Kenya: First week of Fieldwork

     We had an incredible first week of field work giving recordings back to the Kipsigis people.  For many, it was their first time hearing themselves or their relatives in these recordings.  We are documenting our work in hopes of creating a full documentary film to help acquire more funding in the future.  I just want to share these photos with you all in order to tell more of the story!

The countryside in Kenya.  Looks a lot different than the "bush"
we all imagine!  This is a tea plantation.

Some locals helping us had their PA system and instruments
just chilling in their trunk.  Pretty hardcore.

The "nursery" of a primary school we went to visit.

Diane briefs the principal on why we are here.

Ryan gets ready to do some solid radio journalism.

Part of Ketebul's awesome field setup includes two AKG C414
microphones.  These are really nice, and are usually reserved for
nice studios or live venues.  Just a testament to how
legitimate this crew is.

Steve has is 17" Macbook Pro and two rack-mount interfaces set up
for the group performance.  No big deal!

Patrick is one of our videographers.  Based out of Nairobi,
he specializes in music video shoots.

Diane presents the Hugh Tracey recordings to the principal
for the school to use to educate children in traditional music.

Just a cute nugget I found hanging by a tree.

Steve is constantly listening to the audio to make sure
we are getting the best quality sound from our setup.

School students perform some traditional music and dance.

Wide shot of the whole scene. 

Singing beautiful traditional songs in cool home-made costumes.

Hunter gathering a crowd with the photos he got of the children.

Diane poses with some of the performers from the school.

A quick look inside the classrooms of the school.

We arrive at the second site of the day- a small village where
relatives of a performer live.

A widow listens to a 1950 recording of her husband for the first time!

Cute children abound!

Ryan always tacked on some really awesome questions to the interviews.

The legend, 50 Cows.  He did an amazing job locating these people!

A group of men from the village perform!

This is a form of an instrument called the nyatiti. 

We used a car battery, a stereo, and a wood-housed speaker
to play the songs for the villagers.

Day three, we met a man named Josiah that is the son
of a senior chief in the area.

Holding a traditional drum used both for music
and informational signals.

Josiah created a museum of the Kipsigis people,
containing all kinds of local artifacts and instruments. 

Our last stop on the way out of the area was a small music shop
in Kericho.  It was filled with recordings of local music!

   Through all of our work in the area of the Kipsigis, we have gained a lot of insight into some of the work of Hugh Tracey and the songs he recorded.  One song we focused on the most is called "Chemirocha."  This is a local way of saying "Jimmy Rogers," whose music was very popular in the area during the mid 20th century.  The song "Chemirocha" speaks of a legendary white man named "Chemirocha" that is coming to visit the village.  He is described as being half man, half beast.  We learned that the reason for this was that the local villagers believed white men were part beast.  They drew blood from Kipsigis people to use in blood banks for British soldiers, but the people thought they just ate the blood.  They also believed that the sacraments in the Holy Communion literally meant they were eating a man and drinking his blood.  For this reason, Kipsigis would not close their eyes during communion- for fear that one of them would be snatched away and eaten!  Kind of crazy, but it is so amazing to get these insights into field notes that to this day have only been a source of conjecture.
    After leaving the music shop in Kericho, we headed to the city of Kisumu, which is right on the coast of Lake Victoria.  There we began the second leg of our research with the Luo people.  More to come!