Launch of Ushuhuda Tosha

One of those rare photos

 You see such a picture and you think that those must be guys from a corporate organization holding their team building drills and getting entertained by the nigga in comical clothing(call him 2Mbili)? Well, you need to think again. Those guys up there are just students. Mere students. Students surviving on HELB and 'wanasoma masomo magumu kuliko mawe' but nevertheless, they still find time to congregate and sing. Sing to God till their voices are hoarse.

Okay, let me go to the details. 

Do you have your diary at the ready. No? Ooh, you are a man and men do not keep diaries, you say. Ok, do this, take your phone or calendar and mark out the 19^th of October. Mark it in red please. Kindly make it bold. If possible in indelible ink. On that D-day, I will take you to a tour. A tour to Nairobi. And I will not take you to those gloomy parliamentary academic trips that your primary school teacher used to. No, I am older than that now. And you are too old for it too, aren’t you?

Well, on that big day, I will take you to the place where St. Cecilia, the matron saint of choir singing (do you really know her?) lives. I will show you where she resides. In other words, I will show you the place where songs are made in. You told me that when you hear me humming to a Catholic song, you get drifted by the enthusiasm that I do it with, didn’t you? You also were wondering why this blog was at one time named as ‘Squirrel in the Choir’, didn’t you? 

Well, all these answers will come to light on the 19^th October. Now to stop beating about the bush, I will take you to St. Paul’s Catholic University chapel to see The Choir. That was the place where I learnt to sing and to write about The Choir. Not because I am much of a music enthusiast, no, it was the passion, the zeal that this choir sang with that blew me off my feet (I always wanted to use that phrase).

The choristers have a launch of a new album; Ushuhuda Tosha. You do not want to miss this. You may have missed seeing me at the choir singing while I was still in my college heydays. You may have missed seeing me croaking and singing my soprano voice hoarse. You may have missed seeing Mumo rattle the kayamba as though it was a mtungi of some brew. You may have missed seeing John Kimani doing some theatrics in the name of choir conducting. But you dare not miss this. You dare not miss this pivotal occurrence that is simply E…P…I…C. This occasion will undoubtedly change your life. Attending it will be like looking at the sun directly during a solar eclipse; your life will never be the same again.

From the rumors I have heard, this will be an auspicious occasion. Everything on the big day will be at full swing, fast and furious. Bigwigs, dignitaries and hustlers will grace the occasion. You know Anthony Mureithi, the guy who always says that he is a Quality Analyst with Safaricom, he will be there with all the Quality Analysis he does at Safaricom behind him. You know Kenani, that guy who started beating drums when he was only six, he will be there with all the drumming and choir mastery trailing behind him. You know Munywoki, the guy who designed the St Paul’s student choir website, he will be there with his technical spectacles amazing everybody at their ingenuity.  You know Gitau, the guy who studies at Amherst and was once the Choir chairman, well, I do not know whether he will be there( lakini maybe atatumana). 

Amon: The Engineer currently holding The Choir Fort

You listen to the Ushuhuda Tosha albums and wonder how ingenious the composer was. You listen to it more keenly and will be amazed at how the choristers can blend with their basses, sopranos, altos and tenors all producing a plaintive tune. The Ushuhuda song in particular teaches you too be thankful. To be grateful for everything that happens in your life “ninapolala pia ninaamka huo wote ni ushuhuda tosha”.

Another song in this album is Ee Mungu Wangu. That was my favourite song when I was in the University. I liked the message and mostly the chorus. I would always wait for others to sing the lyrics to the stanzas and then fall in the chorus and shout the most. Anyway, I do not feel bad about this now. On 19^th, the St Paul’s students choir will teach me all the lyrics of the song, won’t you Amon? 

The shooting of the video was spectacular. I hear the guy who was hired to shoot is one of a kind. The kind of guy who shoots a video and all you do is admiringly ogle at it and whistle in awe.The kind of guy who beats you a photo and you do not feel lots of pain. No, you just blush .The choristers on the other hand danced ecstatically because this was a lifetime opportunity. You see, when you join the St. Paul’s choir, you stand a chance to appear in a DVD that will undoubtedly find its way to your shagz. So to optimize on your frequency on that photographer’s camera, you make sure that you dance your best. If that is not enough, make sure that you block others from the camera’s view by shoving them aside or standing in front of them anytime the camera seems to like their legs. The people at shagz need to see you, remember. They need to see your legs. They need to see you shove that  other guy away. So the photographer’s camera is like your savior. You have to woo it with the best movement of legs, shoulders, finger nails, hair, ….everything till it ‘enters your box’ and produces a good image of you at home.

These are not politicians. They are the men of The Choir

Let us meet on that Sunday. Time is from 2.40 pm