Wambali set to redefine Malawi jazz
When musician Wambali Mkandawire goes on stage at Bingu International Conference Centre auditorium on Saturday, he will have one goal in mind: that his Calabrash Breath album should redefine Malawi jazz.
He does promise one thing, there will be no singing. Serious jazz lovers who will go away with a CD of his new album at the end of the evening should expect Malawi jazz music as Wambali has put it on Calabrash Breath, an album that unlike others has not leaked or had singles played on the radio.
Wambali and his trans-continental band members from Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia have been holding intensive rehearsals at Madsoc Theatre in Lilongwe preparing for a night that Malawians may live to remember.
In his own words, Wambali says this is the biggest show he has ever done in Malawi.
“People should expect a big show, I don’t think I’ve ever done anything like this in Malawi before so for me it will probably be the biggest show I will ever do,” Wambali said when The Nation caught up with him for 15 minutes on Tuesday.
Having recorded Calabrash Breath in South Africa with an ensemble of musicians from three countries including Malawi’s own Erik Paliani on guitar, Wambali says the team is in sync and prepared to whet the appetites of jazz lovers come Saturday night.
“I’m very prepared; we have played these songs when we went to record. These rehearsals are necessary because the guitarist who will perform has just joined us. The guitarist who played in the studio was Erik Paliani and I knew that I would have to find another person to perform. But he has some projects he wants us to do together in future,” he said.
According to Wambali, what will be different about Saturday’s performance compared to his previous shows will be the music. Unlike the last time he performed alongside South African musician Zahara, the Calabrash Breath album launch will still have the Wambali feel, but at an advanced level.
Wambali has his own ideas about what jazz music is all about and to him it is certainly not pop or Afro-pop or Afro-fusion.
“You can’t play jazz when you are playing pop. What I used to play was Afro-fusion. When I speak of jazz I want people to understand I am not talking about western jazz, they will see that it will be Malawian. That’s why I am saying it will be special,” he says.
He discloses that the Calabrash Breath project was an idea formulated before his last commercial performance at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz show in Lilongwe in 2012, but he had to put it on hold when the organisers paired him with Zahara, a pop musician not a jazz musician as he had expected.
“Standard Bank called me an Afro-jazz artist, but I wasn’t playing jazz. In a way it was prophetic,” he says.
Wambali is saddened that Malawi is probably the only country that cannot define its music.
But he says Malawian jazz will have to redefine itself and there are many local musicians who can allow jazz music to grow organically.
“There will be more talk on jazz, it will grow organically and people will understand it. I just feel it’s time we need to have our own brand of jazz.
“The whole Africa is now getting into jazz very seriously and I don’t want Malawi to be the only country that only copies when others have done something,” he said.
But with Calabrash Breath, Wambali knows he is taking a risk.
He recalls that when he came out with his first album Tidzamtamanda, he was criticised because at the time, kwasakwasa and reggae was popular music.
“I know I am taking a risk with this album and performance. I would like a full house, but even if one person comes I wouldn’t mind. When you do things like this you’re prepared for anything,” says Wambali.
With this first performance in three years, Wambali has definitely not retired from music.
He says: “I will always do music, but will not do it in a way I used to do it.”
Patrons who attend Wambali’s show will get a copy of his new album with the idea that they will play it in their cars or at home and compare it with the live performance.
