December 12,1963: the British Union Jack is lowered for the last time and the flag of newly independent Kenya is raised amid ecstatic scenes of jubilant men and women celebrating the liberation of their country from the colonial yoke.
As people rejoiced in every corner of the country, a group of musicians who were building the foundation for the earliest explosion of pop music with a distinct Kenyan flavour, were toasting the freedom to achieve their long sought after dreams of success.
Daudi Kabaka, the flamboyant guitar-playing singer and songwriter, had been inspired by the global phenomenon of the twist, a dance style popularised by American star Chubby Checker.
He coined the name ‘African Twist’ for an urban fusion that combined energetic guitar riffs with elements of kwela music from South Africa and traditional rhythms that he had grown up with in Western Kenya. That music became the soundtrack to the exuberance of a newly independent nation.
The African Twist, which premiers on January 23, 2025 at the Alliance Francaise, Nairobi, is a dramatised stage production by Ketebul Music that revolves around four iconic stars that were on the vanguard of the post-independence music era in Kenya. “The play is not a musical, though it does feature live music,” explains scriptwriter Paul “Maddo” Kelemba.
“The cast is pretty young which reflects the era. People tend to think that the Twist was played and danced to by old folks, but the fact is that these were young people at the time,” he explains.
Kabaka, the self-styled King of African Twist, and his contemporaries, Fadhili William, the Zambian trio of Nashil Pichen, Benson Simbeye and Peter Tsotsi and Ugandan brother-sister duo of Charles and Fridah Sonko, were the main exponents of the African Twist.
They were produced and managed by Charles Worrod, an Englishman who had relocated to South Africa, and eventually worked in Kenya for an international advertising firm.
In 1960, Worrod bought East African Records and renamed the label, Equator Records, independent Kenya’s first major music recording company.
He created a format where the stable operated as a collective of artistes with individual musicians contributing their talents to the writing and production of songs released on the label.
The songs that were released by Equator Records have remained Kenyan cultural touchstones, in their original form and in cover versions, more than 60 years later.
Kabaka’s Harambee Harambee and Msichana wa Elimu, Pole Musa by Tsotsi, and arguably the biggest hit of them all, Malaika by Fadhili William.
The play touches on some of the controversies of Malaika, including Miriam Makeba’s calling it a “Tanzanian folk song” (she had been introduced to Malaika when she performed at Kenya’s Independence celebrations in 1963).
Fittingly, the story also pays tribute to Grant Charo, who collaborated with Fadhili on the first ever version of the song in 1959, before it was later reworked by the Equator band.
Equally significant is the role of Fundi Konde, the doyen of guitar music in Kenya, who was the sound engineer during the first recording of Malaika and that of Fadhili’s sister, the vocalist Ester John.
The story also traces some of the socio-political pressures that the musicians had to deal with in a society that still looked down upon the work of artistes.
The attitude towards musicians as loafers and alcoholics that was prevalent among some of the African elite at independence, proved hard to dispel in the society even among the later generations of Kenyans.
The hopes and dreams of musicians that mirrored the optimism of the wider society anticipating the ‘fruits’ of independence, turn into despair as they are caught up in the cauldron of politics, tribalism, corruption and the socio-economic tumult of the late 1960s.
The glory of the African Twist and the success of Equator Sounds was a highlight of the cultural shift after independence, but it was not long before the bubble burst and the musicians were rendered disconsolate.
“A society that places value on its culture and history prospers,” says Paul Kelemba. “I was inspired to write this play to remind us that a connection between our roots and the present day is key to our future.”
The cast members are all Gen Z Kenyans who are themselves connecting with a history that illustrates the odds that the pioneer generation of artistes overcame to place music at the centre of the country’s progress.
Ketebul Music Executive Director and legendary music producer Tabu Osusa says African Twist fits perfectly with his organisation’s goals of documenting the cultural heritage of East Africa.
“Having published Shades of Benga, an exhaustive book on the history of popular music in Kenya right from World War II, the play reemphasises cultural events that took place during the pre- and post-independence period.”
Jenetta Worrod, daughter of Charles Worrod, who lives in the UK and as a child growing up in 1960s Nairobi often visited her father at Equator Sounds Studios and interacted with some of the famous musicians, will be a special guest during the premiere of the African Twist. African Twist directed by Martin Kigondu runs at the Alliance Francaise, Nairobi, until January 26, 2025.
