An injustice against a Kenyan soul-funk band more than 50 years ago is being remedied through the digital release of the two groundbreaking albums recorded by the group.
The Mighty Cavaliers released two classic albums, Fisherman in 1976 and Mapendo a year later but the musicians were never acknowledged by the record company.
In 2022, African music collector Dennis Krailing, owner of the German label Want Some Records, bought a collection of albums from Kenya that included a copy of Mapendo. “Naturally, the cover artwork immediately caught my eye,” Krailing told BDLife.
“When I listened to it for the first time, I thought, “I have never heard anything quite like this from Kenya before.” There was no question that I would keep the record instead of selling it – but the thought remained, “How can I share this incredible music with others?”
With his friend Samy Ben Redjeb's encouragement, founder of the Frankfurt-based label Analog Africa, Krailing undertook to release not just Mapendo, but also its predecessor, Fisherman.
Bassist Bonny Wanda, one of three surviving members of the band, says the reissue of the albums is about honouring a group of musicians who were then in their early 20s and were purely motivated by their passion for the music.
“As most of my fellow musicians were young and gullible, we could easily be fooled by them,” explains Bonny, who lives in London, UK. “We were focused on making new and innovative music, and paid too little attention to the business side of things.”
At the time, musicians in Kenya, were offered the choice of receiving a one-off payment for their studio recording sessions or waiting for royalties, for which they had to be registered with the Music Copyright Society of Kenya.
Krailing discovered that the copyright for both albums was registered under the name of Daudi Kabaka, and therefore, he had to obtain a licence from his son, heir to the legendary Kenyan musician.
Apparently, two years after the original release of Fisherman, it was reissued by a French label with a picture of Kabaka on the sleeve, who was named as the writer of all the songs. Worse was to come for the Mighty Cavaliers on their next project.
The recording of Mapendo was financed by Englishman Siegfried Aron, who owned the Zambezi Motel (the building that later became the PCEA Training School, Kikuyu), where the Mighty Cavaliers played occasionally when they were not at their regular haunt, the iconic Starlight Club. When the album was released, to the horror of the band, their names were missing from the record.
Disillusioned, the Mighty Cavaliers disbanded, with each member pursuing other interests.
Five decades later, Want Some Records has remastered and re-released these two discs, giving due credit to all the rightful musicians.
Besides Bonny, the other members of the Mighty Cavaliers were vocalists Rashid Salim and Juma “Bazwaley” Njuguna, guitarists George “Fox” Otieno, Athmani “Guitar Boy”, and Elijah Tallian, and keyboardist Eddie Rimber. The saxophonists were Albert Tsuma and Vuli Yeni, and the drummer Mohamed Mdowe.
The group’s inspiration came from the original Cavaliers, a band that was fronted by musician and actor Joe Omari. Incidentally, Omari was manager of the Starlight Club when the Mighty Cavaliers were engaged as the resident band when it was located where the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters sits today.
They were among the bands that benefited from the patronage of the late politician J.M. Kariuki, a regular at the Starlight Club, who offered financial support to some musicians of that generation.
Incidentally, Bonny wrote the soulful Fisherman, a cryptic reference to politicians who failed to deliver on their promises, a pretty bold statement to make at a time when any murmuring of dissent was crashed.
The album’s standout track is Dunia Ina Mambo, a funky groove full of catchy horns and irresistible guitar riffs, which is still widely played and was even given an electro-hip-hop makeover by the group Just a Band in 2012.
Also noteworthy is the title track of the album, Mapendo, written by lead singer Rashid, an infectious fusion of soul with elements of rumba, a sparkling guitar arrangement, and, the signature horn section and Mambo Bado, a distinct Fela Kuti-inspired arrangement
The songs are also a reflection of the socio-political era in which they were recorded, such as Bonny’s Barua Ya Soweto, a protest against the apartheid regime in South Africa, inspired by saxophonist Vuli Yeni, a refugee from South Africa who had grown up in Tanzania.
Vuli himself wrote the bluesy Mama Come Home - about longing to see his mother again in a liberated South Africa. (In the 1990s, Vuli spent five years as a member of Lucky Dube’s band (The Slaves). Lead vocalist Rashid penned Africa Tuungane, a call on Kenyan youth to rally with all the forces fighting for the liberation of all African countries.
The two albums by the Mighty Cavaliers will have pride of place during the Mega Record & CD Fair in Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, from November 14 to 16, 2025, an event celebrating African records, reissued classics, and new releases.
