The origins of Singing Wells Story
…s to preserve, celebrate and share the unique music traditions and heritage of East Africa. Jimmy Allen, Founder Abubilla Music and Trustee of the Abubilla Music Foundation…
Meet our ‘Influences’ artists News
…music grew, she has later shared stages with such greats as Uganda’s own Susan Kerunen in a girls group called “Anyira” a luo word meaning “the girls”, led by Miss Susan Kerunen herself. After she then emerged as a professional backup singer with her first song being “Aluru” from Uganda’s own Michael Ouma’s debut album, still in the same light she joined Miss Tshila in a girls band called “Tshila and the Diamond’s”, still in this journey she work…
Day 9 (AM): Ketebul Studio – Influences session for Cheri Story
…op and Johnnie to get the basic song structure down and put on a vocal ‘Chorus.’ Stanley wants the song to be a classic love song and the his vocals are really beautiful and sincere. We then asked Nyerere Wa Konde to come in and work on the verses. We asked them to find their best love song that fits the beat and recorded them. Their musicality is amazing and the lead was able to introduce a whole new melody over Stanley’s song and deliver it as B…
Akello sings ‘Influences’ songs for Singing Wells News
…performed with the Watmon Cultural Troupe Akello Biography Akello is an African contemporary and urban music performer who sings in most popular languages like Acholi, Luganda, Swahili and English..After years of working with a few of Uganda’s leading contemporary and world music greats such as Kaweesa, Susan Kerunen, Myko Ouma, Tshila and Kinobe Herbert..she is indeed a rare talent with a rich textured organic voice. Akello begins a new jour…
Day 8: Entebbe to Nairobi and Ketebul Studios Story
…anted some one to play the burkandit (a handmade guitar). In Nyanza, we focused on the Orutu, the Nyatiti and the Ohangla (drums). In Kisoro I didn’t know what to expect from the Batwa and was schocked by how musical they were – amazing vocal harmonies. In Nortern Uganda, I wanted to make sure we did three things: 1) the likembe (thumb piano, called Kalimba in Kenya) which they borrowed from the Congo but make their own, 2) adungu (stringed instru…
Hannah interviews Evelyn Ojok – Acet, Northern Uganda News
…r women I play drums and they all come, usually in the evening. I want to push the music to it’s highest level so that we can get some sponsorship from NGOs or from the Ugandan Government. I have opened up a bank account for us to make this easier and my prayer is that we will be able to become professional performers and be able to buy proper costumes, more instruments and better equipment to keep authenticity. Why do you like to perform? I am a…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Kampala (a driving story) Story
…traffic. Strangely this is comforting as we know legions of cars ahead of us have pushed the scary things in the shadows further and further onto the shoulder. The only negative is when our driver sees an opening and wants to pass. We prefer no openings. But that’s okay because as we write this, our back left tire has blown so we have pulled over to change it. Front right to begin our journey 6 hours and 17 minutes ago and now back left. And we a…
How music archives can help communities News
…e performers to do so, of course. High quality field recordings of indigenous music groups are a valuable resource for those want to learn from these traditional cultural expressions. They have the potential to empower communities to continue to perform and educate future generations. Recordings must be professionally archived as history shows us that they can have a huge impact on the communities from which they originate, as Janet Topp Fargion,…
Northern Uganda: Day 5 – from Pakwach to Soroti (a road trip) Story
…t of blankets with eggs, but sometimes sunglasses, nails, electic sockets, rusty tools, clay pots, cutting boards or meal grinding tools, etc… Behind the blankets are stacks of wood, bed frames, gates and other big objects, including massive pipes. Dogs, goats and pigs are everywhere rooting in the piles of garbage left over from yesterday’s market. God help you if yesterday was cabbage day (very pungent).. And then there’s the mud. We love Uganda…
ATTA is following Singing Wells News
…ront page of their website under the ‘ATTA Likes’ banner! Thank you ATTA – we will keep you posted on our travels in East Africa with news, photos and wonderful music! Victoria…
Northern Uganda: Day 4 – night recording at Fort Murchison Story
…– our friend was a musician in a band, not some studio session guy ‘mailing in his over-dub.’ Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. https://youtu.be/IktMw1iNcq4 https://youtu.be/Hk5DlFHa8Lg And with that, brushed the bugs from our hair and clothes, pulled some beetles from the camera bags and had dinner. Tomorrow is a driving day as we head to our next location… Jimmy (Fort Murchison, near Pakwach)…
Reporting back on recording trip to Kisoro, SW Uganda News
…The following week, we invited ten of the Batwa performers to the Ketebul Music studios in Nairobi to record more songs, and in particular, collaborate with contemporary music artists to generate new material for ‘Influences’ – a series of new songs influenced and inspired by traditional themes. Our aim is to provide a lasting benefit for the Batwa community in Uganda and we are doing this through our continuing relationship with UOBDU. We were de…
Northern Uganda: Day 4 – Pakwach to Widiang’a, Nebbi Story
…dara (the amazing Ugandan xylophone) The Rigi-Rigi (similar to the Kenyan orutu) The Agwara (trumpets) The Adungu (the harp we’ve encountered every day now) The group was formed in 1993 and is professional, touring Kampala and other parts of Uganda, sponsored by NGO’s and typically campaigning for things like HIV Awareness, Cultural preservation, etc… Except for the fact they wear clothes under their animal skins, they work very hard to be as trad…
A day in the field with Singing Wells News
…ly joined by a local ‘fixer’ who will take us to the village and introduce us to the music groups who are expecting us. Once we arrive in our location, we liaise with the local musicians to find the best space to record. If possible we will record more than one of groups in each location, as it reduces the setup and breakdown time and maximizes the time for recording. We decide on two or three different ‘backdrops’ for the performances and park ve…
UOBDU report on Singing Wells visit to the Batwa, Kisoro Uganda News
…ed. This week UOBDU Coordinator Zaninka Penninah sent a detailed report to us with feedback about all the music groups who performed for the Singing Wells project. The good news is that being involved in the project seems to have given the groups a new and added pride for their music and has inspired them to practice their dances so that they can confidently perform to more audiences. It is also clear that the financial contribution made to UOBDU…
The Tribal and Musical Structure of East Africa – Worldmap Research News
…h Tati Kalveks and Rosie Balfour-Lynn to do this research. It was directed using WorldMap, an interesting way of visually displaying data. Here is a shot of the map below, the highlighted regions are the areas in which layers of information have been embedded. When accessing the map, this is what your screen would look like. The map, which you can access here, is a result of a platform developed by Harvard University. WorldMap is a great platform…