Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 1 – Nairobi to Kiongwe to Muranga Story
…am This team always includes two sound engineers, one of whom sets up the mixing station (in this case Andy) and the other that sets up the microphones (in this case Steve). They are assisted by ‘all hands’ for the set up and break down of the session, as the audio equipment is the most extensive. Also assigned to the audio team is “Mr. Clapperboard” (Audio 3, in this case, Nick) who handles the clapperboard and therefore controls song/take inform…
Central Uganda: Day 7 – A Magic Day in Entebbe Story
…rate influences sessions with her: Bashitsi Bahire with Winyo and Inyange mixed by Abubilla Music, both of which feature on a sampler of music we gave away at Womex this year. Here’s Inyange mixed with Abubilla Music: She finished the day with two songs of her own: Barabasuhuza: The song talks about passing greetings from home (Batwa) to visitors Imparake: This is the heart-breaking song of the Batwa, about the loss of their forest home. Henry Nez…
Central Uganda: Day 6: Kampala to Entebbe Story
…inger is a wonderful performer, and really up and coming and will only get better. They also have great instrumentalists. They really gave a show today with lots of performers – but to these cultures folk songs demand actions and drama. If you give them an open space they will bring much more drama to the equation.” Here’s their music The Journey to the Next Site We then packed up and left the University Grounds and headed back into Kampala to the…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…he only festival since 2005. Many people are performing around the country today due to those festivals. The group is very literate in music and we had a clear vision from 1990 of what we wanted to do. We are not doing badly and have a comfortable life from the performances. Some musicians who didn’t even have a bicycle not have houses. We are showing you can have a musical career. We are growing our knowledge and getting better at representing th…
A Tanzanian Effort to Salvage the Music of the Past News
…tage Project is scrambling to digitise reams of reel-to-reel tape recorded between the 1960s and 1980s, which has been literally rotting for decades in the moulding archives of the Tanzanian Broadcasting Corporation. Some has already deteriorated to the point where it’s unplayable, and the rest will suffer the same fate if nothing is done. The music they’re trying to save, called muziki wa dansi (“dance music” in Swahili), is not just catchy and d…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…casional monkey. The staff has been warm and helpful and offered the hotel today as our recording studio. We have been able to set up the computers in the kitchen of one of our cottage rooms and have the groups either perform on our dining patio or our porch. We had three groups today and the drivers were sent out to round them up from the surrounding areas. The Bigwala Cultural Group One of this group’s primary purposes is to restore the Bigwala,…
Central Uganda: Day 1 – From Entebbe to Kidinda Story
…y but no longer does. They have great songs, they have a great history but today they are silent. No one asks to listen to them. This is so sad. How do we revive demand for what was one of the sixth great ensemble bands commission by the king to play exclusively in the palace?” The Kika Boys Cultural Troupe The singers from the Kika Boys (and Girls) Cultural Troupe joined the Amadinda players for the final songs, featuring Passy Nassonko on lead v…
Before They Pass Away News
…t 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 travelling to meet and photograph some of the world’s last surviving tribes. His book, Before They Pass Away, is a fascinating insight into these communities’ ways of life. Nelson’s breathtaking photographs capture how these last remaining…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…o on the Putumayo site, he highlights the positive change that you can see today; ‘one can hear world music in television commercials, film soundtracks and other mainstream outlets on a daily basis. A hit world music album that may have previously sold only 15,000 copies today can sell hundreds of thousands of copies.’ Putumayo is living proof of this, as they have sold over 20 million CDs since it began, showing world music can be commercially vi…
A History of Recording East African Music News
…us the opportunity to listen to the many exceptional musicians he recorded today. In this series we are able to present many of the foremost musicians of the 20th century from this part of Africa — and that is a gift. It is especially a gift to the peoples involved, for the legacy as played by their forebears belongs to them.” ILAM has reissued, without modifications, on CD, Tracey’s Music of Africa Series Several albums can be bought on iTunes Kl…
James Isabirye and Tabu Osusa Discuss East African Music News
…y wanted what is best for me, but this is part of a larger problem we have today. I’ve taught for 20 years now and my concern is that our entire system is training us to be like a white person from England or America, not to be Ugandan. The English and Americans don’t want to know me because I am like them – they know I am not. They want to know me because I am Ugandan, because I am different. And yet that is not what we teach. Tabu: Exactly. Rath…
Preserving Threatened Heritage News
…heritage of the region and to help make this legacy relevant and fresh to today’s audiences.” And it is always great to hear of stories where others are attempting to do the same, especially in countries so close to our heart, such as Uganda. An article on the website of the Ugandan daily newspaper, New Vision, warns about the need to preserve ‘Bigwala’, the royal music of the Busoga region. Bigwala music is performed at ceremonies such as corona…
The Birara Batwa Community Story
…make it. ‘Mukadata muto ya yampaye akabindi’ – a song about the jealously between a woman and her step-daughter. She sends the girl to fetch water from the well knowing there is a tiger in the forest which may harm her. ‘Shiramugasabo’ – a song from parents asking friends and guests to put something in the basket for their hungry children. ‘Ikondera’ – a celebration song accompanied by horns. The whole community celebrates by joining the dance. ‘…
The Key to Sustainable Aid in Africa? Perhaps we should follow the music. News
…ere are a lot of folks trying (see here for some of the issues). But it is better to start at the source. An important proxy for the health of a village is a strong, vibrant and young musical troupe… We have now travelled to over 50 villages throughout Kenya and Uganda recording over 7 hours of songs that have been mixed, mastered and posted for all to hear. And while we have not done any scientific investigation of this, our strong view is that t…
73,603 views on YouTube News
We are celebrating today because we are really pleased that so many people are enjoying the music videos on the Singing Wells YouTube channel……73,603 views and still counting! It’s not a meaningful number in itself (like a nice round 100,000 – our next target) but it does mean more and more people are finding us and enjoying what we are all about – bringing the more traditional sounds of East Africa to an enthusiastic audience. Thanks for watchin…
The Influences Series from Singing Wells News
…g March 2013 saw the release of an original track from Abubilla Music, re-mixed for the Influences series. The song is called (The only thing that’s) Missing and it was first recorded for the Abubilla Music album Misery Marmalade and other Spanish Jams. Here is the video of the new ‘Influences’ version, featuring musicians from Kenya, Uganda and the UK collaborating in this a unique song to celebrate and support Singing Wells. 71 Hours to Mond…