The Afro jazz singer

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Thursday December 13, 2007 00:00

 

 Now an aspiring Afro jazz singer, Thusego Mmolawa has come up with a sizzling album of a similar title. 

Mmolawa identifies his music as traditional jazz.  Although he is new on the Afro jazz scene, Mmolawa sings like a veteran.  You can even confuse his music with that of South African jazz luminaries such as Phillip Tabane.  

Mmolawa has really done his homework in this album.   The lyrics in most of the tracks are sung in rich Setswana. 

The album was produced by Ernest Seakgosing of Chankieland Studios in Gaborone Phase IV.

Consequently, it did not come as a surprise that Mmolawa was nominated for the Botswana Musicians Union (BOMU) awards for the Best Newcomer and Best Jazz album categories. 

Mmolawa says he has received a positive feedback about the album, although the marketing has been slow.  So far he has only been selling the album in Gaborone at the Kgalagadi Music World record store at Game City.  To beat transport costs, Mmolawa has decided to focus on Gaborone before distributing the album in other parts of the country. 

He has also supplied local radio jazz presenters with copies of the album. 
He says it is not easy to break into the market. However, he has not given up.  In fact he is intending to form a new group so he could start staging shows. 

Mmolawa might be a newcomer to jazz but he has always been into music, especially gospel music.  He started to sing in church when he was a teenager in the early 90s.  He was singing alto. 

'I was just a vocalist, as I didn't play any instruments then.'
Mmolawa, who grew up in Gaborone, later moved to Serowe where he attended the Assemblies of God church.

In 2000, he returned to Gaborone and became a back-up singer for gospel artiste Matheke Leatene for his debut album. 

'That was when we started a band called Family Joint.  We did contemporary gospel music,' he said.  Other members of the group were Puna Gabasiane and Shanti-Lo, who have become established Afro jazz artistes in their own right. 

Mmolawa joined another ground called Jamming in Christ, with the likes of Mokaragana presenter Joel Keitumile, Shungi, Tshepo Lesole and Trinity.

But in 2005, Mmolawa left for studies in the United Kingdom (UK) and that is where he was introduced to jazz.  'I fell in love with jazz after I attended a cultural show where they were featuring Malian and Senegalese musicians,' he said. On his return last year, he started compiling songs for his debut album as a solo artiste.

Mmolawa was inspired by his grandmother who used to sing traditional songs for him. Unfortunately, the old woman did not live to witness the full flowering of his musical career.

'My dream is to sing traditional jazz,' said a confident Mmolawa.