Taukobong returns with debut album
Chippa Legodimo | Wednesday January 21, 2015 10:45
Together with Unity Band, Taukobong was also a constant feature at the then very popular Monate Sukiri annual festivals.
Her career started in 1989 and within a short period she became one of the country’s well-respected performers.
But at the turn of the millennium her popularity waned as a new breed of performers emerged and her appearance at shows soon became sporadic.
“There were several factors, which resulted in me not being visible to most people. When I started I had the freedom of a young woman and was simply enjoying the music, and myself, but then came a time when I had to start a family. That comes with responsibility and I had to set my priorities right,” Taukobong explained her disappearance from the limelight.
While admitting missing the big crowds, Taukobong, however, explains that over the years while she was keeping a low profile, she was contracted by a number of local hotels as resident entertainer. She also did shows in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
More than two decades after her first appearance on stage, Taukobong has resurfaced doing those spontaneous jazz club shows. She is also compiling her first album, Kajalo, which she believes will boost her return.
“The old days were exhilarating. I have missed those moments, but I knew I would return one day.
Now that I am about to release my first album I feel all new again.
I have been working on it for four years and I believe it will make my old fans remember me and still get new ones,” she said.
The jazz musician says she worked with four different producers on the album as she sought to add variety to her music and kill the sound monotony. “I wanted the songs to have distinctively different sounds because I do not like music that sounds monotonous,” she told Showbiz.
Since resurfacing Taukong has been playing at trendy restaurants around Gaborone. She is scheduled to play at Jalapenos Portuguese Restaurant at Riverwalk on Sunday from 3:00 pm before heading to the newly opened The Café Run Jazz Restaurant in Mogoditshane.