Ketebul Music

Ketebul Music is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation incorporated in January 2007 in Nairobi, Kenya by various stakeholders in the music production Industry. Tabu Osusa, the founding Executive Director, has been actively involved in shaping and running some of the top recording and performing bands in the country, over the last 30 years. Notable artists signed to Ketebul included Orchestra Virunga and The Nairobi City Ensemble. Ketebul means “drum sticks” - the word is derived from the Luo language of Western Kenya. The name was a natural choice for an organisation that has a vision of an African society that celebrates its cultural identity and also recognizes the special role that artists play every day in people’s lives.

The vision of Ketebul is to carry out research and promote the diverse fusion of traditional sounds of Kenya and East Africa through the documentation and archiving of the work of musicians who have shaped the various genres of music from the region over the past six decades. In broader terms, intensive research carried out by Ketebul Music involves the musicians themselves, their families, industry players such as producers and promoters, media personalities and the market audience.