Kipsigis district

The browser contains 10 records per page. Use the pager at the bottom of the page to navigate to additional pages
For more information about each record click the Title link in the page below
Alternatively all "orange" words below are links to records which have been so tagged

  1. Artist(s): Kipkemo Arap SitonikKepkoske Arap Chepkwony | 1950/09/15 | Bowl lyre, Chepkongo bowl lyre, Chepkwony, Kepkoske Arap, East African, Indigenous music, Kapkatet, Kenya, Kericho, Kipsigis, Kipsigis district, Praise song, Sitonik, Kipkemo Arap, ILAM | A praise song with Chepkongo 6 string bowl lyre. This lyre is strummed and fingered like the Bangwe zither of Nyasaland. The right hand strums the strings and the left mutes or opens the 6 strings, making it possible to play two or three chords on the open un-muted strings. The singer mentions by name his home village, places of common interest to his friends. The player flips the body of his lyre on the 2nd and 4th beats. In common with several African verse makers, the singer sings in couplets, repeating the second phrase and making it the first line of the next.Details from ILAM field card number: D6L 3
  2. Artist(s): Kinutit Arap Ngasura | 1950/09/15 | East African, Indigenous music, Kapkatet, Kenya, Kericho, Kibugandet lyre, Kipsigis, Kipsigis district, Ngasura, Kinutit Arap, Praise song, ILAM | A praise song with Kibugandet 5 string wish bone lyre, resonated on a parafin tin. The solo singer, singing in falsetto, praises his country and many of its desirable places. He mentions, among others, the Administrative centre at Kericho, some 25 miles away, which he says is 'full of words', referring to the information service supplied to the country by the office of the District Commissioner. This wishbone shaped frame lyre is help onto the top of an empty 4 gallon parafin tin. At the end of his song the lyre slipped off its resonator.Details from ILAM field card number: D6L 4
  3. Artist(s): Cherwo Arap KorogoremBekyibei Arap Mosonick | 1950/09/15 | Bowl lyre, Chepkongo bowl lyre, Cheriro Arap, East African, Indigenous music, Kapkatet, Kenya, Kericho, Kipsigis, Kipsigis district, Korogorem, Mosonik, Bekyibei Arap, Praise song, Vocal, ILAM | Praise song with Chepkongo 6 string bowl lyre. The main theme of this song is affection for the Kipsigis country. He also asks 'why the whitemen should have taken over the country' which incidentally they themselves took from others in the past. He comes, he says, from the Sotik nearby. The name 'Chemirocha' is their pronunciation of 'Jimmy Rodgers' whose gramophone records were the first to be heard in the district. It is now synonomous for anything strange or new. Details from ILAM field card number: D6L 6
  4. Artist(s): Kepkoske Arap Chepkwony with Kipsigis men | Composer:  (Performer)Kepkoske Arap Chepkwony (Composer) | 1950/09/15 | Bowl lyre, Chepkongo bowl lyre, Chepkwony,Kepkoske Arap, East African, Indigenous music, Kapsabet Kenya Nandi district, Kericho, Kipsigis, Kipsigis district, Praise song, Vocal, ILAM | A praise song with a Chepkongo 6 string bowl lyre. The player flips the bridge of the lyre with a finger tip as he plays. The  'Hey - nonny - nonny' words of the song are " Ho - Jambo Bwana". "How do you do, Master."This was impromptu refering to the recorder of the item. The remainder of the lyric mentions places of mutual interst and affection in the minds of the audience.Both Kipsigis and Nandi are noted for their patriotism, their love of country as such, which they frequently express in song. This is comparitively rare with Bantu people who do not, as a rule, praise the beauty of the countryside and are mostly insensitive to scenery.Details from ILAM field card number: D6L 2
Subscribe to Kipsigis district