Jabulani Library

WHO IS GOOD ENOUGH TO REPLACE A GUITAR GOD?

February 28, 2025 - 05:08 PM Who is Good Enough to Replace a Guitar god? This was likely the question that troubled many Tabu Ley fans upon learning that the singing superstar, son of Bagata, had parted ways with Dr. Nico in the short-lived band, African Fiesta. The band emerged in 1963 following a significant split within Grand Kalle's African Jazz, resulting in a mass exodus. The new group was led by both Dr. Nico and Tabu Ley. However, Dr. Nico was musically more experienced and, therefore, more prominent than Tabu Ley. While Tabu Ley was a talented singer, he was considered comparable to other singers of the time, unlike Dr. Nico, whose guitar virtuosity was undisputed. Thus, when Ley and Nico separated due to......

PEPE BOUGIER LYRICS WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION

February 25, 2025 - 03:22 PM Nakondi nzoto motema motondi na makanisi(My body has become thin, my heart is full of thoughts)Pepe eh! Nga nabebi motema(Pepe eh! My heart is destroyed)Mama eloko babengi bolingoKuruze oyo tomema, zuwa se pembeni(the cross we carry, is accompanied by jealousy beside it)Oooooh! Pepe yo! yo! Pepe eh!(Oooooh! Pepe yo! yo! Pepe eh!)Yokelanga ata mawa(please have mercy on me) Okangi motema kaka mbala moko(you have closed your heart for my love at once)Obendi nzoto, po omonaki ye(you disengaged yourself from our love just because you saw him)Connaissance ya pamba oyo yo Pepe(this is free knowledge to you Pepe)Nga namemi nde ngambo lelo(I am in trouble today) Motema na ngai napesa na yo(I gave......

THE GOLDEN VOICE OF AFRICA

February 22, 2025 - 02:00 PM CELEBRATING SAM MANGWANA'S IMPACT ON MUSIC When the 'Shakespeare of African music,' Simaro Lutumba, was asked which vocalist he felt delivered his poems best, he unequivocally stated that it was Mangwana. Indeed, Mangwana brought to life songs like "Ebale Ya Zaire", "Mabele", and "Faute Ya Commercant" in a way that captivated listeners. While Simaro had composed several songs prior, it was these two 1973 tracks that helped him gain recognition as an astute poet, with lyrics that were rich with philosophical interpretations.The fact that Simaro regarded Mangwana as the greatest, despite working with other vocalists like Josky Kiambukuta, Vicky Longomba, Youlou Mabiala, Djo Mpoyi, Malage De......

THE LAST MAN STANDING

February 17, 2025 - 06:53 PM “There was a woman fan of our band in the late 1970s. She frequented our shows and seemed to have been craving the attention of bassist Atia Joe, who apparently was reluctant to yield to her gestures. This lady, in typical determination, became more aggressive and began sending anyone willing to play an emissary role to Atia,” Bua Mangala, aka Loboko Passie, told Jabulani. “The habit became so often that Atia’s colleagues in the band began chiding him frequently with the phrase ‘mama anakuita,’ which after some time became his sobriquet, hence the many times you hear the line dropped in Mazembe songs.” This is the shot that darted the bull’s......

THE MAGICAL VOICE OF JOSKY

February 13, 2025 - 03:27 PM The city streets are filled with the fragrance of fresh roses because all spaces adjacent to the busy streets have been converted into makeshift flower shops. Hotels are advertising special offers for couples, and gift shops are abuzz with activities, all because love is in the air, and soon it will be Valentine's. February 14 is marked globally as a day of lovers. Although this tradition, with roots in the ancient Roman Empire, hadn't gained much traction in Africa until recently, it is now observed even in remote villages, where it is not strange to find the local grocer selling plastic roses. On Valentine's Day of 1949, a major development happened in the port city of Matadi, when......

ATOMIC, THE BOMB MEANT TO FLATTEN JAMHURI JAZZ

February 12, 2025 - 07:00 PM Just like deprivation, rivalry begets creativity. Some of the most popular rumba songs, ie 'mokolo tonga aka taileur' of Franco or 'Jela' of Ochieng Kabasele, were composed while the musicians were incarcerated at Makala prison In Kinshasa and King'ong'o Prison in Kenya, respectively. The same can be said of rivalry. At peak of their careers, Tabuley and Luambo oftentimes sought to outdo each other and this urge worked wonders in pushing creativity a notch higher. When Tabuley and Nico disagreed over the management of African Fiesta Original, the altercation led to the creation of two of the finest bands: African Fiesta Sukisa and its sibling, African Fiesta National, which......

FROM DOWN SOUTH TO THE WORLD, WITH A TRUMPET

February 10, 2025 - 06:23 PM The Story of Hugh Masekela, The South African Jazz Hero With no less than 40 albums to his name, all world-class jazz classics, and having had musical engagements with leading American superstars, Harry Belafonte, Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, Paul Simon, and Stevie Wonder among others can only mean one thing that Hugh Masekela, the South African Jazz maestro was a global music titan. Hugh was a master of trumpet, with extraordinary skills, but it would be grossly inaccurate to restrict the narration on who he was to his prowess in music. He was also an anti-apartheid crusader, with immense contribution to the struggle for liberation in a country where day-to-day life was defined by racial......

MBOTELA, KENYA’S VETERAN BROADCAST JOURNALIST DIES IN NAIROBI

February 08, 2025 - 08:56 AM In the mid-morning of 7th February 2025, news outlets were awash with sad news. The patriarch of broadcast journalism in Kenya, Leonard Mambo Mbotela had breathed his last at Nairobi Hospital, where he had been admitted for treatment. The octogenarian who had an illustrious career at KBC/VOK for over six decades died at around 9.30 a.m., according to his nephew Anne Mbotela. News of his death spread fast and furious with Kenyans mourning him across several social media platforms, as a man whose authoritative voice defined radio broadcasting in the country, through football commentary and his all-time popular program 'Je, Huu Ni Ungwana', which castigated people of uncouth......

BOUKAKA, THE MUSICIAN WHO ALSO WORE AN ACTIVISM CAP

February 06, 2025 - 07:47 AM Sporadic sounds of gunfire pierced through the tranquil night of Brazzaville on 22nd February 1972, with noise gaining crescendo with every passing minute as dawn approached. When morning finally came reluctantly, the information had already spread that there had been an attempted coup d’etat against the government of Marien Ngouabi, who had been Republic of Congo president since 1968.However, forces loyal to the incumbent thwarted the attempt, with the military capturing the dissidents. Among those listed as arrested was Franklin Boukaka, a musician who had made a name for himself both in Brazzaville and Kinshasa and was one of the musical superstars of the time. In a strange twist......

JOHNY BOKELO: A SCION OF A MUSICALLY RICH FAMILY

February 03, 2025 - 04:33 PM Are musicians born or made? Any attempt to Respond to this question in the context of Congolese rumba; is likely to land you at the doorstep of the Isenge family. This is for the reason that this is easily the largest musical family in the history of the genre. The Isenge octad, comprising eight musical superstars, compares well and even surpasses "The Jackson’s five" of the USA, Mushrooms quintet, sons of Kaloleni Giriama in Kenya, and even the six musical children of Dorcas, popularly known as Bana Kadori, of Kenyan benga, whose patriarch was Ochieng’ Kabaselle. For the Jacksons, the youngest star shone the brightest, while for Mushrooms and the Kadori, it was the eldest, but......