Kupeza Chambo revives kwela music
It was a night of reminiscing and music appreciation as Moya Malamusi and Donald Kachamba’s Kwela Heritage Jazz Band, performed at a concert organised by Kupeza Chambo in partnership with Goethe Institut at Blantyre Art Club in Sunnyside, Blantyre, on Sunday night.
Before the concert, the fans were treated to an art exhibition after which Malamusi who was playing a one string bass, supported by Sinosi Mlende playing a flute, Gerhard Kubik on guitar and Christopher Gerald playing a rattle, brought back old music with an underlying kwela tune.
It also brought back the Kachamba days and took fans into a frenzy.
Enthnomusicologist Waliko Makhala took over the stage after the Chileka-based team and played guitar, collaborated with Rick Deja playing saxophone spiced up the concert as they serenaded fans with their performance of a Jazz version of Chinafuna M’bale.
Malamusi then presented a lecture on his DVD and CD titled, Endangered Traditions-Endangered Creativity which was compiled by the Oral Literature Research Programme in Chileka.
In his presentation Malamusi presented the extent to which some of the musical instruments are getting extinct.
“There are a handful of people that know how to play indigenous music instruments when those people die, the talent to make or play those instruments go with them, so we saw the need to preserve some of the music instruments,” said Malamusi.
During the concert, Malamusi played using a Nyakatenga one of the endangered music instruments, to demonstrate how it works while Kubik played Kilembe, and Gerald produced an asymmetric rhythm with a rattle. n
