The Nairobi Sound

.....From this melting-pot of influences gradually emerged distinctively Kenyan finger- styles. In the towns, the influence of ‘Katangan’ styles, Latin American music, and two-guitar styles from Zaire were strongest. The rural finger-styles developed in parallel with the town styles, to some extent both feeding off, and feeding, the town music. The rural styles were less varied, less sophisticated, and less open to outside influences, being more strongly rooted in local traditions. The rural ‘Sukuti’ style, on the other hand, was more vigorous and more rhythmic than the town playing.
Town-based guitarists tried their luck with the young but expanding record industry. They composed Swahili songs which were sold as singles to the urban working class. Many were straight love-songs, no different from those in any other type of popular music. Others commented on the changes that town life brings, warning for example against prostitutes. Themes such as the lack of work in Nairobi also began to be common, although political songs didn’t really emerge until the 1960’s.

Some rural finger-stylists like George Mukabi and William Osale also had success in the towns, providing Swahili versions of songs that they might sing in local languages back home. The appeal of their songs lay in the fact that many town dwellers had (and still have) strong links with the land, and the themes of these songs, often conservative and sometimes nostalgic, reminded them of the old values

During the 1950% guitarists in the country were often viewed by the authorities as trouble-makers, debauchees, and rebels. This view was shared by chiefs, the church, and the colonial administration alike: by everyone, in fact, except the ordinary people who liked the new music. To some extent this criticism could be applied to any musician who got mixed up with drink and trouble: and it was not difficult to find guitarists with exotic, dangerous life-styles. Many of Tobias Oyugi’s songs are about riotous behaviour, drunkenness, and arrests. George Mukabi met a violent end as the result of a quarrel with his wife’s family. However, it went further than this: the guitarists also represented a threatening kind of change.

The typical Kenyan sound of this time is rather difficult to define. It was an attractive, clean sound, both in the guitar playing and the singing. There was plenty of variety in the solo guitar playing whether in the form of repeated set instrumental passages, or improvised riffs and variations. Compared to the heavier intensity of contemporary Zairean groups, the Kenyan sound had a lighter ‘country’ feel. Nevertheless, this was a time of vigorous exploration and development for Kenyan music.Kenyan musicians were consciously struggling to develop a truly national music and at their best produced dynamic, original and very exciting dance tunes. One of the best examples is ‘Western Shilo’ by Daudi Kabaka, playing and singing with George Agade, and, incidentally, using finger-styles. Both these men are Luhya and ‘shilo’ is a Luhya dance rhythm. ‘Western Shilo’ therefore incorporates a traditional rhythm, in triple time, into a modern guitar idiom: the song, with wonderful melody, tension and drive, was a great hit, and very popular with dancers. Kabaka made a point of telling me how proud he was that he was able to draw on the musical traditions of his people in developing a music with national appeal....

John Low -1982
 A History of Kenyan Guitar Music 1945-1980

The Sound

 

	W. John Ondolo	Kerena
	Unknown	Thum Nyatiti Solo
	Dick Ngoye	Elias Odede
	Francis Macharia	Wanjiru Wanjiru
	Unknown	Chemirocha
	Herbert Misango	Wazee Wa Kisa
	Wiliamu Osale	Vijana Niambie
	Humphrey Eshitool	Safari Kibosho
	Daudi Kabaka  & George Agade	Western Shilo
	John Mwale	Shirikisho La Afrika
	Fadhili William  & The Black Shadows	Malaika
	Peter Tsotsi  & Nashil Pichen	Mulofwa Mmoja
	Jim Lasco	Baba Kumbuka
	Jim Lasco	Wanajiita Sisi Wahumi
	Isaya Mwinamo	Ukosefu Wa Kazi
	Isaya Mwinamo	Lipa Kodi Ya City Council