Joseph Kamaru
Heavy Combination 1966–2007
Disciples
Joseph Kamaru (1939–2018) was a major musical force in Kenya for over 50 years. In that time, he experimented with folk based songs, bass heavy funk, singing high-life guitar workouts, and drum-machine driven disco tracks. For all his fame in his home country, Kamaru was a virtual unknown outside of East Africa. After his death, Kamaru’s musician grandson, KMRU, began digitizing his grandfather’s old cassettes and posting them to Bandcamp to keep his memory alive. The people at Disciples Records discovered Kamaru’s work on Bandcamp and felt the rest of the world should hear this music. Together with KMRU, they assembled this collection of 17 songs spanning Joseph Kamaru’s career.
Kamaru’s music dealt with social and political issues. He wrote songs in praise of politicians when he thought they were doing a good job and was critical when they weren’t doing so well. He was embraced and scorned by the Kenyan political class depending on how well they lined up with each other. Many of his songs were based on Kikuyu folk songs that offered life lessons and advice. He also put out “adult only” tapes. At the tail end of his career, Kamaru turned to Gospel music and refused to play his secular tunes.
Stylistically, Kamaru was a master of Kenyan Benga music. The songs have a driving rhythmic bed with call-and-response vocals over the top. “Kenya Kũrũngara” opens the set with a guitar-driven, almost punky rhythm and plaintive vocals. On “Kwandĩkwo Ti Gũciarwo,” a High Life style lead guitar is complemented by a funky bass line. “Wa Mwene Nĩ Ũmwe” is what I imagine a Kikuyu campfire singalong might sound like. Many of the songs are sung in the Kikuyu language.
Heavy Combination 1966–2007 serves as good introduction to Joseph Kamaru’s music. It showcases the range of the man’s output. The Bandcamp page has over 50 cassettes digitized and awaiting discovery by a new generation of music fans, in Kenya and beyond.
