REVIEW 1: UMEIMBA WIMBO WA SIFA

Heaven is an abode for the living

Even before it happened, our own Jobjow of Angaza Family Radio had informed me of a big fourth birthday bash that was going to be held on Saturday December 15 for the Angaza Sharon SDA Church. He actually did invite me but I used the cold weather as an excuse to stay away, claiming that it would knock me stiff (I live in the Caribbean, where it is hot even when cold). Now that he has uploaded at least two numbers that were performed during the bash, I am accusing him of withholding from me the best part of the sequence – that some of the best singers in the world are members of Angaza Sharon SDA Church’s extended family. And that they were going to be in attendance.

I believe two days after the birthday bash, Jobjow uploaded the two videos from the function, Panapo Matata by the Messengers and Umeimba Wimbo Wa Sifa. These are great videos in the context of spontaneity and unless there is a tie, one is always supposed to be better than the other. Umeimba Wimbo Wa Sifa, by a wide berth, is the song that rises to the top and gives one the feeling of being in heaven. Unfortunately some of our people still associate the act of being in heaven with dying. Excuse me! That is the worst mistake one could make out of what we learnt in Sunday school, because Heaven is not a mortuary. Only persons alive by the blood of Jesus Christ have a title deed for heaven. Pastor Lee Kĩmani can testify to that fact.

Jobjow is an unfortunate man because I had to wake him up in the middle of the night to find out who those beautiful men and women singing with such passion were. He informed me that it was a mass choir made up of His Majesty Choir and Mustard Seed Choir from Delaware; and Messengers Choir and Maranatha Choirs out of New Jersey. They were led by among others Daniel Mbũgua, Richard Mageto and Douglas Sarara, with Samson Kibaso of Kurasini SDA Choir in Tanzania being the original composer. The fact that my tribesman and brother Daniel Mbũgua who did a marvelous job was the conductor of the day, I decided to ask someone else do a review of the song for me not to be accused of bias.

The person who accepted to do the review is 80-year-old Mr Amba Trott a Canadian who now lives in semi-retirement in the island of his mother’s birth, Nevis in the Caribbean. Amba is no ordinary man on the street. He is a professional actor and musician with an experience that goes back to 1942 as a member of the Montreal Negro Theatre Guild in Canada. He is a playwright/director and his best known production is a musical ‘Horatio’ produced in 1987 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the marriage of Horatio and Fanny Nisbett.

This was his verdict:
“Just had a look at the video you sent. I don't claim to be any expert, but here is my honest impression:
A thoroughly delightful and engaging piece.
A simple but lively melody is carried by a blend of well balanced voices. The lighter altos and sopranos joyously articulating the words with clear enunciation, are well backed up and supported by the deeper lush tones and harmonies of the baritones and basses.
No false starts, discords, or other mishaps are evident. Just a very solid and very pleasing performance overall, right from the basses' opening phrases, to the unified stately and dignified ending by the group. They not only sing well, but they look good and carry themselves well too, albeit some a little more so than others. The choreographed movements are well done and quite effectively adds visual impact through appropriate animation.
The instrumentation very commendably stays unobtrusively in the background, except at the introduction and transition where a key change occurs. This gives the choral group every opportunity to shine and they do not waste a moment of it. In my opinion the group in this piece performs very close to a professional standard.”

Those are the impressions of a man who does not even know that I belong to the same tribe as Daniel Mbũgua. He does not even know what tribes are made of.

I will however want to add one or two comments of my own, because it is not my intention to abdicate all of my duties. At first I thought that the videography was rather wanting, but looking at it more carefully in the context of the circumstances surrounding the performance, Jobjow has been able to capture it in a very unique way thereby encompassing very special sound and visual effects that one would take for granted. Indeed, if the song would be performed in a studio setup, it would not have the same distinctive effects.

One does not need to be told that it was performed in front of a live audience because the din of assembled person is well captured, with people walking in front of the camera and others chatting and kids screaming for joy. One woman is clearly heard calling out ‘nanii’. While my friend Amba noted that there are no false starts, I might add but for one guy I observed (check counter frames 1:57 – 2:01) where he is seen waving to someone and he opens his mouth a second or two after the others, whereas before him (1:48 – 1:53) two ladies had been distracted by an activity off camera, but they recovered fast enough to seamlessly rejoin the flow.

Of course we are humans, and one lady is caught trying to suppress the effects of tiredness (3:00 – 3:02). Jobjow is caught in an episode where he sweeps his camera over people’s heads to capture the start of the salute (3:48 – 3:52) and he makes it! But a father is caught trying to direct his son in the salute game (3:55 – 4:03) yet the boy is doing better than the father. Two men are caught looking at a paper which looks to me like a title deed of their shamba in Nyamira (5:29 – 5:32). However the most outstanding part is where (from 6:00 onwards) the ladies have to march with guarded care to avoid trampling the children who are also doing their thing trying to beat their parents.

If the melody of this great song gave me the feel of being in Heaven, then I can say that it has given me the assurance of life. I will be reckless in my awarding it points by giving it the perfect score, which is a five. Five green stars for Umeimba Wimbo Wa Sifa.

Suddenly music is the main event - Introduction to Music review

Agreeing to be the main contributor for this blog was no better than the blind agreeing to lead the sighted. But like Job of the Bible, our Job at Angaza Family Radio has the faith that I could write a thing or two (masquerading as a reviewer) about the videos he has posted on the website. I am taking the plunge from the deep end. If I am unable to float, I will call for help from other readers to bail me out.

What do I know about music? I cannot sing as my throat gave way decades ago when I was still in primary school and my music teacher was forced to pull me by the collar to remove me from the class choir (std 4) with words that still haunt me to this day: “You did not come here to croak like a frog. You either sing or go never to come back.” I never went back.

I still do not sing, even in church. Every time I gather enough breath to sing out one line, I have to skip two lines and join the congregation in the fourth line after I would have pumped some air in my lungs. And age is wrecking havoc with the little singing ability that I posses. My eyesight is playing games with me and as a result when in church, even though holding a hymn book, I end up reading from the hymn book being held by the person in front of me. I have been told that I suffer from what they call long sightedness.

Job (ati he calls himself Jobjow) is however correct on one aspect though. As much as I cannot sing, I can tell a good song. You hit a wrong note and I will certainly pick it. I will therefore be guided by my ability to tell a good tune from a sloppy or an erratic one. My only other major difficulty is that I can only speak and understand three languages in this world. So, it will be very difficult to judge correctly on the lyrics of a good song if it has not been rendered in one of those three languages.

Before I close off for now I will want to briefly comment on choreography of the music presented on the website. That is a tough one, so to speak. I will therefore be guided by a principle I assimilated in August 1985 when Pope John Paul II visited Nairobi for the 43^rd Eucharistic Congress. I was at that time a reporter with the Daily Nation and I was one of the lucky journalists given passes to stand next to the Pope’s dais. Here I saw our local girls dressed in reed skirts going up to where the Pope was seated and dancing with traditional hip swinging movements right in front of his face.

Having grown up knowing how strict Catholics were in the separation of things religious and things traditional, I knew without having to consult Cardinal Maurice Otunga (he of late memories) that the bottom of the barrel had fallen off – and with a heavy thud. Our traditional way of worship had finally been accepted by the Vatican (I am not Catholic, but there is nothing wrong about it). But as much as we find favour in worshiping God using our traditional rhythms and choreography, I am still of the opinion that there is a very thin line between good dancing and the not so good dancing. We will look at the choreography in a mature and unbiased manner.

I am not an impersonator. My picture is here for all to see who I am. My name is written for all to see and identify me with. If my grandmother were to come back from the dead, she would call me by these same names, Mathai Mũnene. If you know me by any other name but the one given here, I challenge you to toboa siri… yaani kama unaweza.

This will be a weekly submission as long as Job continues to provide us with new videos. Rating (one to five stars) will be of a social genre and not scientific. The fact that I have come in with the last showers of rain, I will not concentrate on some of the videos that have been on the list for a long time. I will mostly deal with the new ones, and will encourage our readers to quickly write to me if they disagree with what I write, but to enjoy the music if they agree with what I write.

God giving us strength, please look out for our reviews every Monday.

Welcome

Its so great to have you all as part of this ministry. We at Angaza Family Radio have all reason to thank you. To get all of us participating we now have this blog where you can post your coments, concerns, questions, articles as we continue to spread the word.