MUSICAL CITADEL

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 with roots in Nyanza, stood on pillars from the Kenyan Coast. Coastal Kenya has built a reputation for its immense contributions to the country’s music. The region boasts several genres, among others chakacha, taarabu, and bango. These are all genres that have gained international reputation.

Taarab has a home along the coastline beyond the Kenyan borders deep into Tanzania. The rich culture of the coastal communities may have contributed to the growth of its music, and the advent of recording technology, provided an avenue for participants to monetize their work through sales and distribution of recorded work. Bango is largely associated with a sax-playing octogenarian known as Mzee Ngala. The genre that's large on horns and percussions and brief on strings, i.e., guitars, has been part and parcel of every social event on the Coast. The genre is close to jazz and oozes class.

Taarab has equally soared high in popularity. KBC had a program called 'burudani la taarab' and this is mostly the explanation for the upcountry getting hooked on this genre that is driven by several traditional instruments and percussions. Malika Mohammed, with her hit song 'Vidonge' in the 1990s, shattered a glass ceiling with several musical giants, Samba Mapangala and Moreno Batamba, recording rumba versions of her taarab song 'Vidonge'.

Kelly Brown, also from the Kenyan Coast, was nicknamed the Kenyan Michael Jackson because of his dancing prowess which mirrored that of the American pop legend. Kelly Brown, who died in Germany in 1989 and had his body brought back to Kenya by the government, was born in Mombasa in 1954. He was as popular in Europe as he was back home, with several hit songs, among them Kenya Nchi Yetu. The Afro-wearing superstar largely borrowed the styles of American James Brown.

The man oftentimes mentioned as the father of Kenyan music, Fadhili Williams, was also from the Kenyan Coast. The maker of the wildly popular 'Malaika' was a star musician, singer, and guitarist at Equator Sounds, an ensemble owned by Charles Worrod, a South African Briton who pioneered music recording in Kenya with the establishment of Equator Records in the mid-1950s. Fundi Konde is also considered a titan in his own right as far as the country's music is concerned. Fundi Konde was an electric guitar wizard and is oftentimes mentioned among Kenya's greatest. He is the maker of the hit song Tausi. He was born in Kilifi in 1924 and died in Nairobi in the year 2000.

The man behind the success of the military band Maroon Commandos, the late Habel Kifoto, was also from the Kenyan Coast, and so was the literal and figurative giant Prof Namaan, the man who weighed more than 300 kg and who made the song 'mama wa Kambo'. Aziz Abdi Kilambo of the hit song Kazi' and Freshley Mwamburi of Everest Kungs are also from the Kenyan Coast, and so was Slim Ali with his Hodi Boys. Mombasa Roots of Adam Solomon and the big boys of Mazeras known as Pressmen Band were also from the region. Reggae superstar of the 1990s, Joe Lipuka, is equally from the region. The region has had so many superstars that enumerating them in one sitting is a near impossibility. It has contributed to the country’s music more than any other region and thrived in many genres as opposed to other religions, which are only loyal to one genre.


By Jerome Ogola

Jabulani Radio Livestream

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