Shaban as our Omukoonezi, a life-long professional drummer who led the group. He also admitted that learning the Entenga was the hardest drumming role he’s ever had. To the left of the ‘starter’, is the OMUNAZI, who plays the 9th, 8th, 7th, 6th and sometimes 5th. And yes, you’ve now noticed. The drummers overlap, playing the drums of others depending on the song. The Omunazi plays the bass lines of the so…
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…
Central Uganda: Day 6: Kampala to Entebbe Story
…deforestation on spirits. Lead vocalist this song is Hellen Flavia The back-up vocalist for this song was Diana Natero. And the wild dancer was Lubowa Bashir. Omwenge (a local brew): This is about how the local brew is made in stages and sets out each procedure to produce the brew. The lead vocalist is: Magic Moment: No vocals, and we called it ‘Magic Dancing’ Magic Moment: We called this ‘Magic Singing’ James Isabirye says of this group, that “it…
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:…