Jabulani Library

A MELODIOUS VOICE THAT TALKS TO THE HEART

December 09, 2025 - 04:54 AM Nyboma Mwandido was the star musician at the center of several musical galaxies. Bella Bella, Lipua Lipua, and Les Kamale were household names in the entire 1970s, and he was the central pillar and the star attraction of these bands. With the shockwaves of the pacy cavacha reverberating across the DRC and the whole of Africa, Nyboma became the much-sought-after voice, especially after being crowned Congolese Singer of the Year in 1974, following the success of his song "Kamale." Kamale is a Malian word that means "best friend," according to Nyboma. In an online debate on who was the all-time...

THE GUITAR AND THE VOICE: REVISITING THE LEGACIES OF TABU LEY & FRANCO LUAMBO MAKIADI and Franco

December 02, 2025 - 10:57 PM On November 30, 2013, at St. Luc Hospital in Brussels, Belgium, Tabu Ley breathed his last. He had been taken there for treatment owing to his deteriorating health after suffering a stroke five years earlier. His death brought the curtains down on a music career that had spanned over 50 years. Born Pascal Tabu on November 29, 1940, Tabu Ley was a trailblazer of contemporary rumba and a titan of Congolese music. So revered is Tabu Ley that the only other musician whose name is mentioned in the same breath, or even higher, is Grand Maître Luambo Luanzo Makiadi, famously known as Franco. In the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the two bands sat at the apex of the country's musical landscape......

KWAMY MUNSI: THE UNTOLD STORY

November 26, 2025 - 08:20 PM Music as an art is a form of expression. The feelings expressed can be love, hatred, anger, gratitude, or anything else. For the song “Chicotte” by Franco, it is anger at its extreme end. What irked Franco to this level of anger? Sample this verse from the song:Nabikisa yo na liwa Nani abungi likambo yango Opolaki olumbi solo oh Obimaki nde soi ya mobesu Okomaki ebembe ya l’etat Nasupportaki bosoto yango lokuta na yo Okutaki nga na OK Jazz Nakomisa yo ndenge ozali Lelo olobi ngai enemi Which translates to:You were a rotting carcass I saved from the jaws of death. Today I've become your enemy. You found me at OK Jazz. I made you who you are. Now you declare me an......

JIMMY CLIFF: REGGAE ICON & GLOBAL CITIZEN PASSES AWAY

November 24, 2025 - 08:02 PM Jamaican music superstar Jimmy Cliff has died at the age of 81. According to a Facebook post shared on his official page by his wife, Latifa Chambers, Cliff passed away in the hospital after suffering a seizure followed by pneumonia. The legendary singer, known for hits such as "Reggae Night," "Many Rivers to Cross," and his iconic cover of "I Can See Clearly Now," was born James Chambers on July 30, 1944, in St. James Parish, Jamaica. He began his music career in the early 1960s. Cliff was a pioneer in bringing the reggae genre to an international audience, notably through his starring role and contribution to the soundtrack of the 1972 cult-classic film, The Harder They Come. His career......

GUNS AND GUITARS: THE STORY OF MAROON COMMANDOS

November 18, 2025 - 03:39 PM Growing up in the villages in the 1980s, life was far removed from what it is today. There were no smartphones with alarm clocks to wake us up early for school, which in those days was scattered kilometers apart. Neither were there alternative ways of reading the time. Roosters, who probably relied on temperature and light to wake up the villages, occasionally got it all wrong. For that reason, the responsibility of waking everyone up was bestowed on the radio. In those days, only three stations were accessible through a shortwave transistor receiver: VOK English, Swahili, and Vernacular services. The Kiswahili service was the most popular. The station opened at 5 a.m. with the signature......

MYTH, MUSIC & MIGHTY FRAME

November 12, 2025 - 09:41 PM Rumours abound about this larger-than-life figure, musician Mohamed Bakari Naaman, who went by the stage name Prof. Naaman. It is said that he was a ghostbuster, and indeed he was. That he was an herbalist, in fact a renowned one, whose services were sought beyond the borders. That he was the heaviest musician ever, perhaps true, although there are no documented records of musicians’ weights. Since he visibly weighed far more than Pepe Kallé, who himself could be considered among the heaviest, then probably Naaman truly was the heaviest. It is also said that he ate a whole tray of eggs for breakfast. That is speculative. He did eat quite a lot, but not an entire tray in one......

VETERAN MAROON COMMANDOS MUSICIAN DIES

November 05, 2025 - 11:34 PM Paul Mwandembo, a long-serving member of the legendary Maroon Commandos band, is dead. According to information shared on the band’s official Facebook page, Mwandembo, who sang with the military outfit for over two decades, passed away on October 31st after a period of illness. Mwandembo joined the military in 1975 and served in B Company at Lang’ata Barracks for 25 years before retiring with the rank of Corporal. During his time with the Maroon Commandos, he distinguished himself as both a composer and a vocalist, and is best remembered for writing "Dawa Nimuone Hani", one of the group’s most popular songs. He will be laid to rest on November 7th at his rural home in......

KENYAN COAST: WHERE THE COUNTRY’S MUSIC ROOSTS

November 03, 2025 - 11:19 PM That Coastal Kenya is the citadel of the country’s music is not in doubt. The gods of Kenyan music seem to roost in this region that lies along the western shores of the Indian Ocean and boasts some of the oldest traces of civilization in the country, with Lamu recognized as the oldest town in Kenya. The Kenyan Coast, also known as the Coast Province, is home to several communities, among them the Mijikenda, Swahili, Arabs, Pokomo, and Somali. This region is far ahead of many others, for a cocktail of reasons, chief among them the music-rich cultural heritage of its people. Over the years, the Coast has produced more than its fair share of musical talent, a feat that transcends......

JOE MOPERO DIES

October 26, 2025 - 03:22 PM Kenyan Musician Joe Mopero Dies Kenyan musician Joe Mopero is dead. According to his daughter, Joy Mopero, the veteran singer died of cardiac arrest at 6:45 p.m. on Saturday at Aster Healthcare Hospital, where he had been rushed after a short illness. Born Joseph Kariuki in Kipkabus, Uasin Gishu, in the 1960s, his family later relocated to Thika. While studying at Equator High School, his schoolmates nicknamed him Joe Mopero because he sang much like the Congolese musician Mopero wa Maloba, famed for the Cavacha style that was hugely popular in Kenya at the time. Joe Mopero sang with several bands — both Kenyan and Congolese — based in Nairobi. In the early 1990s, he formed......

FROM STUDIO TO PARLIAMENT

October 21, 2025 - 07:47 PM The incumbent Member of Parliament had been appointed to the Cabinet, creating a vacancy. The electoral body had announced the date for a by-election, among 15 others scattered across the country. The opposition coalition is backing Newton Kariuki Ndwiga of the DP party, one of the contenders seeking to represent the area. In a charged political rally in Ishiara, the coalition leadership, comprising several of the country’s top politicians, assembled to introduce their candidate to the masses. Newton Kariuki emerged wearing his trademark Ray-Paka hairstyle. But Newton Kariuki is not your typical politician. In fact, he is known more as a musician than a legislator, despite having......

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