The Singing Wells is a collaboration between London based The Abubilla Music Foundation and Nairobi based Ketebul Music. 

Our goal is to record, archive and share the tribal music of East Africa for two reasons – to preserve and celebrate the musical heritage of the region and to help make this legacy relevant and fresh to today’s musicians. 

SWAHILI ALLY - FUSING TRADITIONAL DIGO MUSIC WITH THE DAZZLING SOUND OF THE KORA

SWAHILI ALLY UPCOMING SHOWS

4.02  // Nyumbani Festival 2017 @Coco Blue (Zanzibar)
28.10 // FridayNightLiveSessions @ Coco Blue (Zanzibar)
21.10 // Lumumba Theatre @ National Museum (DarEsSalaam)
26.09 // Crazy Monday @ Red Monkey Lodge (Zanzibar)
24.09 // Musical Explosion @ Coco Blue (Zanzibar)

PASSED SHOWS

27.08 // The Go Down Gig @ Go Down Arts Center (Nairobi)
05.08 // The Beat Festival @ Slipway (Dar es Salaam)
07.07 // Thursday Nite Live @ Choices (Nairobi)
25.05 // The Alchemist (Nairobi)
18.06 // Fete de la Musique @ Alliance Francaise (Nairobi)
17.06 // Exclusive Show @ Artville Studios Layington (Nairobi)
12.06 // Poetry Slam Africa (Nairobi)
04.06 // Sounds of Kili @ Glaciers (Moshi)
28.05 // Chap Chap Market @ Nafasi Art Space (Mikocheni, Dar es Salaam)
21.05 // Full Moon Party @ Kendwa Rocks (Nungwi, Zanzibar)
20.05 // Zanzibar Sessions @ La Taperia (Stone Town, Zanzibar)
16.05 // Crazy Monday @ Red Monkey Lodge (Jambiani, Zanzibar)

For bookings, studio sessions and other inquries please write to:
***digomusic.booking@gmail.com***

SINGER / / MUSICIAN / / PERFORMER
Traditional // Tanzanian // Digo Music // Fusion

Swahili Ally is a extremely talented singer and kora player from Tanga, Tanzania. He was born into a musicians family. Taught by his grandparents - elders and respected musicians from the wadigo ethnic group - he was passed on the traditional digo music and family roots from an early age on.

Today, Swahili Ally fuses his vibrant performance of digo music with the dazzling sound of the kora. He uses the West African instrument to pronounce his digo heritage in a unique style. His powerful message, delivered though his strong and enchanting voice, delivers a memorable and exiting performance. 

Having toured East Africa extensively, Swahili Ally hyped up big stages like Sauti za Busara and  Jahazi Jazz Festival in Tanzania, Doa Doa Festival in Uganda, Umoja African Festival in Mozambique and Utamu Festival in Kenya. Swahili Ally performed alongside international musicians including artists from Mali, Gambia, South Africa, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Mozambique, Norway and the USA. 

His recent Mwanamuranda Tour was big succes among the audiences in Tanzania and Kenya, leaving many with the request for more musical happenings. We thank everyone who made it happen, and still keeps on working for the musical roots of East Africa to grow.

Guitarist, singer and songwriter Omara “Bombino” Moctar is indeed a nomad, the word he has chosen as the title for his Dan Auerbach–produced Nonesuch debut, recorded during 10 days of sessions at Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound in Nashville, Tennessee. A native of Agadez, Niger, he is a member of the Tuareg people, who have, for centuries, tended cattle and wandered the Saharan desert regions of West Africa. But rising star Bombino—buzzed about in music circles since the independent release of his 2011 album Agadez—has adopted the farther-reaching role of itinerant musician, intrepidly bringing a plugged-in version of his mesmerizing native sound to audiences around the world.

Born in Beijing and based in Berlin, Dj Zhao brings a poly-cultural understanding of polyrhythm to dance floors all over the world, and applies historical materialist analysis to the study of social music.  Not restricted by style and convention, Dj Zhao's deeply percussive sets span across genres and draws from wildly different times and places, connecting Africa, Asia, and South America, acoustic and electronic, traditional and hyper-modern.

Select Past Performances:
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FESTIVALS

Nyege Nyege (Uganda) 
Fusion Festival (Germany) 
Incubate (Holland) 
Odunde (USA)
EXIT Festival (Serbia) 
Sondeka (Kenya) 
Club Trans Mediale (Germany) 
Sziget Festival (Hungary)
Tribal Gathering (Panama) 
Ethnoport (Poland) 
Worldtronics (Germany) 
Fest de Bestuiving (Holland) 
Sineztezija (Montenegro) 
Sonar Festival (Germany) 
MišMaš (Czech Republic) 
Solar Weekend (Holland) 
Mikser (Serbia) 
Treffpunkt Afrika (Austria) 
Decoloniale (Germany)
At.Tension (Germany) 
Hakuna Matata (Germany) 
Art Lake (Germany) 

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CLUBS

Berghain (Berlin, DE)
Golden Pudel (Hamburg, DE)
Ponyaza (Johannesburg, SA)
Ritter Butzke (Berlin, DE)
La Riviera (Madrid, SP)
About://Blank (Berlin, DE)
Nuba (Paris, FR)
Palác Akropolis (Prague, CZ)
Watergate (Berlin, DE)
Radialsystem (Berlin, DE)
Danse Danse! (Amsterdam, NL)
Andel music Club (Prague, CZ)
Rich Mix (London, UK)
HKW (Berlin, DE)
UT Connewitz (Leipzig, DE)
Opium (Vilnius, LT)
The Shrine (NYC, US)
Gretchen (Berlin, DE)
Klub Fabryka (Krakow, PL)
Leopold Museum (Vienna, AT)
Floripa (London, UK)
Treehouse (Nairobi, KE)
YAAM (Berlin, DE)
Red Cat (Mainz, DE)
Coup D'Etat, Chicago (US)
Capital Pub (Kampala, UG)
Vacca Matta (Johannesburg, SA)
Occii (Amsterdam, NL)
Club 414 (London, UK)
WonderBar (Boston, US)
Noize Fabrik (Berlin, DE)
Lipsiusbau (Dresden, DE)
La Dame De Canton (Paris, FR)
Karlstorbahnhof (Heidelberg, DE)
Zeba Washington (Washington DC, US)
Guanabara (London, UK)
Shikisha (Johannesburg, SA)
Passing Clouds (London, UK)
Urban Spree (Berlin, DE)
ACUD Macht Neu (Berlin, DE)
Panke (Berlin, DE)
Take Five (Bristol, UK)
Badehaus (Berlin, DE)
Bi Nuu (Berlin, DE)
Cookies (Berlin, DE)
Confessions (Prague, CZ)
Bohannon (Berlin, DE)
Tausend (Berlin, DE)

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TALKS

“Forbidden Drums: The Secret History of Modern Social Music”
Untitled Gallery, Berlin, DE 

“Altered Beats: Transatlantic Rhythmic Cross-Pollination” 
Festival de Bestuiving / Utrecht, NL 

“Forged in Pain: The Colonial Process of Musical Development”
Sound System Culture, Berlin, DE

“Legacy of Rhythm: From Biology to Culture” 
Mutant Rhythms Conference, Berlin, DE 

“Reconstructed Cultures and Music from Memory” 
Voneinander Lernen- interkulturelle, Gaziantep, Turkiye 

“Ancient Futurism: Racing The Rhythm Lineage of Modernity” 
Centrum Sonic Lecture Series / Berlin, DE 

“Deep Roots: African Sonic Heritage Today” 
THE SPACE BETWEEN US Music Convention / Berlin, DE

Lion's Den is a Berlin-based label, sound system, studio and production & promotion force focused on conscious music.

The agenda: word, sound and power.

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For bookings, wholesale of Lion's Den vinyl or any other inquiries get in touch via our website www.lionsdensound.de

Ubantu celebrates the cultural, artistic & historical legacies of the African people. Curated by Muthomi 🇰🇪🌍 #AfroHouse ~ #MelodicTechno ~ #Amapiano

Specialising electronic and synthesised genres from around Africa working with underground artists and Grammy, Brit and Mobo award winners alike. Through this work I’m led to work also within the intersection of Skills and Education and what I’m calling ‘Cultural Infrastructure development’.

Swahili Ally:DIGO is following