Blog
Africa – moments I got most jealous about
Written by Hannah
A team from Singing Wells went to Africa for 16 days – as we have mentioned, to understand what it was about and read what they did – http://www.singingwells.org/news/ go here, but if you don’t have time, I have on this blog listed the few things that made me really go aw man, that is awesome (it was hard to narrow down, this whole trip was hugely productive and busy and the project I am sure is completely unique, so really you should just visit the website)
1. on Day 4 they had their first full day of recording, with the Birara dancers, 23 km up in the hills (a reminder that recording in Africa is logistically quite tricky) – the very heavy and plentiful pieces of equipment proved a problem when trying to walk up the steep hills, but locals came to the rescue and, (I found this also happened to me when trekking in the Indian Himalayas, locals would cheerily offer a hand with your huge backpack, swing it on their head and run up the mountain in their flip flops while you flap behind with your camelbak and walking poles) they jogged up the mountain, one young man with the entire generator on his head, using some grass as a cushion. The reaction of the locals for me made this first day special – a good start to what was to be an incredible trip.
2. Day 5. I wish I could have been there on Day 5. Jimmy says this was the most beautiful recording spot – the short clip on the page gives you a taste of the music recorded that day, the female lead, Jovah, was so good that the team eventually drove her from Kisoro to Ketebul Music in Nairobi (travelling for 48 hours) along with 13 others, to record again all together (this was spectacular – we’ll get to that). Anyway the setting looked incredible, a back drop of the Virunga mountains, and as it was put on the website, “until the music is ready, we think this village is best described through pictures..” so have a look at it.
3. Day 5 again (awesome day). Later that night they met a bassist. This bassist, called Challenger, is just the bees knees! You gotta be intrigued by this:
4. Last day – The Return of the Badwa, this was when 14 people travelled for 48 hours to sing at Ketebul Studios in Nairobi, they were five ladies and five babies and four men. The recordings are a mix of different musicians met by the team at different stages of the trip – this shows some serious musical dedication! Must have been bizarre to have to make music all wired up without clapping or dancing when this was totally alien – it seems some did it anyway (all of the women carrying their babies) and they couldn’t help but dance:
The recordings on this page are amazing – there is so much more footage and many more tracks to share from the project, but the sound of the entire team at Ketebul at the top of the page for me is the special track – Jimmy also recommends the track of Jovah singing with Jessie on piano.