Recce to Tanzania for our 2020 Field Visit News
…ances, the importance of Singing Wells is emphasised when someone we record passes on some time after we record them. We were reminded even more of the importance of Singing Wells when we received the news of the death of a musician who we were set to meet that afternoon, Taarab Singer, Mzee Makame Faki. A brilliant musician and our thoughts are with his family and friends….
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
…ke up to the sound of gun fire. At first, I wasn’t too scared and rose to brush my teeth as I always do. But the guns got louder – the Central Government was attacking the Buganda Kingdom and had attacked the Parliament first, which was about a kilometer away from the palace. I realized it was very real when bullets started hitting the palace and the hut where we kept our drums caught fire. People started running around all over and I was getting…
The Return of Bigwala News
…gandans-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
…oronation (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 drums, read our series here or watch our documentary of their restoration here. …
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…Bulawayo, who worked as a senior manager at Kenya Meat Commission, and the Russia-educated Jose Kokeyo, who was a District Officer. The seventies were the era in which Oluoch Kanindo, a former technician with the Kenya News Agency and the Voice of Kenya (KBC) grew into a massive music production guru whose dominance and supreme authority over Benga generated many controversies. One of the first big benga bands of that decade, Victoria Kings, was K…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 4 – Nkubu to Mukuuni to Nairobi Story
…ed to contain them to get good vocals, we lost the explosive force of the drums. When we let them run wild it was pretty difficult to get a good vocal or audio take. Also, we were accidentally constraining them by asking them to go through their songs one by one, when in fact, what they loved to do was race through all the songs at once, in a single act. We finally sorted through all this though. Ultimately we did three ‘takes’: Mucii: This is the…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 3 – Nkubu to Mariene to Murungurune to Nkubu Story
…lages, Suri Location, Bogeta Division. They are 11 men, 12 women, led by Cyrus Kirigia. Their style is Kwimbo, and the songs ares sung to celebrate the harvest mostly in August and March. They are from the Meru ethnic community and use the Kibere (leg shakers) and Vilingi (whistle). They performed 6 songs, and were performing in the pitch black of night-time as they sang late into the evening (luckily we bring lights, but unluckily, for the video…
Entenga: Performing twice for the king of Buganda News
…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 instruments of the palace, and in particular – Abatenga (Entenga players). I remember wh…
Interview: fusion band Ndoto Afrika News
…tional and modern sounds to create a unique blend of catchy fusion music (trust me, you will be humming their Window 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…
Discussions with Peter Cooke: ethnomusicologist and Ugandan music expert News
…usic students and to music teachers who came for in-service courses. Like Musisi, Busuulwa had not found conditions good for him at the palace and after the attack on the palace and the flight of the Kabaka (King) into exile in London, Musisi no longer had a patron so they were both enthusiastic about working at Kyambogo. Sadly Bulasio Busuulwa died during that awful period of turmoil under the dictatorship of Amin and Obote, but Musisi continued…
Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…cautioned not to break the plants as we found a quiet place to talk to Julius. Julius has an amazing story. He was orphaned in 1995 at 9 years old. He struggled through his teens with no support, but found his way gradually as a musical performer, working with the National Theatre and various troupes around Mbale. He was always extremely proud of his tribe, the Bagisu, and always wanted to do something musically building off his own culture. He al…
Before They Pass Away News
…camera at these people, Nelson had to get to know them and to gain their trust. When he met the Chukchi people, the elders told him: “You cannot photograph us. You have to wait, you have to wait until you get to know us, you have to wait until you understand us.” Jimmy managed to gain this trust, spending weeks or months immersing himself in the tribe’s way of life. In Papua New Guinea, for example, Jimmy met with the Kalam tribe who decorate the…
Happy new year from Singing Wells News
…15 we travelled between Kampala and Jinja in Uganda in search of the lost music and musicians of the royal palaces. We posted regular updates about our journey and the incredible people we met along the way. You can read them on our Field Reports section. Here’s some further background written the beginning of our journey to discover the lost royal drums of the Buganda Kingdom. 2. We met Musisi and heard his story Musisi is one of the last remaini…
We’re discovering the lost music of the Ugandan Kingdoms News
…Context on the Entenga royal drums we’ve been searching for The story of Musisi – a drummer from the royal palaces and the fall of the Buganda Kingdom Some information on the progress of the Bigwala trumpets – an instrument we restored on a previous field trip Interviews with the palace players and a great deal of information on the art of drum making You can also keep up to date with our latest news from the field via our Twitter and Facebook pa…
Singing Wells surpasses 500,000 YouTube hits! News
…u enjoy, and please keep visiting our channel and sharing the traditional music of East Africa with the world. Recording Nyerere Wa Konde Music Club perform in Gede, Kilifi, Kenya on our Singing Wells Pilot trip in 2011. A brief collage of the story of the recording of the music of The Batwa in Uganda and then back in Nairobi at Ketebul Studios. The Watmon Cultural Group, recorded in December 2012. The Elgon Ngoma Troupe sing about the circumcisio…