The Kasambwe Brothers, debut album on MACC MoCA Records out now

Playing on homemade instruments, the music of The Kasambwe Brothers is tied to the regional traditions of Malawi, especially the dance. The band brings together different dance rhythms in each song, and are widely knowledgeable about dances from specific regions of the country. Some of these dances, like the Vimbuza healing dance of Northern Malawi, are recognized by UNESCO as part of the world’s Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Kasambwe Brothers was founded in 1987 by the two older brothers of current member Konzani Chikwata. Chikwata was only 5 years old at the time, but joined the band as a singer just five years later. The two other band members joined later and the band today is seen as being the next generation of The Kasambwe Brothers. Though Joseph Msofi, the lead singer of the band, plays the guitar, the other two musicians play more handmade instruments. Fatsani Kennedy plays a homemade drum kit cobbled together from collected wood, sticks, bottle tops, and old pots. This kind of resourcefulness in building their own instruments is a hallmark of people from Ndirande. Konzani Chikwata plays a fascinating traditional bass instrument, the babatone. Resembling a large bass banjo, the babatone is played on the floor with the player sitting atop the frame and plucking the strings. It’s rarely played in Malawi these days, and Chikwata is one of the few young players. Since the skin of both Kennedy and Chikwata’s instruments use calf skin which is difficult to import, the instruments had to be rebuilt at MASS MoCA during the residency. Steinberger flew in from LA with a fresh calf skin and the crew documented the instruments’ construction. 

The songs on The Kasambwe Brothers’ self-titled album are drawn from their lives and experiences in Malawi, but also speak to larger issues of love and family. “Our songs come from our journey as a people,” they say. “They talk about our lives, how we’ve moved to where we are today. Songs come from that and also from issues that are happening in our country.” The first two songs, “Mtima Wanga” meaning “My Heart” and “Getu” meaning “Gertrude” are love songs, sung in Chichewa, the national language of Malawi. The third song “Ahedi,” meaning “Head Teacher,” tells the story of a student speaking out about teachers that abuse female students, and how the act of speaking up puts their studies at risk. Other songs speak to universal ideas of love, like “Kungade” (Even in the Dark), which is about how men will travel to see a woman to court her even in the dark of night. Each song is steeped in cultural context, however. For “Kungade,” public transportation in Malawi stops before dark, so unless you’re rich, if you want to go see a woman at night, you have to walk pretty long distances to get there. For a country riven by poverty and afflicted by the AIDS epidemic, many of The Kasambwe Brothers’ songs speak to this experience, sharing stories and educating listeners. “If someone is going through a hard time,” they say, “we will write a song about their situation and sing it to them in hopes it will bring some joy back into their life.”

The language barrier might mean that the music of The Kasambwe Brothers has a harder time finding fans in America, as is often the case for global music in this country. But The Kasambwe Brothers point out too that there’s plenty of music from America that they can’t understand that makes its way to Malawi and is enjoyed by many people. Even if the words aren’t there, the beat is. “The sounds of Malawi are very mature and rich, they say. “You can dance to this music, so we’re bringing entertainment to Americans, and through the songs we also want to share the love from Malawi. Through our music, we want to show our talent, to say ‘Here we are, this is Malawi.’” They also believe in the power of unity, in the importance of music to bring people together to find common ground. Judging by their performances during their residency, the common ground was dancing, as both the kids and the adult audiences broke out in impromptu dancing during their sets. 

Surprisingly, The Kasambwe Brothers had never recorded an album before this! There are very few places to perform in Blantyre, so they mainly play on the street and at bottle stores (local bars). They’re also well known on the radio in Malawi, as musicians in Malawi often perform directly for the radio stations since few people in the country have regular access to Spotify or any internet music streaming services. The older version of The Kasambwe Brothers did record an album back in the day through the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation Radio, but this was a first for the younger generation. Today, the wives and children of the current band members are starting to play as well and perform with the group, so The Kasambwe Brothers believe their band and their music will continue to be a source of joy for their families and for the next generations as well.