Jai Banda, the entertainment addict

Close to three decades Jai Banda has made headlines in Malawi's entertainment cycles. Very few know that he is a lawyer.

I started hearing radio adverts going as 'I am not a doctor, I am not a soldier, I am not a lawyer, I am just an entertainer' back in the days when Bright Nkhata and Makasu Band were hogging the spotlight in this country.

We might fault his touting the wattage of his equipment, the style of his organisation or argue that his most hyped best lighting system adds nothing to the music shows that he promotes. One thing we cannot look down upon is the fact that the country's entertainment industry owes him a lot.

There was a time that Jai never took my criticism kindly. Someone had organised a choir festival where over 30 performers were expected to perform from 7am to 7pm.

I was not reluctant to talk about the music equipment owned by ‘Mr. Entertainer’ himself.

My argument then was that equipment is like human beings when it comes to getting tired. Equipment cannot perform at its full capacity for six non-stop hours without showing some fatigue.

Main instruments that project quality output are supposed to come with substitutes. I had observed during this particular show that at around 6pm when 

The Ndirande Anglican Voices were taking to the stage, the equipment had lost their sharpness and was sounding hoarse and tired. The performance had to be stopped briefly.

The next day Jai extend an invitation to me to go and appreciate how much he can afford all what I had talked about.

Basically I brought this aspect just to show you how passionate Jai is to music. 

You cannot be doubting his love for the industry when you consider the list that he has been involved with having grown up within the neighbourhood that legendary Oliver Mtukudzi lived In Zimbabwe.

Just to mention but a few Jai has worked with States Samangaya and Police Orchestra, Ethel Kamwendo Banda, Ben Michael, MBC Band, Evison Matafale, Billy Kaunda, Lucius Banda. He continues to work with the Black Missionaries and all the modern great.

Having sacrificed his time to the local industry at the expense of his family, Jai decided not to just surrender and leave the stage as he concedes that years of sleepless nights are now catching up with him and he can now feel it all through.

He has decided to give the entertainment industry his own son Tonderai to take it from where he would have left off. Ever since Tonderai started I have continuously seen Jai still taking charge. It clearly shows as there might not be much take home rewards, it is very clear that his addiction to the entertainment industry is more of a blessing that it is supposed to be otherwise.

I once commented about John Nthakomwa of the Mibawa Entertainment that he is one investor that the Malawi music industry desires his replication.

Within a short time yes Nthakomwa has invested immensely in the industry. Jai's contributions might not be seen in the same light as what Mibawa has achieved in a very short period of time.

More of what Jai has achieved cannot be measured. It cannot be touched. It cannot be compared. He has done great to the industry at the time when no one ever took a serious thought about the entertainment industry.

He emerged at the time when people used to associate it with Chamba smokers. The musicians at the time were only called when it suited the corporate world. Once their end was achieved the musicians could be dumped and they cared less what their lives would turn out to be until the next time when their services would be required again.

For Jai, he has always been the all-weather friend to the industry and for that this the column makes him the inaugural recipient of its life time achiever award.

Musical Competitions - No defined future

 On Valentine’s Day this year Mibawa Entertainment Limited TV announced what they called a ‘grassroots music competition for the youth’. The Prize for winners: A DVD and audio recording deal.

From the onset I have to disabuse any hostile critics of any preconceived ill intentions – that I hold against this initiative – as I know I am allowed to have misgivings of its effectiveness.

I have high respect for John Nthakomwa one investor that the Malawi music industry has immensely benefited from ever since he came up with Mibawa.

My biggest problem is that these competitions are mere marketing gimmicks that are staged to hoodwink unsuspecting youthful prospective musical artists.They 'gullibly' think time is nigh for them to command the stage once such competitions are announced, which proves to the contrary.

Competitions that I remember to have ever took place in the country include Kuche Kuche/Malawi Gin Music Award, Chibuku Road to Fame competition, Sunbird ‘Search for a Star’ and Airtel Music Competition, to mention but a few.

Going by what actually happened to those that won such competitions one is left with a bad aftertaste as the face of exploitation is more prominent where the end justifies the means. None can point me to one that has graduated from these competitions and are now riding high, musically.

In September 2014 Airtel mobile company started its Music Competition where the winner carted home a whopping K14 million by our musical standards.

From the onset, what I discovered was that the devil was in the methodology used, as for subscribers to join all they did was to call the Airtel Trace Stars number and sing through the phone while the machine at the other end will be recording.

Once done, voila! The winner emerges and takes home the opportunities as stated above.

Around the same period that Airtel was launching their competition I was privileged to be one of the judges at Chibuku Road to Fame competition where twelve bands from the Northern, Central, Eastern and Southern regions competed for the grand prize of K1 million, plus a K400, 000 recording deal, as well as a trip to the regional Chibuku Road to Fame in Botswana.

There used to be E-Wallet as well, aimed at searching for music stars, around 2013-2014 was called Sunbird ‘Search for a Star’ and aped the South African and US Pop Idols, although without being a complete replica when it came to what accrues for the competitors.

Look, the American Idols, for example, since it began airing on Fox on June 11, 2002, has not only become one of the most successful shows in the history of American television, but has also spawned 345 Billboard chart-toppers besides producing what have become top international stars like Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Fantasia, Ruben Studdard, Jennifer Hudson, Clay Aiken, Adam Lambert and Jordin Sparks.

Of course, the South African idols has its fair share of controversies through the television show on the South African television network, M-Net, as until its eighth season the contest only determined the white competitors as best young singers in South Africa until KhayaMthethwa became its first black winner, ending the dominance of racial minorities.

The good news is that Mthethwa took home a prize package worth almost R1m, including a recording contract with Universal Music, South Africa.

The Sunbird ‘Search for a Star’, other than the marketing ploy that it is, was but a mockery of the ‘stars’.

Adrian Kwelepeta fast comes to mind. He won the 2013 season and it took forever to release an album because he was looking for resources.

Apart from promoting the Sunbird brand, the country’s search for a star really also needed to ensure that the stars are not just fading.

The initiative for competitions is commendable because it is the best when it comes to isolating the talented from the crowd. My opinion however is that there is need to take a mile further by finding the winners institutions that should train them to become professional musicians as a form of perpetuating their careers.

At the current trend, it is all clear that these youths, who are hungry for fame and swayed by the belief that what their vocal cords can project is sweet sound that can stand the musical test, will remain being used as pawns in this marketing promotion game.

The flowing of benefits in the end create a disharmony of sorts as it is one-sided, flowing at the promotion of the corporate firms without trickling down to those players that make the whole event matter.    

Adrian pocketed a K500, 000 prize money but where did it take him to if for a year he had to hunt for resources to record an album?

But where is the talent that E-wallet unveiled? Where are the Sunbird ‘stars’ that were ‘searched’ and ‘found’ through the events and what will happen to the Mibawa winners if it is not only meant to popularize it?

My fear is that such competitions only make business sense but nothing for the music industry and its players.