Maisha Bora Suba Group
Our first group, from the Mara Regio (Roria District) was formed in 2012. They are from the Abhasimbete community. Their style is Rirandi and they play the Zeze/Endongwe (a one stringed instrument similar to the Kenyan Orutu and Ugandan Rigi Rigi), Rirandi (a giant horn, similar to the Uganda Big Wala, but made with 6 gourds, not one), Ekeborogo (flute), the Ekedomwa (drums), Ama’ghorro (huge leg shakers), and Firimbi (whistle). They wore Amahuns…
Adagha Nalya Drama Group Group
…y agree on issues and speak on language. “Waiswa Mugudde”: A Dance song. This is the name of a first born male twin and the song is about a proverbial Waiswa of old who used to shy away from women. It is a common folk song. “Omuntu Kyakola”: When someone is jealous about what someone else is doing; when some one works hard, others want to bring you down. “Yoyenda”: The one you love. The song invites everyone to show who they love to the rest of th…
Introduction: Project overview and objectives Story
…n Lake Region of Kenya and Nairobi City in the period from 1st to 12th July 2017. https://youtu.be/NqomPAxomxI “Masters of the Nyatiti” being a pilot programme for a new project series under Singing Wells, one of the objectives of this report is to reassess the original concept based on experiences from the field and to point out encountered challenges and difficulties in meeting concept objectives. Thus, I hope that this document will raise quest…
Day 1 – Saturday 1st July 2017 Story
…tradition (“Music sings whoever is around”, Luo proverb) and nature of improvisation that comes with it; ‐ Traditionally in the past there was a separation between vocalists and nyatiti players (not the same person); ‐ Term controversy (thum as opposed to nyatiti, is in fact a generic term for music in Luo language) and hypothetical historical explanation; ‐ Mention of “Koblong”, a tune known by almost all players, often used for teaching cause o…
3. Background of the Naizungwe drums Story
…ur next update on the progress of the Naizungwe drums, James Isabirye, who is co-ordinating the project gives us some background information about the drums and the traditions from which they come: Where do they originally come from and who played them? Uganda has about 65 ethnic societies according to the 1995 constitution. Each ethnic society had a way it was organized socially before the advent of colonialism. Most of the societies were and sti…
Day 4 – Tuesday 4th July 2017 Story
…fellow players and of makers from the olden days. He started playing in 1950, yet although his father Omondi Undugu also used to play, he learned by observation from another player – Ogola Sewe from the same location. He could remember and retrace all the nyatitis he had previously owned, mentioning how he bought the first one at 8 Kenyan shillings in 1951 from a certain Undego Koile. He stated that he never owns more than one instrument and usual…
Days 6 to 8 – Thursday 6th July 2017 to Saturday 8th July 2017 Story
…luded in the form of short notes: Day 7: Recording of the making of obokano, an 8 string instrument from the Kisii ethnic community demonstrated by Dominic Ogari, a music instructor at Kenyatta University in Nairobi. Day 8: Saturday 8th July 2017: Recording of an in‐depth interview with John Otieno ‘Rapasa’, our fixer who had previously travelled to Lake Region with us. In this interview he explained his personal journey to becoming a professional…
Day Three: January 20th, 2019 Story
…outu.be/dHeTdA5m5gQ Group 3: Awilo: The group, which is a comedy circus act, is from Ikungu lya nkoma and performs in the Bununguli style. They are from the Sukuma community and were formed in 1981. They played the Ng’oma and entertained the kids with circus acts involving fire, razor blades, knives, etc… It wasn’t really part of the Singing Wells Field Visit but we were thrilled to stumble across it! From the village, we then drove a little over…
Support Singing Wells Page
…red charity which funds the Singing Wells project Sponsor a Recording Day£3000 Your Gift to Us Your money will be used to support a complete day of recording traditional music for the Singing Wells project. Your donation will be spent in East Africa, funding the recording sessions in the field. There may be as many as six different music groups performing on one day and your donation will mean that every music group is able to perform and their so…
Baseki Group
…e Mahama tree. We recorded eight songs with them: Balogi Wa Ngamboshi: This is about the Wizards of Balogi, where wizardry is perceived as a negative thing, evoking witch doctors and snake oil salesmen. Simiyu: A song for praise for the region. Bahuni ba ng’wanza: A song referring to local women of questionable virtues Balimi: A song about farming where the band brought up children from the village and taught them about hoeing the soil to the so…
Biluli Dutwa Group
…l crowd pleaser! We recorded eight songs with them: Balogi Wa Ngamboshi: This is about the Wizards of Balogi, where wizardry is perceived as a negative thing, evoking witch doctors and snake oil salesmen. Simiyu: A song for praise for the region. Bahuni ba ng’wanza: A song referring to local women of questionable virtues Balimi: A song about farming where the band brought up children from the village and taught them about hoeing the soil to the so…
Day Four: January 21 2019 Mwanza Story
…le Mchele Sanaa Group: This group, from the Sukuma community, was formed in 2010 and performs with a number of styles: Bukomia Lume, Buchheye, Wigashe. Their instruments are: Ng’oma (Drums), Pembe (animal horns, large impala), Firimbi (flute), and Njuga (shakers). We recorded five performances: Ntale Atabihyala: ‘The boss, who is always wrong, wants to be always right. Just accept it’ Ba Tanzania (Malima): Praising country, encouraging farmers a…
Get on the Map Page
…If you are making music in East Africa, then we’d love to feature you on our map. Please fill in the options below to get in touch: To Upload music to the Dropbox – go to: http://soundcloud.com/singingwells/dropbox Note: submission of the form grants The Singing Wells project permission to embed any links contained within the form on the map of East Africa. Submission of the form does not guarantee that your group or music will be featured on t…
Day One: January 18, 2019. Assemble in Tanzania Story
…in villages. On average, we do one field visit a year, recording roughly 20-25 groups, and a 100-125 performances. We have roughly 1,000 videos online. Our general setup for a recording is: a) Steve is in charge of audio and we typically have two general mics for the group and 5-6 specific microphones for singers and musicians, b) we have three video cameras operating – one wide shot for full performance, one close up to capture details of instru…
Bungoma Roots Band Group
The band, Bungoma Roots Band, started in 2005 when all the members were young men at the Kumugui Secondary School, in the Michimeru Village. Wilbert and his school friends formed a band and competed with other school bands. They were quite good and had all their school fees paid for. During breaks from playing at the school they took up ‘Marketing’ and showed up at any events that were being held. The band members held day jobs, mostly in constru…
Influences songs from Singing Wells Group
…bal East African music to a new generation of musicians and fans who might not consider it relevant today. So, we have developed the Influences series – a fusion of traditional and contemporary styles. Each time the Singing Wells team embarks on a field recording visit we are joined by a talented musician who works with us on ‘Influences’ songs. They work with us in the field and also in the Ketebul Music studios in Nairobi to produce this new mat…