Night of kwela, art in Blantyre
It promises to be one fine night at Art House Africa in Blantyre tonight as neo-traditional kwela jazz comes face to face with an art exhibition by some of Malawi’s cream visual artists.
Brought together on a Kupeza Chambo and the Goethe-Institut South Africa, Donald Kachamba’s Kwela Heritage Jazz Band, spotting the great Austrian ethnomusicologist Professor Gerhard Kubik, Dr Moya Malamusi, Christopher Gerald and Sinosi Mlende, the ancient music comes with an exhibition by Elson Kambalu, Nyangu Chodola and Ellis Singano.
Kupeza Chambo creative director Michael Phoya said tonight’s affair at the Mwanza Road, Sunnyside spot, comes with a difference .
“Apart from the concert and exhibition, there will also be a lecture by Dr Malamusi,” said Phoya.
Malamusi, who runs the Jacaranda Museum of Ethnographic Objects in Chileka, compiled a CD and DVD of Malawian oral traditions: Endangered Traditions—Endangered Creativity, which stocks Malawian traditional music genres and music instruments.
Expectation is high on the jazz band, with Malamusi on one string bass and the nyakatangali mouth-bow, Kubik on guitar, clarinet, likembe and vocals, Gerald on rattle and vocals and Mlende on flute, five-string guitar and vocals.
Kubik is probably one of the most knowledgeable and prolific scholars of the musical traditions of Africa and the Black Diaspora. He is known in Malawi for taking to another level the musical exploits of the Chileka music giants Daniel and Donald Kachamba, propelling their kwela culture to international repute.
“We hope for a great night. Events like these are rare events, yet fruitful,” said Phoya.
