HUSSEIN SHEBE AND THE ASHANTIS - THE ROARING SIXTIES (SCRAP BOOK)

Kushoto mbele: Hussein Shebe. Henin Seif, Raymand Chihota
Nyuma ya Hussein ni Mbaraka

Hussein Shebe wa pili kushoto na Ashantis

Kulia Henin Seif, Hussein Shebe, Nassor na Mohamed Said

Bukyanagandi,
Mzee Chihota alikuwa Meneja wa Arnatouglo Hall nadhani alipotoka yeye
ndiye akaja Denis Phombeah, Mnyasa.

Mzee Chihota alikwenda masomoni Uingereza na huko mauti yakamfika na
alizikwa huko huko.

Hii ilikuwa miaka ya mwanzoni 1950s.
Kuna Mtaa Temeke umepewa jina, ''Chihota,'' kwa heshima yake. 

Kulikuwa na Norman Chihota bingwa wa 100 metres na Raymond kaka
yake.

Hawa walitoka Rhodesia.

Gershom Chihota nilisomanae St. Joseph's School na tukicheza mpira sote
na kupiga muziki yeye akipiga bass guitar.

Gershom Chihota

Baada ya uhuru kupatikana walirudi kwao na huko Raymond alifariki.
Huyu alisoma Urusi na alioa Mrusi.

Raymond alipomaliza shule Aga Khan alifanyakazi TBC kama mtangazaji na
allikuwa na kipindi, ''Teenagers Time,'' akipiga pop music akina Cliff Richard,
Helen Shapiro, Elvis Presly, Beatles, Rolling Stones etc.

Ray kama alivyokuwa akijulikana alikuwa mmoja wa ''Chipukizi,'' na akina Henin
Seif, Abdul Nanji, Badrin, Salum Hirizi (Sammy Davis), Yusuf Ramia, Hussein Shebe, Cuthbert Sabuni,
Sauda Mohamed, Maryam Zialor na vijana wengi wa Dar es Salaam.

Ray alikuwa mwimbaji mzuri wa nyimbo za Kizungu na Chipukizi na yeye kwa
msaada wa David Wakati wakaanzisha kipindi RTD, ''Chipukizi Club.''

Kipindi hiki kilipendwa sana na vijana hadi pale kilipokuja kupigwa marufuku na
Regiional Commissioner wa Dar es Salaam, Mustafa Songambele kwa sabau ati
kinatukuza utamaduni wa kigeni.

Mustafa Songambele

Songambele hakupendezewa na zile nyimbo za Kizungu bendi ile ya Chipukizi
walizokuwa wakipiga.

Chipukizi walikuwa wakipiga pamoja na vijana wa Kigoa wakijiita, ''The Blue Diamonds.''
Walikuwa na wapiga magitaa hodari sana.

Hii ilikuwa 1963/64.

Ray na Yusuf Baruti wakaenda kusoma Urusi na ''members,'' wengi wa Chipukizi wakaondoka kwenda
nje.

Hussein Shebe akaenda Nairobi kujiunga na Ashantis kama muimbaji na kwa kweli
aliipaisha ile bendi na hawakukaa sana Nairobi wakenda Addis Ababa wakawa
wanapiga Wabe Shebelle Hotel, hotel kubwa sana wakati ule.

Sal Davis ndiye aliyemchukua Hussein kumpeleka Nairobi.

Sal alikuja Dar es Salaam na alifanya show moja na Chipukizi Radio Tanzania na hapo
ndipo alipomsikia Hussein akiimba.

Sal Davis na Meneja wa Philips Uwanja wa Ndege Nairobi aliporudi na nyimbo ya kumsifia Jomo Kenyatta wakati wa uhuru 1963

Badrin na Nanji wao walikwenda America.

Sabuni na bendi yake, ''The Flaming Stars,'' akiwa na Peter Kondowe (Peco) na
George Mzinga wao wakaenda Mombasa.

Miaka mingi baadae nilifika Addis Ababa na nilikaa Wabe Shebelle lakini hoteli ilikuwa
taaban, imechoka.

Nakumbuka nililetewa Coke lakini sikuweza kuitambua chupa jinsi ilivyokuwa imesagika.

Hii ilikuwa 1989 enzi ya Mengitsu Haile Mariam na Hussein Shebe na Ashanti
wamekimbia wanapiga muziki wao Italy.

Nakumbuka Ray aliporudi alikaribishwa Radio Tanzania English Service kwa mahojiano
katika kipindi cha muziki.

katika nyimbo alizochagua apigiwe moja naikumbuka kwa kuwa nami nikiipenda,
''Let The Good Times Roll,'' ya Ray Charles.

Mwaka wa 1993 nilikwenda Harare na nilimtafuta Gershom na Norman na bahati
nzuri nilikutananao.

Nina picha nikizipata nitaziweka hapa In Shaallah.

Baada ya miaka mingi sana nilikutana na Hussein Shebe kwenye boat tunakuja Dar es
Salaam kutoka Zanzibar nilikuwa na rafiki yangu Tamim Faraj.

Tulikumbusha mengi na akanipa cassette yake na Ashanti.

Hivi sasa Hussein amepumzika muziki na akiwa na nafasi hupita nyumbani kwangu
kunijulia hali kila anapokuja kutoka Zurich anakoishi na mkewe Mswiss na wanae na kila
siku ananikaribisha Switzerland.

Ingia You Tube ustaladhi na muziki wa Hussein Shebe.

Katika mahojiano nliyofanya na Hussein ananambia kuwa siku alipomwabia Meneja wake
kuwa yeye muziki basi alishtuka na akambembeleza sana.

Hussein hajatazama nyuma.
Mke wake anasema, ''Huyu Hussein toka amerudi kwenye Uislam wake...''

Siku moja nafanya mahojiano na Hussein.
Ghafla ananyanyuka ananambia, ''Mohamed Maghrib sasa tuswali kwanza...''

Machozi yalinilengalenga...
Tulikuwa nyumbani kwa rafiki yake toka udogo wao - Henin Seif.

Kakutana na mke wangu msikitini anamwambia, ''Mohamed si rafiki yangu ni ndugu yangu...''

When the great American trumpeter and singer, Louis Armstrong, visited Kenya in 1960, he expressed his admiration for a nine-year-old guitarist from Kaloleni Estate, Nairobi.

The young boy who had played a few tracks for Armstrong at a private function was Paddy Gwada and the legendary jazzman was so overwhelmed by this prodigious talent that, it is said, he even offered to adopt him.

Born in Mombasa, Paddy and his brother, Rocky, who plays the saxophone, were the leaders of the Bata Shoeshine Boys, a band promoted by impresario, Peter Colmore.

The group was sponsored by the famous Bata Shoe Company and they became television stars in Kenya through their performances on the Bata Shoe Box game show in the early 1960s.

Their most popular recording is a song that many people are familiar with, but may not associate with the group. Africa Sunset, recorded by the Shoeshine Boys in 1965, is perhaps better known as the instrumental signature tune to the television courtroom comedy, Vioja Mahakamani.

After the end of their contract with Bata, the group changed its name to The Ashantis and in 1966, became the resident band at the Starlight Club in Nairobi. Two years later, Sal Davis arranged a performance stint for them in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

From Addis, the Ashantis left for Denmark in 1971, before eventually settling in Switzerland, where the band remains to this day. In the picture above, band member Hussein Shebe (right) with emperor Haile Selassie. (Daily Nation 12 August 2013)