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Monday 17 May 2010

Tsonga: Mr. Jambatani

Today we feature a relatively new arrival on the Tsonga scene, Mr Jambatani. We have a couple of tracks from his 2008 album "Mina Na Mugawula", which was his fourth. You may think that after four albums he should be classified as "established" but compared to the likes of Thomas Chauke and George Maluleke who have released getting on for 30 albums each he is a bit of a new boy - even Thomas's daughter Conny is nearly in double figures by now.

Mr. Jambatani is not his real name. According to this informative article in The Sowetan, he was born Hanyani Solomon Maluleke - I suppose it was almost inevitable he would be a Maluleke or a Chauke, the two first families of Tsonga music. It also appears that he moonlights as a "senior government official", which is something we have in common. In my spare time I am also a dedicated public servant although, unlike Mr. J, I cannot boast a degree in public administration.

Here are the selections:

"Mina Na Mugawula" - Mr. Jambatani

"Xina'ngana" - Mr. Jambatani

As mentioned in the article, Mr Jambatini's father sadly passed away during the making of the album (in the sleeve notes he refers to him having "passed away miraculously", although I suspect that is not quite the word he was looking for).

Someone else who sadly passed away more recently is Ronnie James Dio, and I have had a request to mark his passing. I am happy to do so. As long and as distinguished as his career was, I don't think he ever sounded better than on this:

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