A quick summary of the Singing Wells Project News
…Another friend asked me about Singing Wells – as I told the latest stories, I concluded I should provide an other update……
The origins of Singing Wells Story
…So, how did Tabu Osusa, one of Kenya’s most successful record producers end up in a remote Kenyan village, teamed with me, an American businessman, and a sound engineer from Gateshead?…
Promotion of Batwa cultural music: UOBDU report March 2013 News
This is a transcript of a report received from UOBDU, following the visit made by the Singing Wells project to record the music of the Batwa in Kisoro, Uganda in December 2011. United Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda (UOBDU) Narrative Report on the Promotion of Batwa Cultural Music Since April 2012, UOBDU started implementing a project responsible for promotion of Batwa cultural heritage, supporting the performance of music and drama…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Kampala (a driving story) Story
…It was a day of two halves. This is about the bad half. We tried to use our time wisely telling you far more than you want to know about file management, but as the night progresses we return again and again to the African road. Ultimately, we don’t really remember what we were talking about…….
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Obuell-Lira to Soroti Story
…A Day of Two Halves. This is the good half….
Northern Uganda: Day 5 – from Pakwach to Soroti (a road trip) Story
…We hit the road and use the time to tell the story of travelling on Uganda’s highways……
Northern Uganda: Day 4 – night recording at Fort Murchison Story
…A wonderful night session of recording as we are joined at our lodge by Cieng Dwong and their ‘Thwumping’…
Northern Uganda: Day 4 – Pakwach to Widiang’a, Nebbi Story
…Our morning was filled with a host of traditional Ugandan instruments and a whole lot of dancing about stubborn women, hunters and chiefs….
Northern Uganda: Day 3 – from Gulu to Awach to Pakwach Story
…A long day with big rewards, most notably the Likembe music, a very special lady, and a sun set poured over the hills…….
Northern Uganda: Day 2 – from Gulu to Acet Story
…Beautiful two hour drive to Acet, six wonderful groups, 350 fans, 2 amazing dancers and lots o’ percussion……
The Tribal and Musical Structure of East Africa – Worldmap Research News
…Read about Singing Wells’ new initiative: a musical map of East Africa….
African Strings: The Nyatiti and The Adungu News
You might remember back in November 2011, while the Singing Wells team discovered the Music of the Luo, they recorded the beautiful sound of the nyatiti, eventually purchasing one for our studio back home! There’s one on the right. On Day 11 of that field trip in Siaya, Kenya, they saw two nyatiti groups, first The Joginda Boys, featuring Oganda Joginda. Watch and listen: The second nyatiti group featured Okumu K’Orengo, another fantastic player…
Background on the Music of Northern Uganda News
After Patrick Ondiek and Steve Kivutia, went on a recce around Northern Uganda in September to help us put together an itinerary, I endeavored to discover a little more about the music we’d be discovering. Gulu: First we will discover the music of the Acholi tribe in Agago, where a variety of different styles of music are performed, each with there own different purposes. Click here to learn about the Acholi People. 1. We will hopefully see a per…
Day 9: Ketebul Studios with Ben Kisinja Story
…We welcome Ben into the studio to record Kotuyo, the song that blew us away in the field. The Otacho Young Stars were so impressed they stayed an extra day to play with him….
Day 8: Ketebul Studios with the Otacho Young Stars Story
…Having recorded the Batwa in the Ketebul studios in December 2011, we follow this with our first studio recordings from the Nyanza trip – starting with the wonderful Otacho Young Stars…
Day 6: Recording the Tugen & back to Nairobi Story
Our day really started at 7:30am when Tabu discovered the Jeep had a flat tyre. This moved our departure time from the two hotels (Eldoret Club and Pine Tree) from 8am to about 9.30am. The tyre had a damaged tube that just wore out. We reassembled and headed off for a spectacular trip from an altitude of 2,800m down to 1,114m at one of the floors of the Great Rift Valley. The roads were more winding and steeper than on our trip to Rwanda last Nov…