Kenya: Day One of fieldwork (and it has been the best so far)

Ketebul music, a Nairobi recording studio that specializes in
Kenyan musicians that use their traditional roots to make music.

      We flew into Nairobi on Sunday evening.  A guy named Steve was there with a driver named Tom.  Steve works as a sound engineer for the recording studio Ketebul music, with which we are partnering.  He took us by the studio to drop off some extra luggage, and then we continued on to our hotel.  After checking in and showering, Diane and I met downstairs to get picked up for dinner.  We ended up eating with the whole team with which we will be traveling.  The team is this:

Steve – Audio engineer.  He has a full set of different microphones and preamps that allow him to make studio quality recordings out in the middle of the bush for as long as his batteries will last.

Hunter dominating carrying our gear back to the van,
surrounded by beautiful children.

Hunter – Videographer.  Hunter is a 21-year old English Lit student at Cambridge (yeah.  THE Cambridge).  He is the son of one of the founders of a non-profit in the UK that helps fund Ketebul music.  Hunter is one of the coolest guys I’ve met, and is an incredibly competent and sensitive.

Patrick – Videographer.  Patrick is a videographer that is on staff for Ketebul.  He is based out of Nairobi, and specializes in music video production.  Between he and Hunter, there is some serious camera firepower on the trip.  Both shoot Canon 5D Mark series cameras. 

Ryan in a typical pose for us: showing kids themselves
in your photos.  They love it!

Ryan – radio-journalist.  Ryan lives and works in New York City.  He is working on a radio story to potentially sell to RadioLab, and hopefully get onto NPR.  Despite his working for radio, he is insanely competent with photography and videography.  We’ve all learned some tips and tricks from him as we’ve worked together.  He and I also happened to have the exact same camera/laptop backpack.  We bonded.

Teddy – the driver of a massive four wheel drive van.  He is dominating some crazy roads for us.

Diane and 50 Cows posing at an outlook on our way to Bomet.

50 Cows – fixer.  Yes, he really goes by “50 cows.”  Apparently his dad was “100 cows,” but 50 is not that auspicious.  He works for Citizen broadcasting, but he is a native of the Kipsigi tribe.  Thus he is our “fixer,” or point of contact for all of our interviews and filming opportunities in the field.  He has found different people of relevance to the original Hugh Tracey recordings in the International Library of African Music. 

      We are going around to different rural areas to find participants or family members of participants in the recordings done by Hugh Tracey in this area in 1950.  Diane is supplying each family or institution with a copy of the original recordings from ILAM’s archive.  This is what we mean by the word “repatriation.”  We are giving these recordings back to the families to which they belong, instead of just holding them in an archive.  Patrick, Hunter, and Steve are working to shoot a full-on documentary about this project. 

Left to Right: Patrick, Hunter, Steve, and Teddy loading the van.

Ryan taking a photograph, me sticking out my stomach
and getting hustled by a peddler.

      The first leg of our fieldwork is in Bomet County, with the Kipsigi people.  We have three different recordings of a song called "Chemirocha."  The title is derived from Jimmy Rogers recordings infiltrating the area in the mid 20th century.  These American country recordings were quite popular, and spurred all kinds of folklore about a man named "Jimmy Rogers" coming to visit.  Pretty interesting!

The Brevan Hotel- a fancy hotel in the middle of basically
the large village of Bomet.  It really sticks out with its western appearance.
It is most likely used by Kenyan politicians that visit the area.

Meeting with the ministry of culture.

      We spent all day Monday driving out to Bomet.  First thing Tuesday, we were requested  to meet with the Ministry of Culture of Bomet County.  These meetings are a little nerve-racking because they could either be supportive or very against foreign researchers coming into the community.  We were pleasantly surprised to find the minister to be overwhelmingly supportive and excited for us.  The meeting could not have gone any better!  The minister really hopes to collaborate with Diane and ILAM in the future!

Elizabeth Betts, 50 Cows, and Diane in front of the shop.

      The next place we went was a music shop outside of town called "Mikiche Sounds Production."  Here we were meeting up with the owner, Rotich, who is a friend of 50 Cows. They had also arranged for an interview with a woman who is the widow of one of the performers in an ILAM recording.  Her name was Elizabeth Betts.  (People in Kenya all have Christian names as well as traditional names).  She got to hear this recording of her deceased husband for the very first time.  It was such a privilege.  We left her a copy to keep.

Rotich is far left, Elizabeth Betts and Diane center,
50 Cows far right.

Interviewing Philip with 50 Cows translating.

      Next we drove to the home of a man named Philip, whose father is one of the performers in Chemirocha.  He also had never heard these recordings before.  With him, we reviewed the field notes written by Hugh Tracey in 1950 to check for accuracy as well as new details.  As a team, we continue to appreciate the work of Hugh Tracey's notes and recordings.  It is amazing to sit with some of these families and learn even more about these performers and their music.

A little peak at some of the work we are doing.  Ryan is bottom left,
Patrick holding a camera, Steve using a field recorder and a
lapel microphone to get professional quality audio.
Macbook Pro sitting in the grass to playback the original recordings.

Philip, son of a Chemirocha performer.

Two women of the village dressed in the traditional garb
that is vividly described in Hugh Tracey's field notes.

Ryan showing kids how his film camera works.  He is the
coolest out of all of us, for sure.

Diane handing the copy of the recordings to Cheruiyot arap Kuri.

      Our last visit of the day was a real treat.  We drove out Kipkewa village to visit the home of a man named Cheruiyot arap Kuri.  He was born in 1926, and he is one of the last living singers in the recordings done by Hugh Tracey in 1950.  We had no idea we would get to present these recordings to a participant that is still alive.  When we played the recording back for him, the 88 year-old man came to life.  He got up and danced a frail but reminiscent dance.  He even sang along with the recording.  One of his sons remembered the songs of his father's youth and got up to sing and dance with him.  I will remember that moment for the rest of my life.  We were all speechless.

Cheruiyot arap Kuri, born 1926.

He rose to his feet and danced at the sound of the 64-year old recordings.

This is a wide shot of the full scene in Kipkewa.

      As we go to each place, we are very meticulously documenting the interviews and performances.  The guys at Ketebul have a lot of experience in this, and have an incredible system by which they use proper release forms and compensation to avoid any feelings of exploitation.  This is even better than I would have expected from an organization that does not overtly deal within the field of ethnomusicology.  Usually it's only the ethnomusicologists or anthropologists that are concerned about the protection of the individuals involved in research.  In all, the team with which I am working is a dream come true.  They are ethical and highly professional.  I wish more ethnomusicologists could be as organized, competent, and equipped as these guys.  They are so methodical, and they get don't settle for anything less than the absolute best quality audio and video to help tell the story of these people in a way that is artistic and valuable.  I don't have enough good things to say about working with Ketebul, and I feel so privileged to even be a part.
      After this first day of field work, we were blown away.  We actually were a little worried, because we weren't sure it could get any better!  Even so, I have plenty more cool moments and sights to post about.  In the meantime, there was a really cute puppy outside Kipkewa.  You're welcome.  More to come!!

Cute puppy.