Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Purchasable with gift card
$7USD or more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
The album on a CD. All money from this CD goes straight to the Mzee Nyagweno to help construct him a new house to live and keep traditional nyatiti music alive.
Includes unlimited streaming of "Where I go, I am there."
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 7 days
Purchasable with gift card
$10USDor more
Oduor Nyagweno "Where I go, I am there” LP
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Collection of recordings on a limited LP, album starts shipping on or around May 30, 2021. Limited to 100 copies.
Includes unlimited streaming of "Where I go, I am there."
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Sold Out
NYATITI LP BUNDLE!! Three LPs for one low price!
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Get all three nyatiti LPs: Kambanane: Nyatiti Music from Kenya 1970-1985, Thum Nyatiti: Recordings from Western Kenya 1930-1965 and Oduor Nyagweno "Where I go, I am there" all on LP for one low price!!
Includes unlimited streaming of "Where I go, I am there."
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Oduor “Nyagweno” Vitalis Okech is among the last of the great elder nyatiti masters in Kenya and perhaps the nyatiti's greatest living player.
Hailing from the Ugenya area of Siaya County along Lake Victoria, he was born in the late 1940s to a typically poor household. Nyagweno was responsible for caring for the household livestock which prevented him from attending school. At 14 years of age he had a dream about the nyatiti and when he awoke the following day, he was magically able to play it, or so the legend goes. Nyagweno started entering nyatiti competitions and quickly moved up the ranks to become one of the best nyatiti players in the area.
He has played the nyatiti at competitions, for tourists, played for Presidents of the US, for all of the Presidents of Kenya, has travelled all over Europe, China, South America, the US and elsewhere. His lifetime achievements are numerous and worthy of respect in any context.
Mzee Nyagweno taught me everything I know about the nyatiti and a lot about music and being a musician. My debt to him cannot be overstated. I studied under the mzee for most of my time in Kenya. At first, he didn't take me seriously, but gradually as we met more and more frequently and our relationship deepened, he began to open himself up, providing me with invaluable knowledge about nyatiti, music and life. I will never forget that time and to this day every piece of music I do has a piece of Nyagweno included somewhere.
Like musicians everywhere, Nyagweno struggles in the era of Covid-19. Gigs are gone, revenue streams for everyone are strained so that all his sources of income have effectively dried up.
This benefit is intended to help raise money to build the old man a new house in Nairobi so that he can house himself and his family and continue to give lessons to anyone who needs them. We are asking that everyone give generously to help us meet this goal.
While we would simply press his music up on vinyl and sell records, in this case, we felt that the money might be better spent supporting Nyagweno himself. Dagoretti Records will be matching all sales and contribution so that for every dollar you offer, we will match a dollar of our own.
Please consider helping us and Mzee Nyagweno.
Thank you,
Pete Larson
credits
released February 26, 2021
Oduor Nyagweno - nyatiti
Recorded by Pete Larson
Pete Larson plays on Otieno
Rapasa Nyatrapasa Otieno plays on Kwetu Nyawara
Daniel Onyango plays on Maya Thumwa Manyaka Nene