Musings on Chileka music

Good people, the Black Missionaries survived a road accident during their recent tour of the North.

Reports show the brake system of a tired ole bus that had taken them to Karonga suffered a deadly lapse on their way back as they were winding down the accident-prone slopes of Jalawe, Rumphi.

It is reported the brakes of the Mercedes Benz bus of yesterdecades first slipped into motion when it was supposed to be on halt in Viphya Forest in Mzimba.

The country’s most nomadic band are travelling dangerously, it is said.

But the band, loved and loathed in equal measure for being on the road almost every week, doesn’t seem to know their worth.

They are not called the People’s Band for nothing. It is because they command provably the greatest following across the country. They are probably the greatest stage performers living. This is the greatest endowement Malawians stand to lose it their beloved band continue risking their lives like worthless souls. They are a national treasure–a source of our pride.

Once upon a time, the band had a decent mini-bus, a green Toyota Hi-Ace, which used to take them all over the country.

Over the years, the band has grown bigger and certainly they need a larger vehicle with enough breathing space for the hit reggae group.

The brains behind the band may consider buying or hiring a new bus for their income generating activity.

Close your eyes and visualise each of the 18 role players clamouring for a little space on overcrowded bus windows as they jumped into the roadside until only the driver and keyboardist-turned-vocalist Chizondi Fumulani remains behind. The small things often taken for granted shouldn’t be a joking matter in the first place. Safety is serious business and it begins with doing the right things right from the start.

At stake is the life of the band Malawians so love that they give it little or no room for error, especially life-shattering slips likely to kill the talent and dream the likes of Blacks founding leader Evison Matafale and his successor Musamude Fumulani willed to music lovers countrywide.

Blacks are one reason the country needs to declare their Chileka base a national monument.

Many times, we are too pessimistic as a nation.

How many Daniel Kachambas are we going to relegate to non-entitie when the world seems to be nodding to their greatness.

Talking about Kachamba of Chileka, the nation needs to ask itself why have we forsaken the legendary, well-travelled father of Kwera Music (restyled in South Africa) who recieved honorary degrees in music from various universities in Germany.

Why have we left it all to Moya Malamusi’s overwhelmed Jacaranda Museum of Ethnomusicology to collect and preserve the legacy of the great man? Why are we cropping his larger than life standing to a footnote of Chileka Music.

And this is the months multitudes trek to Chileka to pay homage to its fallen reggae superstar Matafale who died in police custody in 2001.

Government should consider turning Singano Gravesite in Chileka into a national music monument in memory of the grand exploits of Kachamba brothers, Matafale, Musamude, Robert Fumulani, McDonald Fumulani and other musicians buried in the historic cemetery.

What a way to remember Matafale and his kindred it would be! n