There are people who believe that the last month of the year tends to be characterized by many shocking tragedies; it seems this is, in some way, true in the community of Tanzanian musicians. Here are some of the tragedies that befell some Tanzanian musicians in December. Let us go back to the night of December 12, 2010. That was the night, Ramadhani Mtoro Ongala, a famous musician better known as Dr Remmy Ongala, died. Dr Remmy died at the Regency Hospital in Dar Es Salaam.
Dr Remmy came to Tanzania from Congo, and he joined he Orchestra Makassy band, a band led by Mzee Makassy, whom Remmy used to identify as his uncle. After some time, Remmy left Orchestra Makassy and joined the Super Matimila Band that was based in Songea town, in the southern part of Tanzania. He again rejoined Orchestra Makassy, and at the time, I was lucky to be one of the musicians in Orchestra Makassy, and on the lineup of that great band, there was also the great late Mosese Fan Fan. A short period later, Dr Remmy again returned to Super Matimila Band and was the band leader for a long time, playing a style he called the Bongo Beat. Eventually, Remmy parted ways with the dance music scene and turned to gospel music. Dr Remmy was buried on Thursday, 16th December 2010, in the Sinza cemetery, not far from an area named after him, ‘Sinza kwa Remmy’. .
Just two days after Dr Remmy’s funeral, Abou Semhando, the musician who rode the motorcycle that led Remmy Ongala’s funeral motorcade, had a fatal accident. He was hit from behind by a car while riding his motorcycle on his way home, after a gig that Saturday, 18 December 2010.
Abou Semuhando, known to his fans and friends as Lokasa or Baba Diana, was a veteran drummer. There was a time he was a member of Super Matimila Band with Remmy Ongala. Abou had played drums in other bands, including Sola TV Band, Vijana Jazz Band and The Diamond Sound Group before joining the African Stars Band, his last band. Abou was buried in Kibanda, Muheza District, his home village. To add to this sadness to the day, Abou died on the day his eldest daughter was to be married.
Another December death occurred at dawn on 28 December 2011, at the Marie Stoppes Mwenge hospital in Dar es Salaam. The talented bass guitarist Andisye Swebe, better known as Andy Swebe, suffered from an asthma attack at night, and he was rushed to the hospital but died in the early hours of the morning.
Andy learnt how to play the guitar from David Mussa, the leader of the Safari Trippers Band. He then played for a short time in a small band called Oshekas. He then went to Morogoro, where he was employed in a leather factory. One day Orchestra Makassy went to perform in Morogoro, and Andy was invited on stage to jam a bit. Mzee Makassy was so pleased
with his playing that he asked him to join the band, which was the beginning of
Andy’s long journey in music, later he moved to Lovy Longomba’s Afriso Ngoma
Band, which had at that time great musicians like Kassim Mponda, Raymond
Thomas, Seif Lengwe, Sololo wa Imani, John Maida, Ramadhani Kinguti, Kalamazoo
and others. Later, he joined the MK Group Band. He left the MK Group Band and moved to Bicco Stars. The music journey continued when he and the saxophonist, the late Mafumu Bilali, launched their own band and called it the African Beats Band. They had problems with the name of the band, and the band collapsed. Andy moved to the Kilimanjaro Connection band under Kanku Kelly, and together they toured several countries for several years with this band.
Andy left the Kilimanjaro Connection and became a freelance musician till his death. Andy and I had actually begun thinking of coming up with our own band just days before his untimely death.
Another December death occurred on December 15, 2014. The composer, singer, and lead guitarist Shem Karenga passed away. Shem died at Amana Hospital and was buried at Kisutu Cemetery. Shem had been a member of several bands in his life. He started as a bass guitarist playing with the Lake Tanganyika Jazz of Kigoma, and moved to the Tabora Jazz Band, where he began playing the lead guitar and composed hits like Dada Asha, which were later re-recorded by the Soukos Stars. Shem moved to Dar Es Salaam and joined the MK Group Band and later the MK Beats Bands, and later moved to Tabora Jazz Stars, his last band.
Let me end this article by remembering the musician whom fans of the Orchestra Maquis du Zaire and Orchestra Maquis Original knew by his stage name ‘Mzee Chekecha’. His official name was Mwema Mudjanga, he was the band’s trumpeter, but he had a swagger that eventually gave him the name Mzee Chekecha, he was also one of the directors of Orchestra Maquis du Zaire Company (OMACO), and he died on December 6, 2013, at Amana hospital and was buried in Magomeni Kagera cemetery.
