Jabulani Library

FACTS YOU DID NOT KNOW ABOUT LUAMBO MAKIADI

September 26, 2024 - 05:30 PM GRAND MAITRE: IN BRIEF These are interesting facts you might not know 1. Grand Maitre always walked with a notebook and a pen. He was always writing a new song. 2. He had 18 children from 14 mothers. 3. He puffed but in hiding. He never wished his band members to know. 4. Franco didn't drop out of school for lack of fees as often said. He was never interested in education. 5. Franco recorded his first song on November 17th, 1953 at Loningisa studio, backed by Watam band. 6. That song was titled Kombo ya Loningisa. By then he was 15 years old. 7. Isaac Musekiwa, a long-time Franco saxophonist put the number of OKJ songs at 3000 and also said 50% of the songs......

THE ATIA JOKE

September 26, 2024 - 05:20 PM ATIA, MAMA ANAKUITA I had previously asked here why Atia Jo, the Super Mazembe legendary bassist was also known by the sobriquet 'mama anakuita'. I've just called the only surviving of the Super Mazembe legends, Bua Mangala aka Loboko Passie, and he gave a long hysteric laughter before responding. Apparently, the question evoked nostalgic memories of their days. His response was that women naturally hunt musicians and there was a specific one who was madly attracted to Atia Jo, and he kept pestering him even while on stage. She kept sending emissaries who delivered the message "Mama anakuita" very frequently. It came to be a joke within the band, everyone chiding Atia,......

MUSICAL CITADEL

September 24, 2024 - 02:51 PM COASTAL KENYA: THE CITADEL OF THE COUNTRY'S MUSIC The death of Teddy Kalanda further lays bare the pivotal position that the Kenyan Coast has played in the country's music as the citadel of talent. Picture this: One of Them Mushroom's long-term guitarists, Willy Mazera, was once, in the early 1980s, a LUNNA KIDI soloist. In that era, the Ochieng Kabaselle lead band also featured Adam Ndaro Solomon and John Jilo on rhythm guitar and bass, respectively. Adam Ndaro Solomon, presently a resident of Canada, shuffled solo and rhythm with Willy Mazera, and possibly John Jilo played bass and drums as well. With such development, it means that in those days, the LUNNA Kidi, a supposedly Benga band......

NTESA: FRANCO'S TOWERING SINGER WITH A GOLDEN VOICE

September 24, 2024 - 02:40 PM FRANCO'S TOWERING SINGER WITH A GOLDEN VOICE 'Hey there, some biscuits for you here.' These are someone's words to a young daughter of his neighbor. Apparently, the young girl was born just recently, as everyone knows, but now that she has a tiny bulge on her chest in the form of developing breath, this hungry tiger has seen a potential lover in her. This man winks at her at every opportunity, and he also drives around with sweets and biscuits in his car, to distribute them to her each he encounters her. This is a narration of Ntesa Dalienst in his song 'Losolo ya Adamu' which he recorded with OK Jazz of Franco in the late 1970s. Ntesa was a prolific composer and vocalist with OKJ......

THEM MUSHROOMS LEGEND

September 23, 2024 - 07:36 AM IMPORTANT BITS ON THEM MUSHROOMS LEGEND. 1. Teddy Kalanda conceived the idea of composing 'hakuna matata' after he heard a European tourist attempt a conversation while performing in Mombasa in 1980. He made a song from it and recorded it at Polygram in Nairobi while the band had its first tour of the city. 2. Hakuna Matata, could be Kenya's most popular song in the history of music recording in Kenya. The song has been redone by dozens of big names across the globe, the song sold 200,000 thousand copies and the line became so popular that I remember t-shirts emblazoned 'hakuna matata' becoming popular in the late 1980s or thereabouts.A few of the......

TEDDY'S SAX GOES SILENT

September 18, 2024 - 04:09 AM TEDDY'S SAX GOES SILENT By Jerome Ogola Teddy Kalanda, the founder of the sibling band Them Mushrooms, is dead, aged 73. According to sources, Teddy died yesterday at his home in Kaloleni Giriama, after battling ill-health since 2018, when he became paralysed. At the time of his death the composer, singer, band leader and saxophonist had lost his eyesight and was also confined to a wheelchair. Teddy was the eldest of the Mushrooms quintet, that also included John Katana who plays keyboard, composes and sings, Billy Saro who composes, sings and plays bass. The other were the late George Ziro who died in 2015 and Denis Kalume who died in 1992. George Ziro was a very......

THE GUITAR PHILOSOPHY OF CONGOLESE RUMBA

September 16, 2024 - 06:33 PM THE GUITAR PHILOSOPHY OF CONGOLESE RUMBA Every ensemble has a specific genre of music they specialize in. It is the type of music the band does that determines the guitar arrangements. Congolese rumba features a minimum of three guitars: the bass, the rhythm, and the solo. The music also features percussions and drums as part of the major ingredients, and saxophones, trumpets, clarinets, trombones, keyboards, additional guitars, and others follow in as spices. The guitars are very easy to differentiate. The bass guitar is played from a special, four-stringed (five, six, or even more in some cases, as is the case with my good friend Sammy Kasule's) instrument. The product is what comes......

KOFFI OLOMIDE EARLY MUSICAL CAREER

September 11, 2024 - 06:58 PM KOFFI OLOMIDE EARLY MUSICAL CAREER BRIEF Biography of Olomide, Koffi (Agbepa Mumba, Antoine), Congolese singer and band leader; born Kisangani, Congo-Kinshasa, Aug. 13, 1956. Growing up in Kinshasa Olomide played a little guitar and listened to the music of the day including the great Tabu Ley whose style he admired. As a teenager he followed the band Zaiko Langa Langa, eventually striking up a friendship with singer Papa Wemba. By the time Olomide finished secondary school in the late seventies, Wemba had his own band, Viva la Musica. Olomide hung out with the band and contributed backing vocals on a few of its recordings.In 1978, with help from a Kinshasa promoter, Olomide cut a......

LES MANGELEPA - NYAKO KONYA LYRICS WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION

September 09, 2024 - 05:30 PM LES MANGELEPA NYAKO KONYA LYRICS WITH TRANSLATION Motema mpe mabanzo - My heart [is full of] thoughts (literally: my heart and thoughts)Mabanzo ekotinda ngai namela poison - thoughts will drive me to take poisonSoki nakufi bandeko - when i die, my brothersBokamwa te - don't be surprisedNzela na ngai ya bomoi - my life pathEkei pamba - has been in vainMotema moto moto - my heart is on fireMabala ya bomwana - childish marriagesEleki makambo - are full of problemsBampasi nakomona - i'm in such painNalembi kobondela - [that] I'm weary of asking for helpMotema mpe mabanzo - my heart [is full of] thoughts (literally: my heart and thoughts)Nameka kopesa mokongo - I try to turn my back on itnamemi......

HOW JOSKY FOUND HIS SINGING EQUILIBRIUM

September 08, 2024 - 04:12 PM JOSKY KIAMBUKUTABy The Monk Josky Kiambukuta, who died on March 7, 2021, in a clinic in Ngaliema, found his musical home at Franco's OK Jazz (OKJ) after two stints with Nico’s African Fiesta Sukisa in the late 1960s and Orchestre Continental in 1971 and 1972. Sampling three songs he performed, one with each of the three bands, clearly shows why OKJ was his ultimate musical home. The first song is Orchestre Continental’s "Mama na Nicole," a composition by Bopol Mansiamina dedicated to his girlfriend. Josky sings lead vocals, backed by Wuta Mayi. The second song is "Bolingo ya Sens Unique," his own composition with African Fiesta Sukisa in 1969, performed as a solo. The......

Jabulani Library

FACTS YOU DID NOT KNOW ABOUT LUAMBO MAKIADI

THE ATIA JOKE

MUSICAL CITADEL

NTESA: FRANCO'S TOWERING SINGER WITH A GOLDEN VOICE

THEM MUSHROOMS LEGEND

TEDDY'S SAX GOES SILENT

THE GUITAR PHILOSOPHY OF CONGOLESE RUMBA

KOFFI OLOMIDE EARLY MUSICAL CAREER

LES MANGELEPA - NYAKO KONYA LYRICS WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION

HOW JOSKY FOUND HIS SINGING EQUILIBRIUM

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Weekend Rhumba Twilight Mix

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Jabulani Library

FACTS YOU DID NOT KNOW ABOUT LUAMBO MAKIADI

THE ATIA JOKE

MUSICAL CITADEL

NTESA: FRANCO'S TOWERING SINGER WITH A GOLDEN VOICE

THEM MUSHROOMS LEGEND

TEDDY'S SAX GOES SILENT

THE GUITAR PHILOSOPHY OF CONGOLESE RUMBA

KOFFI OLOMIDE EARLY MUSICAL CAREER

LES MANGELEPA - NYAKO KONYA LYRICS WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION

HOW JOSKY FOUND HIS SINGING EQUILIBRIUM

News

Jabulani Library (230)

Jabulani Swahili (8)

Rumba Chronicles (24)

Programs

Weekend Rhumba Twilight Mix

Weekend Soukous Odyssey

Benga Blast

Rhumba Revival

Weekend Zilizopendwa Mix

Weekend Rhumba Mix

Latest podcasts

Legend Franco Luambo Makaidi

Find us on

Contact us

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