Jabulani News Archives

MUSAIMO’S METEORIC RISE UP THE TOP

June 19, 2025 - 06:42 PM Had his father made good on his attempt to chop off his fingers, Kenyan music wouldn't have been graced by the magical guitar works of Musaimo. He had campaigned for the late John Michuki for the Kangema Parliamentary seat in the 1979 elections and was paid 5,000 shillings, quite a tidy sum at that time. This was the money he used to pay for his secondary education. However, upon completing school, no job was forthcoming, and he had to eke out a living performing menial jobs, commonly known as "mjengo," at construction sites, often accompanying his father, who was a mason. It was from his wa...

Prof. NGUGI WA THIONG'O, KENYA'S LITERARY SUPREMO HAS RESTED

May 29, 2025 - 02:30 PM Prof. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s pen has dried up and will write no more. The literary icon died on Wednesday in the USA, where he lived and worked for five decades. His death was announced by his daughter, Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ, in a Facebook post. “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our father Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o,” the post read in part. According to the post, the renowned author, described by others as the Chinua Achebe of East Africa, died on the morning of Wednesday, the 28th. Immediately, social media platforms were awash with messages of condolence pouring in from every corner of the country, in a pattern that left no doubt Ngũgĩ was revered in......

SAAK SAKOUL OF THE MERCURIAL TRIO MADJESI

April 26, 2025 - 06:15 PM Congolese singer Bonghat Tshekebu, popularly known as Saak Saakul or Sinatra, formerly of Orchestre Sosoliso, died three years ago today.The musician passed away on the morning of Sunday, March 19, in a hospital in Paris, where he had been admitted. The then 80-year-old had been ailing for some time. Saak Saakul was a singer and composer with Orchestre Veve, led by the late Verckys Kiamuangana, a band he joined in 1969. He was the first of the three vocalists of the band, known collectively as Trio Madjesi—comprising Mario Matadidi, aka Mabele, originally from Angola, and Loko Masengo, aka Djeskain, originally from the Republic of Congo—to join the group.Alongside Bebe, the duo......

SIAMA’S MYSTICAL GUITAR THAT BRIDGED CONTINENTS

March 25, 2025 - 11:13 PM "Siama, I've missed you for 40 years. Now I can die happy because you've visited me." These were the words of Siama Matuzungidi's mother, Diambela, when the US-based musician visited her in 2010 after more than four decades abroad without setting foot at home. Though based in Minneapolis, USA, since 1996, it was in Africa—specifically Nairobi—where Siama rose to prominence in the music scene, playing rhythm guitar and composing for several top bands in the 1970s and '80s. Born in Matadi, Bas-Congo, in the 1950s, Siama made it to the big stage in the mid-1970s, performing with Orchestra Cavacha, led by Dona Mobeti and Mopero Wa Maloba. It was with this group that he composed......

WHEN TWO GIANTS LANDED IN KISUMU

December 21, 2024 - 01:00 PM Last weekend, Kenya's lakeside town of Kisumu was to experience a rare spectacle in a music extravaganza that was to feature two of the DRC's most iconic music bands: Quartier Latin of Kofi Olomide and Zaiko Langa Langa of N'Yoka Longo. Kisumu, a town that sits on the shores of Lake Victoria, is an epicentre of the evolution of Kenya's most dominant music genre, benga. It prides itself on a thriving entertainment industry, with dozens of bands performing in numerous venues. News of such big names visiting was bound to excite fans, especially bearing in mind that few major artists have visited the town since 1986, when the concrete wall blocking Franco from his fans had to be brought......

KASULE UGANDA'S GEM TO THE WORLD

December 15, 2024 - 04:25 AM KASULE UGANDA'S GEM TO THE WORLD. Musically, Uganda is dwarfed by her East African counterpart Tanzania who are the region's champions, having produced hundreds of band's that excelled in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. However, even at that point of disadvantage, the country has managed to produce world class superstars, among them on Sammy Kasule. Kasule who was Uganda's biggest musical export to the world, at first to Nairobi and latter to Sweden, died on 28th April 2021 in Amsterdam Netherlands. He had had fallen sick and was travelling abroad to Sweden to seek treatment but when the plane stopped in Amsterdam, it was assessed that his condition had deteriorated, thus the need to seek......

REMMY ONGALA "SURA MBAYA"

December 13, 2024 - 11:35 AM He had a face that, despite not being as ugly as he himself depicted in his 'sura mbaya' sobriquet, could neither be described as handsome because it was far from that reality. To complete the conspicuous look, he wore dreadlocks on his head, with a few strands beaded. That was Dr Remi, the Congolese import into Tanzania, one whose music came to define Tanzania's music. "His first wife was his music, and these other factors played a secondary role," his Belgian wife told reporters in the company of Remi's musical colleague Cosmas Tobis Chidumule, who had made a name as an astute composer and singer with the iconic DDC Mlimani Park. It has been 14 years since Remi died in Dar es Salaam.......

LOKASSA YA M'BONGO

December 08, 2024 - 08:26 AM In the world of Congolese music, where lead guitarists often take the spotlight, Lokassa ya M'bongo stands out as a rhythm guitarist who achieved stardom. His journey began in 1968 with one of Africa’s greatest bands, Afrisa, led by the legendary Tabu Ley Rochereau. Initially, the band was known as African Fiesta Nationale, and Lokassa spent years in the background, playing alongside prominent musicians like Attel Mbumba, Michelino Mavatiku Visi, and Dino Vangu. For a decade, he contributed to the success of Afrisa’s hits and performed on the international stage, including the band's breakthrough shows at the Olympia in Paris in 1970. In 1978, during an Afrisa tour, Lokassa,......

AFRICAN FIESTA NATIONALE

November 08, 2024 - 07:00 PM AFRICAN FIESTA NATIONALE Stadium Tata Raphael, May 20th, 1970, just before the Paris Olympia concert. Réné Kassanda, (vocals) Michelino Mavatiku Visi (rhythm), Pepe Ndombe (vocals), Attel Mbumba (solo), Seskain Molenga (drummer) Faugus Izeidi (mi solo) Kola Philo (bass), Rochereau Pascal ( vocals/band leader) Empompo Loway (sax) Lokassa Ya Mbongo (rhythm) It was after the Olympia concert, the first by an African band, that this band rebranded from African Fiesta Nationale to Afrisa International. The band came into being in 1966, when Tabuley, Willy Kuntima, and Roger Izeidi went separate ways with Dr Nico and his rhythm brother Dechaud, naming theirs Africain......

A STRANGE RELATIONSHIP

November 06, 2024 - 06:32 PM FRANCO LUAMBO AND MOBUTU SESE SSEKO Franco always had a political bent which he expressed in many of his songs. While still in their teens, he had been a troublemaker before Congo got independence from the Belgians. One of his earliest forays into politics came in 1957 when one of his songs was banned by the colonial authorities. Soon after independence, Franco would sing a number of political songs, starting with the number “Ba Deputes botika Mbilinga, Mbilinga (Parliamentarians stop the confusion). He would follow this up with two more numbers: Docteur Moise Tshombe and Government ya Katanga Orientale. 1. Franco Sings Liwaya ya Lumuba (Liwa ya Emery)His most memorable political......

Jabulani News Archives