allAfrica.com: Kenya: Young Musician Strives to Be the Next Benga King (Page 1 of 2)

Aluoch Jamaranda's name was synonymous with benga artiste Okach Biggy's band before the latter died in the mid-1990s.

But the voice which defined the music of the Heka Heka band still reverberates in Kisumu town's dance halls, only this time Jamaranda is striving to be his own man, and not staying in Biggy's shadow.

The Heka Heka members went their separate ways, including joining budding benga artiste Dolla Kabarry. Among the leading lights that formed the original band and have quit are Kabbary (Super Haki Haki), Oginga wuod Awasi (Super Rainbow) and Jerry Jalamo (Extra Haki Haki).

Jamaranda whose real name is Isaac Aluoch Owuor, now the leader of Malo Malo Kings, has recorded several albums and most of his songs are on personalities, mostly politicians. His hits rocking clubs in Kisumu and the other major towns include Diana Lady, Okulo Manpower and Malo malo.

The fight to find the undisputed benga king after the death of Kollelah Mazee, Owino Misiani, Okach Biggy and Ochieng' Kabaselleh looks headed in Jamaranda's favour, and he believes he fits the bill.

As a young boy he enjoyed listening to the Congolese maestro Franco's music, and he has lived to see his dream of singing like him come true. Other musicians who inspired him to chart his path to success in the music career include Dr Kollelah and Awino Lawi.

Born in 1971 at Maranda in Bondo district, Jamaranda dropped out of school in Form Two due to lack of fees following the death of his mother. He and three colleagues then joined forces to form the Yala Boys band in 1989. However, as young musicians they were confronted with problems due to lack of funds. But Jamaranda found solace in curtain-raising for more seasoned musicians.

But he was determined to make it in music, and in this his mother was a great source of inspiration even before be left school. She believed that one could easily reconcile music with education.

"After primary school my mother encouraged me to pursue both my studies and music, and I immediately joined Boys' Band," says Jamaranda.

The band did its best, but its major undoing was lack of promotion since there were no bars or restaurants where the group could stage live shows. So Jamaranda dabbled in selling second-hand shoes as he strove to boost his music career.

In 1995, Lady Luck smiled on him when he participated as a curtain-raiser for Biggy as he staged a live show in Bondo. Biggy offered him a job as a soloist in his Heka Heka band. Jamaranda recalls that his life drastically changed as his boss helped him to do promotions. It is with the band that he released his favourite song, Malo Malo.

While still at Heka Heka, he and the group were helped by Biggy to produce their own songs. The group soon changed its name to Heka Heka B.

Among other songs Jamaranda released are Jaber Nyar Alego and Nyaseme Nyako both songs in praise of girls who were careful with their lives, and Pesa Oketho Piny - a warning to people who love money that in the long run they would land in problems.

When he gained fame in 2000 with the release of the album, Malo Malo, which comprises five songs, he broke away from the band and formed Malo Malo Kings in 2001. The band, he says, has 11 members and three dancers and has released three CDs - Diana, Rose Maua and Nyako Tang'ni Dendi, which warns women to be careful with their bodies.

He is now set to release the fourth album known as Herina Nyar Dhimo, which he will officially launch at Deep West, Nairobi, on November 1.

Jamaranda says he sings also about love and HIV/Aids. He stages live shows at Junction Inn of Mamboleo, Kisumu, every evening.

The road to his success in the music career has not been straight and smooth; it was sometimes rough and tortuous owing the high cost of doing a CD.

"There are a lot of expenses incurred for one to release a CD," he says.

"No artist can do a good album for less that Sh100,000, and this is why several upcoming artistes release only singles and then go underground," says Jamaranda.

The band, which includes his two brothers, has visited Kenya's major towns to market its music, and Jamaranda stresses that it is through promotions that artistes will sell their works. "We have travelled to Mombasa, Kakamega and Nairobi, and so far our music is well known," he says. "But piracy is killing us."

Recently, the group toured Mombasa and staged live performances at various hotels and, he says, the reception was encouraging.

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