ArtistInfo

Donald Kachamba

b, dr, bj, *1955
Composer of World, Jazz and Folk

Donald Kachamba is a musician-composer from Malawi. He was born in 1955 in the area of Blantyre/Limbe in the Shire Highlands. His relatives possess some land and small houses in the village of Chief Singano, only about 1 mile from Malawi's International Airport at Chileka. With his elder brother Daniel, under whose patronage he stood in his childhood, he spent part of his early youth in Salisbury (Zimbabwe), where the family lived from 1957 to 1961. There ha and his elder brother hat their first contact with the popular musical tradition of the time, especially Kwela or "pennywhistle jive" and various styles of guitar music. As a six year old boy he began to play the Kwela metal flute. In 1970/71 he played guitar, banjo and flute in a group of his own which he had formed with his friend Josefe Bulahamu, They mainly played for occassional dance parties at Lundu in the area of Matope Mission at Shire river, north of Blantyre. The music they played there maybe considered the early beginning of the work presented by Donald Kachamba on the present record. In 1972 he toured East Africa and Europe for the first time in the Band of his brother. Under the name Kachamba Brothers the group was heard at the 4th International Music Forum in Viktring (Austria) and in various cities of W. Germany in 1972. A long.playing record was published by the Institute of Ethnology of the University of Vienna same year. Since 1973 Donald has performed Simanje-manje and Kwela on concert and lecture performance tours in no lose than 14 countries of Africa, in South America (Brazil and Venezuela) and in many countries of Europe. He has received International recognition as one of the finest performers on the Kwela flute.

Instruments

• Bass
• Drums
• Banjo
• Flute
• Guitar

Genres

• World
• Jazz
• Folk

Plays With