Bango maestro Mzee Ngala, 86, says he still has a lot to offer

Bango music singer Mzee Ngala, 86, at his home in Frere Town, Mombasa County. [Robert Menza, Standard]

Coast Bango music maestro Mzee Joseph Ngala Katana is a paradox of life. Although he admits to having reaped big from his sixty-year music career, he still maintains an austere life. He lives in an old Swahili house built in the 1960s at Frere Town in Mombasa.

Inside the compound is a parked old Bajaj scooter he uses to get around.

He has also built a studio for his protégés to record music after instructions on finer details of Bango music. But Mzee Ngala is said to be as strict in life as he is in music.

Although he has performed in nightclubs most of his life, he has never drunk beer before the end of his shows. He loves fried fish and Ugali, and two bottles of Guinness mixed with Coke. 

In October, the maestro clocked 86 years. Mzee Ngala, musically speaking, has been there and done it all but in an interview, he said he had no plan to stop.

"I still have more years to entertain and pass this gift to other generations," said Mzee Ngala popularly known as Mzee Ngala Mwenyewe to distinguish him from other groups of Bango.

He dropped out of school in Form Two at Shimo La Tewa Secondary School in Mombasa back in 1955. He was offered a job at Mbagathi Post Office in Nairobi but rejected it.

“Everyone including my family said I was crazy after I turned down several job offers. I later joined the East African Railway and we also established a music band," said Mzee Ngala.

"We were young and determined and it wasn’t long before people started inviting us to perform at weddings,” he said adding that they then used to do cover versions of popular songs of the time.

“Usually, they requested we compose a special song for the newlyweds and that’s why we became very popular,” says Mzee Ngala.

However, as he greased locomotive engines back at the East Africa Railways, his crew had a problem with his grimy appearance every time he attended group practice in the evening.

“I had to tender my resignation after working for a month but unfortunately, my supervisor informed me that I could only resign after three months,” says the mzee.

He, therefore, had to endure after which his uncle flexed his muscle and he was transferred to the station in Voi as a clerk.

Resigning to his fate and trying to forget music as he worked in his new posting, diligently ensuring he did not disappoint his family, his boss called him one day and inquired whether the rumors he had heard that Ngala was a musician were true.

“I answered in the affirmative wondering where this was going when he told me they have a set of musical instruments that no one was using and it would be nice of me to take charge and start a band,” says the mzee with nostalgia.

With one fell swoop, Mzee Ngala was back in familiar waters and it was at this time he knew music was his destiny and fate would ensure that he fulfils it.

He was no longer in the village and he organized a band that used to entertain even when there was no official function just to keep their mojo flowing as they were well kitted out and above all they loved to get people into the groove.

“We would organize for venues in different parts of Voi and as soon as we started, the women would show up, dressed in their best as the men would fall in step asking for a dance. Mnazi would flow and the following week we would pick out another venue,” says mzee Ngala.

However, this carefree stint ended when Mzee Ngala decided to get serious with music and joined East African Breweries where they traveled all over East Africa popularizing brands by the company.

He then launched into a roller coaster of symphonies which involved his serving as a brand ambassador for Coca-cola, playing background saxophone for pianist Mr MC Donald who was performing at Nyali Beach Hotel, playing jazz with a Goan band and even staged collaboration with a jazz pianist where he handled the sax.

“The money started rolling in and I married my wife and even started constructing my house. We later formed Bahari Boys band back in 1963 and were soon booked for gigs around hotels,” said mzee Ngala, adding that they still attended weddings and local functions.

After a couple of years, they realized they have been too busy entertaining and forgotten what every serious musician does: record music.

“We organized to record some of our compositions back in 1977 in Nairobi. We recorded albums This consisted of six songs," he said.

However, the distributor and promoter of the songs however gave them a very raw deal, according to Mzee Ngala.

“He never submitted any report to us or gave us money from the sale of our records while we had evidence that our music was widely distributed in Nairobi and upcountry,” he says.

Later, the band members tried to distribute the music but the uptake wasn’t satisfactory and they shelved the idea of recording for a while.

But this failed to work and later the band was hit by internal wars pitting members and their manager.

"This caused some members to leave the group in protest and they found themselves handicapped without a guitarist and their trusty drummer," said Ngala. 

Bango, according to Mzee Ngala, like other African rhythms like rumba is a form of fusion of African sounds blended into Brazilian Bosa Nova.

He started training his children, some of whom he incorporated into a band he formed with other family members. They called themselves Tausi 5 and Bango was officially born.

“We recorded in a studio in Malindi due to the overwhelming reception Bango Received and we could even afford state of the art equipment,” says Mzee.

They launched into the same old circuits performing in hotels, around the coast as well as events albeit this time, things were moving forward very smooth as Bango became very popular.

It was the time Mzee Ngala who initially used to be a composer and saxophonist launched into a career as a vocalist as well for the new genre he had created.

When he later parted ways with Tausi 5 with his former group trying to plagiarize his music, the public refused to attend unless they were sure it was Mzee Ngala himself performing.

Today, he is ageing gracefully, always caressing his saxophone which hardly leaves his hands and performs occasionally due to public demand.

“But I do not overexert and make sure I get enough rest,” says the bango virtuoso.