Day 4: Tuesday, February 21st, 2017 Story
…full plate is a metaphor for an abundant life and good harvest) Part two: We then brought in Henry and Leo Mkanyia, Rajab-Alli Morris, Steven Jonas (Tomato) and Elliot Wenman and Sophie Grant to play five more songs. These were: Marugaro Sanaa: arts Chipela: When you’re hungry you gather lots of fruit from the fruit tree). This song featured Ndanhini on the thumb piano who created the most amazing rhythm, which played off Henry’s bass brilliantly….
Day 3: Monday, 2017 February 20th Story
…e drum. Our sessions are typically filled with lots of smoke and video of drummers running back and forth in/out of camera range tuning their drums as they play. See example: Here’s the Group: The group played 6 songs: Ndio Kwanza (We’re just starting and haven’t done anything yet) Mama Shughuli Yako Tomeiona (Now, you’ve seen how we play) Boga (Pumpkin), or Mboga in the local dialect Nina Ubembeleza Undugu (I’m begging for us to be brothers) Drum…
Day 2: Sunday, 2017 February 19th Story
…say’ Utalikologa Utalinywa: If you mix it, you will drink it. Kiingereza (English) This is Leo’s song from his album, Bangili (bangles) This was a wonderful day of recording for three reasons: We had the whole day so were able to record a large number of songs and do an “Influences” session. This gave the village children time to get to know us and understand our mission. By the end they were singing along to all the songs. In addition to being a…
Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…is became the sound of Tanzanian news. The TBC announced each hour with a drum riff of his drums. Every hour, for decades. He was honoured in his time, with the then Prime Minister creating a specific post for him, so he could continue drumming for all visitors to the government. Because he was blind, he was invited to perform with specific women groups, of songs for women by women, of songs that no males could see. Every day we will tell more abo…
Fundraiser for Matthew Watmon News
…his family in this difficult time, and we hope that some of our followers may be able to help us. If you are based in East Africa, please 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,…
Ketebul Music presents Shades of Benga Online News
…music, examining external influences from the English waltz to Afro Cuban Rumba and how they helped mould new music styles across Africa. Rumba was brought to Eastern Africa via the itinerant Congolese musicians Edouard Masengo and Jean Bosco Mwenda who’s intricate guitar-picking styles largely shaped the present Kenyan sound, with the Benga playing a dominant role. Currently, you can get advance copies from Ketebul Music Studios or place your or…
Singing Wells Approaches 5 Million Views News
…East Africa to a wider audience. It amazing to see the Youtube algorithm agreeing that this is a project worth showing people! We can’t wait to bring more songs and stories to the world. Keep an eye out on the Singing Wells Youtube channel for the footage and recordings from our field trip to Zanzibar and Pemba….
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 1 – Reflections Story
…e the King’s entrance and exit, or to ‘proclaim’ something, much like the trumpets of English kings. It is vital that they not be lost and we have actively support the restoration of the Bigwala – and through this project have discovered the Bigwala Model (more on this in a moment). But it is not clear that a contemporary musician will incorporate these instruments into their music – they might be ‘of a time’, and ‘need a king or two.’ Entenga dru…
Recce to Tanzania for our 2020 Field Visit News
…est 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 from their database. Getting a private crash course on the ganun from ganun vi…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 2 – Interviews with Musicians of Uganda’s Royal Palaces Story
…that it will be too late and the music will die with me. We then gave the trumpeter the music of the International Library of African Music. They had assembled a CD for us of Hugh Tracy’s recordings of the palace musicians that he recorded in 1952. The trumpeter loved the picture of the trumpets on the cover and knew some of the players, but he was certain he was not on the recording. “I was still learning during this time and was not good enough,…
Musisi’s Story, Part 1: The Fall of the Buganda Kingdom Story
…am now so happy and they call me The Professor because I’m teaching these drummers how to play the Royal Drums and I want to do nothing more with my life than to help this music be heard.” Musisi’s work: drummers setting up to perform And we’ll stop there. We will report more on Musisi as the week goes on, but we felt this was the right place to start, the telling of his last night at the palace, the last moments the Entenga were played at the pal…
The Return of Bigwala News
…seems to be a promising future for this important thread 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…
Entenga drums perform with Akadinda Xylophone News
A year ago we brought you the news of Entenga players performing in front of King Ronald Metebi at the 25th anniversary of his coronation (available here). At this event they also performed a piece with the Akadinda xylophone in front of the Asantehene (the monarch) of the Asante people from Ghana. A recording of this performance has just become available, and is posted below https://youtu.be/CCQ72al2pEo Fore more information about the Entenga dr…
The Entenga Drums: Part 1 Story
…ost 50 years. So, over the course of several months, the team created the drums, the drummers and their music. And on November 30th, at Kyambogo University, they revealed the drums to the Singing Wells team and an audience that grew and grew as they played. Here are four things we learned about these drums on Day 1: There are 15 drums. 12 of the drums operate as a collection, set in stands off the ground and as you face them, they move from larges…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…hen it first became a mainstream genre. Typical of many other music genres worldwide, the struggle to pinpoint the origins of a style is especially difficult when its name is unrecognizable in any known ethnic language. Some of the musicians who were interviewed claim the word originated from the Congo. In the 50s a number of Luo people travelled to that vast country for work and adventure and came back home with the term. Other players and enthus…
Entenga: Performing twice for the king of Buganda News
…i. https://youtu.be/HgKF14j5LrM We were first introduced to the Entenga drums in 2015 and have since been supporting James in an initiative to revive the drums and teach younger musicians how to play them (read the field reports here or watch our documentary for more information of this project). The Entenga players were mentioned in the king’s speech, which James translated for us as: “ … I would like to thank especially those who played instru…