Kalimba Band’s 40th anniversary celebration dinner, which was slated for next month, has been shifted to September 2 2023.
The band’s current leader Vita Chirwa, who is also Musicians Union of Malawi (Mum) President, confirmed the development Monday.
He said the gala dinner, to be held at Sunbird Capital in Lilongwe, has been shifted to September to give more room for preparations as well as give people some surprises ahead of the main event.
Chirwa has since said he will release two new singles ahead of the book launch and anniversary gala dinner.
“We are going in the right direction as regards preparations. I have two brand new singles, both audio and visual. The first single, titled ‘Amwene’, will be released on Wednesday while the second one titled ‘Aise’ will be released two weeks later,” he said.
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Chirwa said both singles will form part of the 40th anniversary compilation CD featuring Kalimba’s defining songs from 1983 to 2023, which will be available for sale at the book launch and celebration dinner.
“‘Amwene’ is a remake of an old Mitochi Brothers Yao song while ‘Aise’ is my own composition,” he said.
It is now 40 years since Kalimba Band’s ‘Sometimes I Wonder’ hit off the album Make Friends With the World was released in 1983 and Chirwa, has authored Sometimes I Wonder book.
“The venue remains Sunbird Capital owing to the strong historical connection between Kalimba and the hotel. As you may recall, Kalimba was formed specifically to become Capital Hotel’s resident band. Before the hotel opened its doors in 1976, they advertised in The Daily Times that they were searching for a musical group to entertain their valued guests,” he said.
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Chirwa further said Nassau Mkukupha quickly assembled a team of young and talented musicians, including Griffin Mhango, Francis Chintembo and others to form Kalimba.
“Over the years, both the hotel and the band grew in prominence, with Capital Hotel playing host to both local and international guests, as Kalimba eventually achieved worldwide fame in 1983 following the release of their landmark album Make Friends with The World, recorded in South Africa,”
“Sometimes I Wonder’ was famous all over the world and made it to international charts, becoming the first Malawian song to achieve this feat. This is a story that needed to be told and be preserved, hence bringing this book,” he said.
In another development, Gibo Pearson has dropped a new track titled ‘Go Konko’, in which he has featured Phungu Joseph Nkasa.
