Mbaraka's twist

As a counterweight to any kind of cynicism I would like to suggest an artist whom I least suspect of possessing this state of mind: Tanzanian superstar Mbaraka Mwinshehe Mwaruka. He is - to me at least - a shining example of a joyful mix of naivety, amateurism and innocence. And he manages to combine this with a positive attitude, a potent dose of originality and fine sense for good music.
He is one of the many artists whom I wish I would have had the chance to meet, if only to confirm what I hear in his music.

In certain aspects he reminds me of the late Remmy Ongala, whom I did have the fortune to meet (several times even), and who convinced me of his sincerity when he claimed he was singing for the poor people. The vigour with which he claimed this, the body language, the open attitude: the cynic in me was unable to resist this. It was hard not to like the man.

Mbaraka died at a time when my African music collection consisted of no more than a dozen cassettes. I first heard his music in the mid-1980s when through the contacts with the Dutch management of Polygram (then still owned by Philips) a local record store started importing albums directly from Kenya. I was sold to Mbaraka's disarming sound right from the start. The start being the confusingly named "Ukumbusho Volume Pesa No. 1".
My curiosity aroused, supply through the local store could not keep up with my demand. So I persuaded a friend, who was working in Kenya at the time, to bring me back all he could find of this series commemorating Mbaraka's greatness. I recently discovered that I still haven't collected all of these*....

This volume contains songs of Mbaraka Mwinshehe with his orchestra Super Volcano. The orchestra is not credited on the sleeve, but Mbaraka himself cites the name of the orchestra in the songs.
This lack of info on the sleeve in itself is not unusual, and perhaps is a reflection of the state of literacy of the target audience. But it does suggest that the marketing department never imagined a European listener would ever be interested in this product of 'native culture'.

Most of the songs are in the typical Mbaraka style, with the usual references to Congolese sources of inspiration, such as Franco and Docteur Nico. But there is always an authentic twist. While Franco would go full-blast after a carefully constructed build-up like the one in the first track, "Bibi Wa Watu", Mbaraka instead (after 3'34) opts for a subtle, understated and very elegant 'mipanza' (see this post). I love it.
Every song comes with such a 'twist'.
In "Dina Uliapa" he clearly uses Nico's style, but ends with a typical Mbaraka touch, with the solo guitar strumming and the rhythm guitar moving to the forefront.
I realise this may be a bit of paradigm shift for some of the readers, but the first song on the B-side seems inspired by Tabu Ley's Afrisa of the early 1970s. If you imagine Rochereau singing instead of Mbaraka, I am sure you'll hear it. Of course, Mbaraka lacks the pretence and the intellectual air, and this is not only reflected in the singing, but also in the down-to-earth sax.

The song which stands out on this lp is, however, very much an original. "Masika Mtindo Mpya" is one of those songs that will force its way into your long-term memory. Despite the rather monotonous rhythm, that trumpet (!), Mbaraka's guitar: who can forget this song?

Polydor POLP 550

There is more.
As a bonus I would like to share with you these five alternative takes, which were sent to me by Mr. Msomali, who you may remember (from this earlier post) suggested there must be televised recordings of Mbaraka. We are, by the way, still looking - and I hope you are too!
He sent me these five songs, recorded at Radio Tanzania Dar Es Salaam (RTD), adding: "These 5 songs are authentic/original songs Mbaraka recorded at RTD,and please listen at the way he plays the guitar from minute 4'05 in "Waache Waseme", and that is vintage Mbaraka."

Of these five tracks three (tracks 2, 3 and 4) have been included in Ukumbusho Vol. 3 (POLP 542), one (track 1) in Vol. 7 (POLP 566) and one (track 5) in POLP 502. Most names you'll recognise, and "Suniasa unipoze moyo" is called "Nirudie Mama" on Vol. 3.

I subsequently asked him how these songs compare to the versions released by Polydor (Polygram). His answer typifies the attitude of the African listener: lyrics first, melody later.

"The lyrics of the the five songs are almost the same, with only some words here and there being different. For example in the first song, "Watalii" (tourist), he is asking/telling prospective tourist that by visiting Tanzania they will be visiting majestic/magnificent game parks like Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti, Manyara (the only place in the world where you can see lions climb trees) and Mikumi park (please note that he forgot Selous game reserve, one of the biggest and most beautiful game reserves). He also mentions Kilimanjaro,the highest mountain in Africa,and also says the country has beautiful almost untouched beaches.
The only difference between the Polydor/RTD versions is the animals he mentions in the song.
In this original RTD version he mentions only 4 animals: elephants, lions (climbing trees), giraffes and zebras. Whereas in the latter Polydor version he mentions 5: elephants, lions, giraffes, does not mentions zebras but then mentions 2 new ones, buffalo and leopards (if singing the song today he could be asked to drop the poor giraffe and put rhino instead, thus mentioning the so-called Big five).
And the other difference of course being the quality of the music, being much better in the RTD original."

Morogoro Jazz Band

"Your favorite, "Vijana sikilizeni"(Teenagers/students listen [to my advice]), is a song with a timely and important message to students (mostly those attending boarding secondary schools) not to engage in and waste their time into forming boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, instead of studying hard to better their future, reminding them that their parents spend a lot of their hard earned money to send them to those expensive boarding schools, only for their offspring to risk being expelled from their studies for engaging into those illicit love affairs. He warns them that they risk losing both their studies and also their so-called lovers, as when they are expelled they will both normally returns to their parents`s homes, which usually are in different regions. Lastly, he sings of the pain these youngsters inflict on their parents, who not only lose all the money they had invested into their children`s education, but also see their kids throw away the chance to get proper education and have a chance of a better life in their future.
It was a meaningful song that was really warmly welcomed by parents and all governments in the region, as it had a very important message for the young people in education.
It did not hurt also as it really was as you say a very good song musically, and especially this original RTD song."

Mr. Msomali estimates the songs were recorded in either 1970 or 1971.

So with a very warm thank you to Mr. Msomali: 5 songs recorded at RTD


* Going by the volumes - up to 13 (!) - on offer on various websites, including i-Tunes (a site which I simply refuse to visit..).

Mbaraka on TV

I have to confess it is at times hard to keep up with all the comments that are sent to me both on posts on this weblog and on videos uploaded to Youtube. Although I don't always have the time to react to all of these I can assure you I do read them and do appreciate all the comments* you send in.

The other day a comment was sent to me by a Mr. Msomali, who is - I deduce from his writings - a Tanzanian living in the UK. He wrote about a subject which is also very close to my heart and very high on my (unfortunately extensive) wishlist:
"I want to start the discussion of where the videos of Mbaraka Mwinshehe can be found. I am sure it is in Kenya and Japan.

I will explain why.
Mbaraka took his Morogoro Jazz Band as part of a large group of cultural ensembles/artists representing Tanzania in the EXPO 70 exhibition that took place in Japan in 1970. Being good in technology as they are, I am certain the Japanese recorded every event that went on in each pavilion.

As to Kenya: a lady asks her husband to take her to a Super Volcano show (when the Band was visiting the couple's town) as she says she listens to their songs almost every single day on the Radio, and she also watches them often on the Television. All this is in Mbaraka's song called 'Nipeleke Nikashudie' (which roughly translate as "Take me, so that I can see them perfom live"). By TV here she means VOK Tv (Voice of Kenya Tv).

I believe both VOK (now called KBC Tv) and NHK Tv (Japan's National Tv) have Mbaraka's videos in their archives.

I also believe that both these institutions have a public duty to release these videos of one of the truly gifted musicians to come out of East Africa.
His country was/still is too poor to have have had Television in his lifetime, but he served Kenyans and entertained them in equal measure, and has everyone listened to his song EXPO 70, celebrating his participation there?
Mbaraka belonged to all of us, so the least these two institutions can do to world music heritage is to release his videos into the public domain.

Any ideas on how we can go about asking them to do this service to world music, anyone?

Regards
Mr. Msomali"

What can I say? I support this appeal wholeheartedly. I can't wait to see a video of this giant of Tanzanian music.

If there is anyone out there who has links with either Kenyan or Japanese television, please help us out!

And should you need any encouragement I advise you to listen to this brilliant sample of the great man's repertoire, which as it happens contains both the song "Nipeleke Nikashudie" and two songs dedicated to the EXPO in Japan (including that killer "Expo No.2"!!!!). And the five other songs are all equally disarming in their unpretentious and truely authentic brilliance.

POLP 566 (or POLP 566) (December 21, 2016: update the first link to 320 kbps)

* I would like to make an exception to those sad idiots (and I am holding back here...) who try and slip a commercial link into their so-called comments.

Morogoro marvels

If you ask me, this is an album which should be put on the World Heritage List. All human beings should at least be made aware of the existence of this music by the immortal Mbaraka Mwinshehe and the Morogoro Jazz.

This is certainly one of my very favourite albums by Mbaraka. When it comes to Mbaraka at his Mbaraka-st, you can hardly get any better than this. From the slightly out of tune horns in the opening track "Mapenzi Ya Nitesa" to the master's pizzicato plucking in the last track "Dr. Klerruu", there is no hint of pretentiousness, no trace of conceit. I almost feel like I shouldn't be listening to it: this music wasn't made so some idiot Dutchman would listen to it. The musicians can't possibly have been thinking that they would at one point be heard by a world-wide audience.

I don't think it would be wise to write about the individual songs. I won't write about how I love the breaks in "Matusi Ya Nini?" and "Pesa No.1", or the brilliant guitar explosions in "Mitindo Yetu", the classic "Dr. Klerruu", the Franco-esque climax of "Matusi Ya Nini", the amazing.....

Words won't do justice to the extasy this music can bring. I'll leave you to listen - probably in awe - to these Morogoro marvels.....

Polydor POLP 544 or POLP 544

The very last recordings

I am sure you won't mind if I keep this very short.

POLP 517

EDIT December 21, 2016: extra link, this time @ 320 kbps

The last recordings

Released in the year of his death these recordings were released as Mbaraka Mwinshehe's last recordings. Of course a few years later Polygram Kenya had to spoil it by releasing what they called "The Very Last Recordings".
I am guessing this is what we'll see in the next few years with 'the last recordings', 'the very last recordings' and 'recordings he made after his death' by Michael Jackson.

But the phenomenon itself should give you an idea of the importance and the standing of the man who was named 'Soloist National'. And the nation can be either Kenya, where he worked and recorded, or Tanzania, where he was born and raised and where he took his first steps on the road to musical fame.

The lp features some of Mbaraka's most famous hits: "Shida" and "Mtaa wa saba", of which the lyrics can be translated as follows:

"Mtaa wa saba" - The seventh street
"I moved today to the seventh street, from the house where I lived before. You could hardly call it a house.
I moved, I moved... when I saw it got too much for me. Always neighbours, children and animals annoying me. Always that terrible heat.
But now I am finally free of that wailing of cats that kept me awake at night. The children are no longer suffering.
Comrades, I don't have words for it. We are crazy with joy! ["wapangaji wa wanazo namii"???] I am no longer cheated by the landlord, thank God!
The heat was terrible beneath the palmleaf roof. It is almost a month ago, and meanwhile I have got a pay rise at work. My wife and children no longer have to suffer. All our troubles are over! "

(translation: Joris Oldewelt)

Not the kind of thing Michael Jackson would sing about, I suppose.

Polydor POLP 512 (1979) or alternative link

PS: please feel free to add the missing sentence in the translation...

EDIT September 13, 2015: the front sleeve of this album has been found (see below), and I have added this to the audio files (only the first link!!), which I have upgraded to 320kbps in the process.

Morogoro

I have been busy digitising another batch. Unfortunately this resulted in another 'issue' which had to be resolved: lack of disc space. But after rearranging, moving and some good old throwing away, I managed to finish what I wanted to do. The fruits of these efforts I will share with you in this blog, albeit little by little.

But this is an lp which I had intended to post earlier, but for some reason I haven't gotten round to it. It is an older lp by one of my favourite artists from East Africa, Mbaraka Mwinshehe. An earlier post was dedicated to Mbaraka with the Super Volcano orchestra. But this is from before 1973, when he was still with the Morogoro Jazz, or the "K.Z. Morogoro Jazz Band" as they are called on this album. Most of these tracks have been reissued on the 'Ukumbusho' lp's, that brilliant series on Polygram's Polydor label.
But compared to those releases, I would say that the sound of this album is perhaps slightly more open, more translucent.

As always Mbaraka is without any presumptuousness or pretension. Horns blaring, guitars skuffling, the typical vocals: I just love this guy.

More to follow soon.

Polydor POLP 502 (December 21, 2016: upgrade to 320 kbps)

Urafiki

According to local sources Mbaraka Mwinshehe was killed on January 12, 1979 when his car drove into a tree on the road from Mombasa to Nairobi. Years later taxidrivers could be seen pointing at various trees along the road where the fatal crash of the star of Mombasa's Bush Bar had occurred.

Although to those who don't speak or understand swahili (like me) Mbaraka may be known primarily for his unique guitar playing and singing style, in Kenya and in his native Tanzania he was -and still is- highly respected and loved for his lyrics. Mbaraka sings about the lives, loves and problems of the 'common man'.

I have already posted one of the Ukumbusho series released by Polygram Kenya in the 1980s (volume eight to be precise), and will -in the course of time- post all the others. To give you an idea of his lyrics, here is an example from Ukumbusho Volume Two "Urafiki mwisho wa mwezi".

Urafiki* mwisho wa mwezi
Friendship at the end of the month

You know I am having problems,
you've heard I am sick,
still you don't come and see me.
Is that what you call friendship?
It's more like animosity,
if we can't help each other.
When you hear I have money again,
you come running to see me.
Is that what you call friendship?
It's more like animosity,
if we can't help each other.
What kind of friendship is this at the end of the month?
When I am broke, you don't show up.
Even when I'm sick you don't want me.
When I'm sick you don't care about me.

In this volume Mbaraka is accompanied by his Super Volcano orchestra, which he founded in 1973 after leaving the Morogoro Jazz. The other songs are about similar 'challenges' of the ordinary Kenyan and Tanzanian (or, come to think of it, citizen of any country). "Mtaa wa saba" (the seventh street), about moving away from a poor neighbourhood, where the noise deprived him of his sleep, and the landlord of his money. "Pole dada" (poor girl), about a girl who was passed over by love. "Kibena" and "Jasinta", both about the bad influence of city life on these 'village' women.

In the spirit of the time (the 1970s) Mbaraka occasionally chose a more educational subject, like in "Vijana wa Afrika" (youth of Africa), in which he calls on the youth of Africa to defend 'the revolution in Africa' (no doubt referring to Nyerere's Ujamaa).

Timeless lyrics and a timeless music: Mbaraka Mwinshehe's recipe to overcome death.

POLP 537 (December 21, 2016: updated to 320 kbps).

*friendship (the lyrics were translated by Joris Oldewelt)

Barack

Call me peculiar or even strange, but I at no time thought of Fela (like Likembe) when Barack Obama was voted into the White House. My thoughts drifted off to Kenya and to Barack's relations in Africa.

And -how wondrous is the mind- from there my thoughts leapt to Mbaraka Mwinshehe and the sense of almost childish optimism I get when I hear his music. Not a hint of presumptuousness, conceit or smugness in this man's music, just uncomplicated joy.

Although Ukumbusho Volume 8 is from a series commemorating this indeed memorable musical master from Tanzania, I am sure it won't be sadness you'll be feeling after listening to this cassette.

CPOLP 575 or here (extra link - and now @ 320 kbps - December 21, 2016)