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…
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…
Our journey to the Royal Drums: in the words of James Isabirye Story
…help. The only note I had was that we could reach Musisi through his sister-in-law. Now I had to find Musisi. He said his sister-in-law lived in Kasawo. Well it took me forever to find that village. After crossing swamps and taking wrong turns I kept asking for the village. Finally I found it and started asking for the sister-in-law. I found her and had only one question: is Musisi alive? He was, she said. But he lives in Kiboga which was about th…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 1 – Reflections Story
…this pattern and there are magical moments that happen in such complex song-writing. Are all instruments the same? Here we are less sure. The xylophone is extraordinary and continues to thrive outside of palace life. Xylophones didn’t disappear in Uganda village life after the fall of the kingdoms in 1966 because they were part of village life. We don’t need to rediscover the xylophone and we are fairly sure it is not on the endangered list. Conte…
Recce to Tanzania for our 2020 Field Visit News
…e Singing Wells team has been travelling through Tanzania in search of the best groups to record during our upcoming field visit in February. We are struck once again by the amazing talent this country has to offer, and can’t wait to capture some amazing moments with these artists when we visit again with the full team in a few weeks time. Thanks to the good people at Dhow Countries Music Academy for helping us with the information and contacts fr…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 2 – Interviews with Musicians of Uganda’s Royal Palaces Story
…Paulino Kajubi, whos father was Buko Ssempiira. My village is Ndese, in sub-county Kasawo, of County Kyaggwe. My grandfather used to play the flute in the palace but he was aging and wanted a family member to continue to play. I tried to play with him all the time and learned a few songs. In 1966, I was taken to the palace as a servant boy. My father also wanted to play the flute and replace his father. But he tried to play and failed to learn. Bu…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 1- Drum Making and Palace Players Story
…ch of nylon string, cutting off the former holes, creating new holes and re-lacing the drum skins together with leather strings. Very fast. 9. Tuning The final stage is tuning. He showed us in detail how he uses the four instruments to tune, using a new bigger drum that is already stringed with animal skin strings. “I fix the wood, hammer them in to stretch the strings and then use the awl to pull the string up and then move to the next hole, tigh…
Musisi’s Story, Part 1: The Fall of the Buganda Kingdom Story
…ll, we were very close to that Throne Room, but I didn’t want to get there fast. I needed them to calm down and me to think. So I took a long path, around all the gates and through the primary school in the palace. We came to one gate and there was the gatekeeper on the ground, shot. His guts were out on the ground and he was crying for help and told the soldier that he knew me and that we should help him. I thought that this gatekeeper had his pr…
Rediscovering the lost Royal Drums of the Buganda Kingdom: Day 1, Uganda Story
…survived a couple of heavy thunderstorms. In terms of interviews, we will write separate blogs on the drums themselves and Musisi’s time at the palace. In terms of the music, we recorded the following songs today: Ganga Alula Omusango gw’abalere Mubandusa Ekyuuma kya Bboola Veneneka Olugambo olubuulire Sekanyolya The Drummers In terms of the moment, let’s stress a few things: These drums are magnificent. They are actually 15 drums, 12 of which ar…
The Entenga Drums: Part 1 Story
…sentially, this took four major steps: Rebuild the drums: they needed to re-assemble the drum kit, building each of the 15 drums and re-making the Enga, the sticks used to play the drums (named after the swamp plant). Tune the drums: they had the old recordings and Musisi’s 50 year old memories and they gradually figured out how to tune them. Much like a xylophone. Learn to replay them: Musisi knew a lot of the songs, but they needed to learn each…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11:An Interview with Gregg Story
…olks roads, modernise them. But Singing Wells has discovered in fact – the best sustainable development is to keep folks rooted in their villages and the best villages are those 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…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…n” of Benga by encouraging bands under his stable, who included his brother-in-law Dr. Collela Mazee’s Victoria Kings, to copy Congolese bands like Orchestre Kiam and Lipua Lipua that were being promoted by Congolese musician and businessman Verkys Kiamuangana, who was his business associate. Many of their recordings blatantly lifted recognizable sections of these Congolese songs. This copying was also being replicated at Verkys’ end. A case in po…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11: Ketebul Studios, Nairobi Story
…he sound of The Ogara Boys Band, and Benga music in general (see Ketebul’s write up on the history of Benga). Part of this style was a direct result of the Luo Nyatiti that he grew up with in the village – his guitar and the Benga bass works to copy the syncopated style of the Nyatiti in traditional Luo music. Nelly worked with his Congolese mentor for a while before joining The Ogara Boys Band in 1962. The Ogara Boys Band also consisted of foundi…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 3 – Nkubu to Mariene to Murungurune to Nkubu Story
…usly is the Tiriki, where they a) still use the circumciser (a medically un-trained village elder that often performs the circumcision on 10-12 boys in a line with the same knife) and b) will severely punish and ostracise boys that don’t perform well in the ritual.] At about 14, the boys are selected to go through the rite of passage – the full ritual is a major milestone for a boy on his journey to manhood. He enters the ritual a boy and exits a…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 2 – Muranga to Kangema to Nkubu Story
…steps we use in a typical session are as follows: Arrival/introductions/set-up The interview team immediately sits with the groups and talks through how the session will work and then collects information on the group, the songs and the instruments and musical styles. While this is being done, the video team picks the site (for best visual impact, performance area, quietness) and then audio and video set up as a single team. Song Recording The int…
A Tanzanian Effort to Salvage the Music of the Past News
…i, who has been playing rhumba-inspired music in the Tanzanian capital, Dar-es-Salaam, for over 50 years. But he admits that this music has fallen out of fashion in recent years, with most Tanzanian youth preferring Western imports. “My music is no longer on the radio. That’s why people don’t know about it anymore”, he laments. “There needs to be more of an effort to teach young people about the music of the past, so they will like it.” With an es…