Entertainment News

Temwa brings her jazz to the world

The mood at the Khitchini Hub in Lilongwe on Friday evening was jazzy. The decoration, the patronage and the general outlook all brought out that easy feel.

This was the moment that turnaround artist Temwa was set to present herself to the world in her new robe as an Afro-jazz artist. She has finally said bye to her pop dreams, so she says. And the moment came to unveil her first official Afro-jazz single Lilongwe Blues.

However, a heavy downpour almost spoilt the moment. And much earlier in the day, a part of the streets in the Capital City were transformed into smoky scenes as demonstrators run riot in the city.

But all these natural and unnatural factors weren’t enough to ruin Temwa’s moment. Though the event was pushed to start almost two hours later,  when she finally appeared on stage, she looked radiant and ready for her reintroduction on the music scene.

Temwa: This music will expose Malawi to the world

The long orange designer gear told of how deep her transformation is getting. Her appearance on the night was a departure from the pop Temwa, who apart from wowing audiences with her music, also mesmerised them with her scanty and revealing dressing.

She admitted it is a new dawn: “Definitely when someone is changing, there has to be a lot of things that will change too. And among those things that are changing is my presentation. You will be seeing this a lot.” 

The musician enjoyed support from her artistic peers. Among the audience were some notable faces such as prolific poet Q Malewezi, music producer Moshu, VJ Ice, comedian Tannah Mr Broken English and her jazz godfather Lawi, whom she worked with on her new track.

Part of the events on the evening was the screening of the video for her new single. And immediately after the business of the evening started, host Sam Kabambe wasted little time, but to call people’s attention to be among the first to watch the take-off of Temwa’s jazz journey.

Jazz is best served cool and in a serene atmosphere and the patronage appeared to be ready for the moment. They quickly withdrew from their other indulgences and placed their focus on the huge screen placed on the left side of the small stage mounted on the small arena.

What came up on the screen was indeed an artist Malawians had never seen before. Temwa was being led by the careful sounding rhythms of the well-struck guitar, the subtle drums and a distinct saxophone line in the background.

From her song, her transformation was vivid. The work she had been doing in the background for the last couple of months seemed to have yielded the desired results. She oozed maturity and a new sense of confidence in her delivery.   

Temwa said: “I am excited. I feel grown up. It is the beginning of a new Temwa. It is a beginning of new music in Malawi. So, I am excited about this new journey.”

After the video premiere, a much tougher test was awaiting the 24-year-old artist. She had the honours of providing a debut live performance of her new single and beside him were saxophonist Salim Daudi and keyboardist Moses Shumba, both from Lawi’s Mango Band, the group which backed the production of the song.

And she didn’t appear too fazed.

Like she said in a post-performance interview, she was ready to take on the jazz battle: “I know that I am not alone. I know I have support from the artists that are doing the same genre. I have so much confidence in myself that I will do it.”

The Lilongwe-based artist acknowledged that her first steps in the jazz world will involve a lot of learning and has not ruled out making a few mistakes along the way. However, that journey will be crucial in taking her off her comfort zone.

“This music will expose Malawi to the world. My songs will mostly be done in the vernacular, but I will try to be bilingual for the sake of understanding the originality of the sound. So, it is music that is going to be delivered to Malawi and beyond the borders,” she said. 

In the background of all the happenings of the evening was the undeniable colossal presence and contribution of revered local Afro-jazz artist Lawi, who has taken Temwa under his wings as she takes her baby steps into the jazz world.

And the Whistling Song hit-maker believes his compatriot is destined for success: “Many people will identify the talent and probably do nothing about it and you lose a great musician. I decided to take it a bit extra to drag her into the creative space and try to explore what could be done and the result is here.”

Lilongwe Blues is the first single from Temwa’s planned debut jazz album, whose release date will be announced soon, according to the artist.

Now the onus is on Temwa to prove to the world that she is a jazz artist.

Related Articles

Back to top button