radioshow – Chanters Lodge Livingstone

Paul & Angela Metcalfe

Meet Paul and Angela Metcalfe, guests on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient ft George Soulchild, our regular radio show that goes out on Zambezi Radio 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s best loved local radio station, every Sunday night at 20.30 hrs. Paul and Angela (sorry for the blurry quality of the photo above!) hail from Wigan, Lancashire, UK, as Gerald Mweene was very quick to point out when we offered a prize on air for the first person to text us as to where this friendly couple came from. Mr Mweene won himself a dinner for two with drinks at Chanters Lodge as a result of his fast reactions!

It was interesting to hear about Paul and Angela’s lifestyle. After years in the oil industry, Paul is now in property management, wife Angela is a retired secondary school teacher – specialist subject? French. Paul and Angela met at University in Bangor, North Wales and have been married 28 years. “Was it love at first sight?” I wanted to know, and Paul admitted he’d proposed marriage to Angela within a week of their meeting. “Did you say yes?” I asked Angela. “No” she replied, making us laugh, “I told him to go away and stop being stupid!” “What changed?” I continued my interrogation. “He was very persistent” she admitted, with a wink! “Where did he take you for your silver wedding anniversary” I wanted to know. “Mauritius”. Can’t be bad!

Paul and Angela have one son and one daughter but no grandchildren as yet. They travel a lot – up to 6 times a year – and in Paul’s oil days lived in Gabon, Algeria and Norway amongst other places. They’ve done a lot since they arrived in Livingstone, including high tea on Livingstone Island that very afternoon, a 15 minute helicopter flight over the Falls, a 3 day safari to Chobe, the lion encounter and the rhino walk. Despite living in Wigan, home of the famous rugby league team as well as Wigan Athletic in the Barclays Premier League, Paul and Angela confessed to having no interest in sport beyond snow skiing, in which they regularly indulge.

The music on the show was good, as usual, and featured two tracks from the latest Phil Collins album – ‘Going Back’ the title track and ‘Jimmy Mack’. Rihanna’s ‘Who’s That Chick’ and Taylor Swift’s ‘Speak Now’ (hilarious) made up a set, and so too did Milli Jam’s choice of ‘OMG’ by Serani ft Usher & Patira and ‘Check It Out’ by Will.I.Am ft Nicki Minaj. George’s local selections were from Danny and Dalisoul.

“How did you come to choose Chanters Lodge” Milli Jam asked Paul. “From TripAdvisor and guide books” replied Paul. “Talking of the internet” Milli Jam directed the question at me “have you gone over the 1000 followers on Twitter”. “With a little help from my friends” I replied, “yes I have.”

19
OCT

activities, Africa, Botswana, Chanters, guests, livingstone, music, radioshow, uk, victoriafalls, wildlife, Zambia

Danny Live and Nasty D

George ‘Soulchild’ Mukwita co-hosts our weekly Sunday night radio show – The Chanters Lodge Experience, and contributes to the blog about the local music scene. Here’s his latest piece.

DANNY- Why his latest album is successful (he’s pictured above)

What has made Danny’s latest album notable is that he has managed to market it as a unique products. Others who do that are largely those that belong to the gospel scene, notably Ephraim, whose last two albums have been sheer works of artistic and marketing brilliance. Danny has managed to create hype around his efforts by releasing the title of the album first – Live – leading many to wonder what it was all about. Some, including myself, even hoped that he’d record some of his songs with a live band, like Koffi Olomide or the Sakala Brothers to mention but a few. After all, he does have a band and is now a consummate live performer.

That hope was rudely dashed. Danny also employed marketing ingenuity by selling his album on the internet, a form that is accessible to most Zambians. Sounds Music Corporation, the only official music shop, reports that these albums have done quite well. Is it a sign that Zambian music products can sell again, profitably?

Danny’s album opens with the intro 2010. It is barely a song with the soccer tune but just an intro. The first real song is We’ll Miss You, a song that celebrates the life of a departed friend with whom he went to all sorts of sordid places, and discussed politics with. The reggae song performed in Bemba and Nyanja has a well-delivered chorus and, despite extremely simple instrumentation, scrapes a good grade. The title track Live follows.

The song comments that despite the warnings we get and the intentions of practicing safe sex, we end up having unprotected (live) sex. Performed with mid tempo reggaeish beat, it is quite graphic about how this happens and is not a family song. Despite this, it has some artistic freshness and also scrapes a good grade largely because of its humour, albeit graphic. What follows is a Kaya-sounding song delivered in Bemba which narrates quite graphically how a person gets drugged not through drinks but through another body part and is robbed by a prostitute in South Africa. It has a catchy chorus and loses its good grade for Kaya sounding beat and verses.

The first clearly very good song musically is Zimene Wachita. Exile (Kangwa Kampemba) delivers a catchy chorus and the verses have interesting background vocals. Once again the song has a sensual slant. He complains that a girl called Maggie is leading him without “delivering,” using at some point quite a graphic term, “kugadama” (lying on your back). The beat is that township beat delivered Lusaka style. Si Vinthu, a slowish reggae song with a bassline like My Jane, is the sixth song. In the first pure love song performed Nyanja, he declares how all material things are nothing without a certain love. Musically, it is a fair effort.

The seventh song Tawaiso Mboneko is about how relationships have been casaulised and how easy it is to be intimate these days. It has a catchy chorus and is the second clearly good song musically. Not very good like Zimene Wachita but clearly good. Another My Jane/Kaya-like song, First Luv follows. What saves the song from being poor are the background vocals. Delivered largely in English and Nyanja, it urges a girl to remember the first love when the relationship is rocky.

The eighth song on the album is a reggaeish song Chikalabafye Ififine. Featuring Naso, the chorus is delivered by Naso and appears to have a confusing message. He says people are not happy when active people like himself take breaks and some inclusion of how Kalusha Bwalya gets recognised by FIFA despite being criticised back home. I don’t get the song artistically and lyrically.

The last song is the song that can probably qualify as a live song with beautiful guitar work delivered by left-handed guitarist Ba Davey. The song delivered in Bemba and bits of English is a confession of adultery. The showers don’t end his guilt after he cheats, he declares. The chorus and beautiful guitar makes this another musically good song.

Danny’s effort is mostly about telling stories of things observed in life, particularly of a carnal nature. The songs are not social commentary because by definition social commentary takes a stance, a position, and tends to try to effect change. Danny on the other hand takes no position, which is not necessarily a bad thing, and just makes observations with a strong tinge of humour. Danny has identified his market with his carnal references and innuendos.

His songs cannot be listened to comfortably in the same room by parents and children. They are a bit loutish. Perhaps a parental advisory stamp would have been welcome here, but I have no idea what the Censorship Board of Zambia really does these days.

Nasty D & The Zambezi Symphony

Last Friday Livingstone City was set on fire with performances by Nasty D, 2wice and Amablax Shimasta, all from a band called Zambezi symphony. Nasty D is one of the pioneers of the current Zambia music that we all enjoy, his first single was released in 1996/97 titled “Good Milile” on the Copperbelt, he later relocated to Lusaka in 1998. In 2005 he was arrested for being found in position of marijauna and was later sentenced to do community work, later that same year the Drug Enforcement Commesion (DEC) partnered with him in sensitizing the youth on the effects/dangers of drug & alchol abuse. Musically Nasty D want quiet and was almost forgoten till he made this tour to the tourist capital. I bet this signifies the return of Nasty D and the Zambezi Symphony.His show at Fezbar was well attended – I guess the fans never forgot him..lol

15
OCT

music, radioshow, Zambia

Luke Ford on 107.7 fm

Check Luke Ford, staying with us at the lodge, guesting on the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient ft George Soulchild, our regular Sunday night radio show that goes out every 20.30 hrs Sundays, on Zambezi Radio 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s best loved local radio station. ‘Let the waves flow’ and ‘imitated but never duplicated!’

Luke is chief executive officer of his own company ‘Gunyah’ (more than a holiday) but also works for World Hotel Link. This is what they say on their website about the company:- ‘Looking for accommodation, tours or activities in destinations “off the beaten track”, or that you’ve read about and can’t find online? Looking for something a little special; a chance to really connect with the destination you are travelling to? Looking to book with people who really care about the local destinations; the people, cultures and environment? Then you’ve come to the right place.’

Luke is helping develop products and tours locally, using local suppliers and agents.

In Livingstone, Luke is dealing with Wildside Safaris – good friends of Chanters Lodge and has been enjoying some of the activities that this part of the world has to offer – the previous day he’d taken the one day safari to Chobe and was amazed at the number of elephants he saw. He also saw lion. “Where do you live?” Milli Jam wanted to know and Luke explained that he travels so much he doesn’t really live anywhere, but of late Vietnam and Prague had both been his base for a while. Luke hails from Australia but had trouble remembering the last time he’d been home!

“How did you come to choose Chanters Lodge” the guys wanted to know, and Luke went on to explain that a colleague of his from Hotel Plan had recommended us, but he’d also ‘met’ me on Twitter and the reservation request had been made through that medium. Luke has almost 4000 followers on Twitter and when I said that made my nearly 1000 look very little, his response was ‘what about those with 100,000 followers?’ He has a point! How did he get so many? ‘Through interaction and Tweetups’ was his reply. We haven’t had a Tweetup in Livingstone, it’s a function where Tweeters meet in person.

The music for the show was very well organized this week. We opened with our new theme Aggro Santos – ‘Candy’, then we played two hot tracks from the current UK top 10 – ‘Heartbeat’ – Enrique ft Nicole Scherzinger, and Tinie Tempah’s ‘Written In The Stars’. Two local tracks – Nasty D with ‘Zikolamutendela’ and Shimasta featuring the late great Lily T – ‘Some Attention’. George will write some news on the local music scene later this week, all being well. Chris Brown’s ‘Yeah x 3’ sounds like a hit, and Milimo brought back memories with Foreigner’s ‘I Wanna Know What Love Is’ and Toto’s ‘Rosanna’.

We gave away the usual dinner for two to the first person to text us as to where Luke came from – Australia was the right answer, and the prize was won by Jasper. When I reached home later in the evening I was told it was a confusing question seeing our guest had said he didn’t really have a home! Point taken!

Where was Luke going after his visit to Zambia? The World Travel Market in London. Where would he like to be and what would he like to be doing 10 years from now? ‘Travelling’ – surprise, surprise!

12
OCT

Africa, Botswana, guests, hotels, music, radioshow, travel, victoriafalls, Zambia

Lion Country

We were delighted on Sunday night’s ‘Chanters Lodge Experience’ (our regular weekly radio show aired from 20.30 hrs for an hour on Zambezi 107.7 fm Livingstone’s great local radio station), to host the film crew staying at Chanters. The team are winding up filming the lion encounter based at Thorn Tree Lodge for the forthcoming second series of Lion Country, a documentary to be broadcast on ITV in UK from January 2011 every Friday at 20.00 hrs for 12 weeks.

“We’re in competition with Eastenders at that time” commented Phil Broadhurst – the cameraman who took that great shot of the studio above. Personally I don’t think they need to worry – they had an audience of 4 million for the first series and the second series sounds wonderful! The rest of the crew in attendance were Sebastian Dunn, the sound man, and Alison Quirk, the producer. Also in the photo are Milli Jam and George Soulchild who expertly co-host the show, and myself.

“Are you scared of lions?” We wanted to know. Generally they said they were not, but they mentioned that when they were filming in Zimbabwe they were surrounded at night by 80 of the beasts making a tremendous noise. Sebastian, the sound man, gave us a great impression of a lion’s roar which we made him repeat! “Have you done the night encounter?” we asked the crew. “Not yet, it’s the last thing we have to shoot before we go home” Alison informed the listeners.

The crew gave us the background to their professional careers revealing that both Phil and Seb have been highly involved with all sorts of programmes featuring wildlife in the past. Alison is the producer and the organizer. We’ve had great business at Chanters from various members of this crew during 2010, and it was lovely to hear them praise the lodge, the food and the staff and to tell listeners that Chanters really felt like their second home.

The music for the show was a good mix as usual. Bruno Mars ‘Just The Way You Are’ kept up our record of playing the current number one in UK – we played it back to back with Rihanna’s ‘Only Girl In The World’ the first single from her new album, high in the US Charts. On the local scene George featured ‘Temperature’ by Uniq (“I suppose it means his girl friend raises his temperature” I speculated. “Affirmative” the guys replied). We played the ever popular Petersen’s “Dance With You” as well. (I was delighted to be given a copy of the new JK album by George, though Milli Jam reported massive disappointment amongst the Livingstone public that JK had been miming during his recent album launch at Steprite).

Milli Jam featured Soul IV Real’ ‘Candy Love’ back to back with Aaliyah’s ‘Rock The Boat’ and we played two tracks from the new Phil Collins album ‘Going Back’ – the title track and ‘Papa Was A Rolling Stone’. Great new version of an old favourite. We played ‘Going Back’ for Cara, the Lion Manager out at lion encounter who’s a great Collins fan.

As usual we gave away a dinner for 2 at Chanters Lodge with drinks – this week for the first person to text us the name of the animal the guys had come to here to film. There was a quick response and everyone got it right! We greeted Guests, mentioning that we were very multi-national this week at Chanters with Guests from Japan, Italy, UK, Egypt, USA, Norway, South Africa and Zambia. We wished two of the Chanters Girls not feeling well a speedy recovery, and greeted the rest of the staff by name too.

The crew thanked the lodge for our hospitality and thanked too all the people at lion encounter who had made their trip so memorable. “When do you leave?” Asked Milli Jam. “On Wednesday” replied Phil, as Milimo and George laughed. “What’s funny?” asked Phil. “Richard only brings Guests leaving on Monday” they replied, as we closed a really fun show.

5
OCT

accommodation, activities, Africa, entertainment, radioshow, tourism, uk, wildlife, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Maureen Lilanda

Looking for something to blog this morning, I turned to a piece that George Souldchild wrote about the Chanters Lodge Experience, our weekly Sunday night radio show that goes out on Zambezi Radio on 107.7 fm at 20.30 hrs, while I was away on leave:

“How are you? How’s the England weather treating you? Livingstone is hot! Too hot! Despite that I’m OK and so is Millie Jam. We really missed you again last Sunday, the response was very good. The playlist was a mixture as always. We played ‘Your Love’ by Nickie Minaj, ‘Coca Cola’ by Oga Kent (very hot Zambian song at the moment). Also JK featuring Salma – ‘Kapiripiri’, Ne-Yo ‘Crazy Love’ and Chris Brown – ‘Deuces’ – just to mention a few.” Sounds a really good show!

After this George went on to write:

Maureen Lupo Lilanda to just Lupo

Soulful songstress Maureen Lupo Lilanda is re-branding her stage name. Affectionately referred to as Aunt Maureen locally, the singer now wants to be identified as Lupo. At 43, Maureen’s music career is not strange to Zambia, and the singer is confident her latest stage identity will not take anything away from her music.

The Ngoma award winner, whose latest album is being produced by Zamsounds of Denmark, said that her album will be entitled ‘Simply Lupo’. “I’m dropping Maureen and Lilanda, I’m just using Lupo on stage. I think musically Lupo sounds easier to pronounce and easier to remember and also I am pro-Zambian, so really I would like to drop the name Maureen because that’s borrowed culture.” She said she’d slowly been introducing the name Lupo to prepare her fans for the change.

“If you noticed I changed from Maureen Lilanda to Maureen Lupo Lilanda, so people will not notice much difference when it’s just Lupo. It will now be the re-establishment of Maureen as Lupo,” Lilanda explained. She described her musical journey as an evolution, tracing it from the time she was a young African trying to imitate Western musicians, to now a mature artiste who appreciates her own tradition and culture.

“In terms of the first album, I was doing everything myself, dancing and all, and now I’m really appreciating my roots and I have people taking care of the recording. I think I’m more experienced, more mature and more saleable, more convincing and more pro-Zambian,” she said.

Lilanda was reluctant to divulge more information about her latest offering but promised not to depart from her style. “People should just look out for Simply Lupo and I think all the songs have a social concern in them, so just look out for all the songs on the album,” she said.

Lilanda said she decided to record in Denmark as a way of attaching great importance to the quality of the product and promised that Simply Lupo was expected to hit the shelves by February 2011.”

This piece interested me. Maureen made her stage debut at the Ridgeway Hotel’s Folk Night when I was General Manager of that hotel – a mighty popular show it was every Tuesday evening too – a great place for unknown artists to come along and show their talent. Maureen’s father was PermSec in the Ministry of Tourism and a friend of mine. We wish Maureen all the best with her new image and new album! We’ll certainly feature it – and her – on our radio show when we get the chance!

2
OCT

Africa, entertainment, livingstone, Lusaka, music, radioshow, Ridgeway, Zambia

The Chanters Lodge Experience

I was missing from this week’s Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George Soulchild, as I’m in Brighton, UK on leave. There’s a photo of the famous Brighton Pavilion! Here’s George’s blog on the latest edition of our radio show.

Hello Richard,

How’s England? The show was great – we missed you, we had such a great response – it could be due to the fact the I was the guest lol, well this was after our guest Dandy Krazy (local artist) failed to turn up. Last weeks winner was Lulu – she’s having their dinner for two at Chanters Lodge tonight.

“ZAMBIA’S celebrated song bird Angela Ny’irenda recently held a private bridal-shower at a named house in Lusaka’s Rhodes Park area at a ceremony meant to make her marriage with Moses Sakala official. According to a source who witnessed the Kitchen party, the function was organised at a private home along Manchinchi road opposite Manda Hill shopping mall where only close friends to both musicians were present. “It was a very nice function, we had fun and many people enjoyed the ceremony… It was a private function because the media was not invited, maybe they didn’t want the function to be publicized, but some female DJs and musicians – mostly female – attended, especially their close friends,” the source explained.

Miss Southern Africa is an International Event that celebrates the people of Southern Africa – its amazing culture, the colorful and vibrant fashion of its many tribes, its expressive and emotive music and the fantastically beautiful talent… of its women. So Miss SA Zambia will be promoting Zambia – it’s magnicent wild life in its own natural habitat, the many scenic water falls that Zambia houses apart from the Victoria Falls, the beautiful white sandy beaches by the Lake Tanganyika and the Bangweulu, the natural hot springs and the expanse of natural unspoilt land with beautiful lodges and wonderful scenic rivers making a holiday in Zambia a more fulfilling and thrilling one! On the 25th of September 2010, Zambia will stage the first ever Miss Southern Africa Zambia to determine which lady will represent and sell the country to the Southern Africans and to the world at large in Windhoek, Namibia on the 27th of November 2010.

15 young vibrant intelligent beautiful delegates will go head to head vying for this coveted title with musical perfomances by the legendary Zambia’s very own Maureen Lilanda, Exile, and introducing Trizzo, plus many more perfomances.

As JK continues to promote his Kapiripri album his next stop is the tourist capital on Friday October 1st at “Masaka” Step-rite night club and Saturday 2nd at Taonga river shack for the family show with supporting acts from the likes of Afunika, Indy K and Lusaka’s Klub Vegas DJ Bizzy Wizzy and the beautiful Salma who at the moment has got a hot song which she performed at the Big Brother evictions.tickets are being sold at K20,000 and K10,000 for the family.

17
SEP

Chanters, music, radioshow, uk, Zambia

Andrew & Caroline Kashita

It was a first for us when Andrew and Caroline Kashita (pictured above) appeared on The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient ft George Soulchild, our regular Sunday night radio show that goes out on Zambezi Radio 107.7 fm at 20.30 hrs for an hour. Why? Well, they were the first Guests ever to be asked back for a second show! Why? Because they’re great people and huge supporters of Chanters Lodge, and Andrew Kashita is a former Minister who will not keep quiet! “You’ve been in the newspapers a lot recently concerning the ERB” said Milli Jam after the introductions and the first two tracks “what’s that all about”.

“Energy Regulation Board?” queried Andrew, “let me tell you about it”! He then went on to tell us, and the listeners, exactly what he thought of the ERB who are supposed to reconcile energy providers and consumers over tariffs, but in Andrew’s opinion and most of the country, they’re simply not doing their job! They’ve given the green light to increases in the cost of petrol and diesel of at least 30% this year, and electricity prices have just gone up by another 30% as well. Mr Kashita wished that Zesco, our monopoly electricity supplier, would look into cutting their costs as hard as they look into increasing tariffs. “Lots of blokes standing around with their hands in their pockets watching other people do the job” he observed, correctly.

“How many ministerial positions have you held?” Milli Jam wanted to know. “Three” came back Andrew as quick as flash “and I was fired from every one”! He went on to tell listeners that he was variously Minister of Mines and Industry, Minister of Communications and Transport and Minister of Works and Supply. He didn’t mention, but it’s a fact, that he was one of the first overseas qualified Zambian Engineers immediately after independence. He did go on to tell listeners that he’d enjoyed his time as a civil servant more than when he was a Minister, as he found it more rewarding in terms of achievements. He was instrumental in, or involved with Zambia Airways; Lusaka International Airport; Tazara; Ndeni Oil Refinery; Zambia’s microwave system; the introduction of cell phones in the country and the dismantling of UBZ to allow for the privatization of the coach/bus industry in Zambia.

The music on the show went down well. Ace of Base “Mr Replay” represents a return to form for that particular band, while we opened as usual with Aggro Santos “Candy”. We featured my two tracks of the moment, ‘Dynamite’ by Taio Cruz and ‘DJ Got Me Falling In Love’ by Usher. Milli Jam featured Charice – ‘Pyramid’ (special request from Monica, one of the Chanters Girls) and Kelly Rowland’s ‘Forever and A Day’. George’s local numbers were ‘If It’s Love’ by Brothahood Crew ft Kaufela and Tsoya – ‘Katwayeko Umbi’ (‘Go look for someone else’, we were told was the translation’).

Caroline enjoyed talking about her family. She and Andrew will be married 30 years soon. They have a son and a daughter, son Steven is an aero-nautical engineer in America and daughter Nonde is studying at Reading University in UK. They have a grand-daughter Aisha, just 16 months old, whom they hope will soon come and live with them in Lusaka.

We gave away the usual dinner for two at Chanters Lodge which was quickly snapped up by an alert listener in answer to our simple question, and as usual we greeted Guests, family and staff alike! We had messages while we were on air from Swithin Haangala, owner of 107.7 fm and DJ Wildfire a former 107.7 fm DJ, now making a name for himself in South Africa. Great!

Luckily and surprisingly there was no message from Zesco!

7
SEP

Africa, Chanters, Customers, electricity, energy, music, politics, radioshow, Zambia

George Soulchild – Guest Blog

George Soulchild, co-presenter of our weekly radio show The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient ft George Soulchild, gives us his regular look at the Zambian musical scene:

‘C.R.I.S.I.S’ TO PERFORM ALONG SIDE AKON IN ZIMBABWE
Zambian Hip Hop artist, CRISIS (aka Mr Swagger) is heading to Zimbabwe to perform alongside Akon and Sean Paul at the National Sports Stadium in Harare, along with other African artists who have been invited by Zimswag Entertainment, the organisers. The show will take place on September 4th and starts at 12:00 noon. The concert is all about uniting African artists in the region by encouraging them to work together as one, as the late Bob Marley and Tracy Chapman did back in the day.

CRISIS said he’ll go with JK (pictured above), another Zambian artist, with whom he’ll perform the song ‘One Day’ from his first album. He said that other songs he’ll perform are ‘Make The Crowd Go’ from his new album and ‘The Fire Inside’. CRISIS said that he’s excited to have the opportunity to perform alongside Akon and Sean Paul and hopes that they can do a collaboration in future. He said about 50,000 fans are expected to attend the show which is not only for Zimbabweans, but also people from other African countries.

He also said there’ll be an after party for all artists at Rainbow Towers in Harare. To ensure that many Akon fans travel to Zimbabwe for the live concert, the Zambian airline, Zambezi Airways will reduce the fare for those going to attend the concert, as they are one of the companies sponsoring the show. Tickets are going at $10 for kids, $15 for stadium ground, $25 for sitting, $50 VIP and Golden Circle $100.

JK’S SA LAUNCH
Sensational singer Jordan Katembula popularly knows as JK launched his ‘Akapilipili’ Album in South Africa. The album as become a hit on the Zambian music scene. The launch was on Saturday August 28, at Monte Casino in Johannesburg where JK was accompanied by two artistes, Indie K who recently released her ‘Chipuba Chandi’ album, and Afunika. JK’s South African fans were ready for the Zambian star and showed up in numbers to see him.

JK was also accompanied Bizzy Wizzy of Klub Vegas, one of the hottest clubs in Zambia, who displayed his skills during the show. JK is expected to tour Zambia to promote his album which has captured many of his local music lovers. Some of the songs that JK performed were ‘Ka Pillow’, ‘Concrete Mixer’, ‘Kanyimbo’, ‘Poison’ and many more. Other Zambian artistes that have recently been to South Africa for performances include Mampi, Dalisoul, K’Millian, Petersen and Ozzy who is currently promoting his ‘Kobili’ album,

JK recently released his single ‘Akapilipili’ song which features Salma Dodia another upcoming Zambian artist. The video for the ‘Akapilipili’ song is already being played on MTVBase and Channel O. This is JK’s fifth Album.

BRICK n LACE
Jamaican born, Canadian based RnB dancehall female duet Brick n Lace performed two Saturdays ago at Barclays Bank Sports Complex in Lusaka, Zambia for its local fans. Brick n Lace popularly known for ‘Love Is Wicked’ and ‘Never Never’ performed most of their new songs on stage and managed to entertain some of their Zambian fans. Most of the Zambian artistes who were invited to perform at the show were not allowed to mingle with their counterparts even though they performed on the same stage.

Mahogany Entertainments arranged two VIP lounges one for Brick n Lace with other foreign artistes while the Zambian artistes were made to occupy the other. The Zambian artistes were not in the slightest bit amused about this segregation! The security for the duo was very tight and the fans only managed to mingle with artistes on stage during their performance. The media personnel were also not given the privilege of interviewing the foreign artistes as they were not allowed access to the VIP lounge either, and although the show started late, the foreign artistes tried their best to entertain the fans.

The artistes that performed at the show were Jozi from South Africa and TR and TEF (a combination of a Zambian and Canadian duo). The local artistes were B Flow, P-Jay, Indie K, JK, Judy, Slap Dee, J-Bus, Cactus Agony, and CQ among others. It is the first time the duo Brick n Lace (Nyanda and Nailah Thoubourne) have visited and performed in Zambia to market their music. They came into the country under Mahogany Entertainments.”

Thanks George, great piece!

3
SEP

Africa, blog, Chanters, Lusaka, music, radioshow, rsa, Zambia

George Soulchild – Guest Blog

Here’s George Soulchild’s guest blog for the week. The photo is of an Ngoma Award statuette. I was lucky enough to win one in 2008 for my contribution towards the development of Zambian musicians!

“The National Arts Council of Zambia (NAC) and other stakeholders have started organizing the 14th Ngoma Awards show to take place on December 3 in Lusaka. This year’s theme is ‘Growing the Creative Industry’. The event has more than seven categories – visual arts, creative writing, media arts, music, drama, children’s theatre, traditional dance and theatre comedy – just to mention a few. The creative industry is growing tremendously and this year there will be about 24 awards given to the most deserving artists in the country.

The Ngoma Awards shows started in 1997 and were first held in Lusaka, Zambia. Then they were known as National Honours Awards but in 1998 the name was changed to Ngoma Awards. The first awards show was held at Lusaka Intercontinental Hotel. In the past two years the awards shows were held in Livingstone and Kitwe respectively, in the Southern and Copperbelt provinces of Zambia. The show is held every year to honour Zambian artists who have done exceptional work deserving to be recognised and appreciated.

Alpha Romeo – A new kid on the block
Alpha Romeo is the new kid on the block, his music style is mainly hip-hop sung in Nyanja and he is quite popular with young people. His first single ‘Will’ was released some time late last year. His lyrics are full of social commentary and his most popular song at the moment is ‘’Rumour’’ produced by KB for K-Amy Entertainment. We played this track on the Chanters show as our second local number. Alpha’s14 track album ‘President’ drops next week and is something all hip-hop fans should look out for.
Crystal Shaun – The most underrated artist
Crystal Shaun aka Webster Chilufya has been in the local music industry since the late 90’s when he was still doing his secondary education at Mpika Boys School along with fellow local artistes Runnel and Danny. He dropped his first album in 2004 – it carried the smash hit song “Elina” featuring Runnel produced by TK of Romaside Studio in Lusaka. His follow up album was released under David Sling Studio also based in Lusaka. Crystal Shaun is one of the most underrated artists on the local scene as he’s got so much more to offer. If you take some time to listen to any of his work you’ll agree with me. His style of music is soft raga sung in Bemba and Nyanja. He is currently in the studio cooking up his new sound. On the Chanters’ show we played a song titled ‘’Chimami’’ from his forthcoming album which still untitled.”

Thanks George for your usual entertaining and interesting insight!

27
AUG

Africa, awards, blog, Chanters, copperbelt, Lusaka, music, radioshow, Zambia

Michelle V Hall on Zambezi Radio

Meet Michelle Hall, pictured here relaxing by the swimming pool at Chanters Lodge during her four day holiday in Livingstone, Zambia just 10 kms from Victoria Falls. Michelle was the latest Guest on our weekly Sunday night radio show, The Chanters Lodge Experience on Zambezi Radio 107.7 fm, going out live at 20.30 hrs.

“How long have you had your dreadlocks” was the first question Milli Jam, who co-hosts the programme with George Soulchild, asked Michelle. “About 12 years – everyone asks me that!” Was the quick reply. Before she came to Livingstone Michelle had been in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital city for a week, involved in an international conference for trainers across Africa. She’s an educational technologist at Columbia University in New York and works out of the Center for New Media Teaching & Learning. She told listeners that her work involves training non clinician physicians, for which there is a high demand, given that most African countries don’t have enough doctors.

Michelle, a self confessed workaholic, works in New York City though she lives in New Jersey and commutes daily. She originally hails from Barbados in the West Indies. She told listeners that when she arrived in Zambia at Lusaka International Airport, immigration had two lists, one of nationalities requiring a visa to enter Zambia and another of nationalities that are visa free. Barbados didn’t appear on either list! She was allowed into Zambia twice, visa free. The second occasion was coming back into the country whilst she was staying at Chanters, when she took the one day safari to Chobe in Botswana, which she much enjoyed.

On hearing that Michelle was from Barbados, George and Milli Jam immediately wanted to know if she knew Rihanna, who also hails from there. Michelle told listeners that although she wasn’t aware of it, she had in fact taught Rihanna at high school in Barbados. They weren’t much interested however when Michelle and I started talking cricket – Sir Gary Sobers and Joel Garner both hail from Barbados. We asked our guest lots of questions about the island including food – their staple food is Kuku and Flying Fish, Kuku is a combination of yellow maize and okra, and no, George didn’t know that fish could fly! Nor did the rest of us!

Music wise it was a good show. We played Chris Brown ‘I Love You’ back to back with Toni Braxton ft Sean Paul ‘Looking At Me’. The Zambian set was Crystal Shawn ‘Chimami’ (‘Girlfriend’) and Alfa Romeo (I love that name!) singing ‘Rumour’. ‘Ride’ by Ciara ft Ludacris and ‘Unthinkable’ by Alicia Keys both went down well with our Guest who told listeners she’d been brought up on R&B. We also featured ‘Riding Solo’ by Jason Derulo and closed with ‘Love Is Wicked’ by Brick & Lace. The latter had performed in Lusaka the previous night.

As usual we gave away a dinner for two at Chanters Lodge. This week the prize was given for the first person to text us the name of the big American city in which Michelle worked – the response was fair but not as good as previous weeks. Perhaps it was a tricky question considering that we’d talked more about Barbados.

Michelle told listeners that she’d found out about Chanters Lodge from Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor on the internet and had been impressed with the good reviews about us on those sites. She’d enjoyed her stay at the lodge and had loved the Chanters Girls! Don’t we all!

Before we closed Milli Jam asked Michelle where she would like to be and what she’d like to be doing 10 years from now. “Back on Barbados teaching in the University” was Michelle’s reply. I’d put money on her achieving her goal!

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