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.