Windhoek
Oft I have been wondering, as much as many music lovers, especially jazz enthusiasts, who are the foremost jazz frontrunners on the Namibian circuit, and when an where does one actually gets to be enticed, tickled and spoilt by them musically?
Not that one is and has been oblivious to the Boiler Room, the rendesvouz on jazz series on Monday nights where local jazz acts have been strutting their stuff. As much one has been aware of Jazz-etcetera that for some time now has been a lure for many an unsuspecting jazziests every Thursday night at the Hilton Hotel’s Kalabar. But this question was last Thursday answered when, braving the chilly breeze I scrapped courage together, jumped into my little good red friendly, a part of me for a good ten years now, a Hyndai Getzand, and off to the City centre. Of course the rendezvous was none other than the Kalabar.
The guest or should one say entertainment attraction of the night was the singer-poet Nesindano ‘Nunu’ Namises, a.k.a. the Truth. And there was no mistaking what an influence those she says have inspired her, the likes of Maya Angelou, the American author, poet, dancer, actress and singer; Nigerian poet and author Chinua Achebe; and singers, songwriters Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill and –of course Brenda Fassie, must have had on her. And her stage name, Truth comes true to her and her artistic self because, if anything, what comes out of her renditions is her truthfulness, straightforwardness and forthrigthness as she reflects on the goings around her and her environs. To her, the name Truth, one can just as well add many adjectives like deep-rooted, no-nonsense to let her poetic musical artistry speak loud and clear about anything amiss in society. And such her “I speak my mind attitude” could not have been more vociferous and candid, albeit entertainingly and artistically so with the song, I come from women, that says it all, that she is a woman, comes from women and nothing will change it, take it or leave it!
Starting with Put your lips (where my mouth is) she slowly eased her way through the hearts and minds of the small, chilled but appreciative audience with varying renditions like That kind love and Love which self-evidently is about love albeit a critique of it, to a Bob Medley taking the audience through a medley of Bob Marley with songs such as Waiting in Vain and Stir it up to some songs in the Damara-Nama vernacular, #Nu /guas. Despite her discernible cosmopolitan essence, something which seems somehow to have left a heavy influence on her mother tongue, Damara-Nama, but in which she is so proud to sing and jazz-rap, it was obvious that her umbilical cord with her mother tongue is very much unbroken. As much as her cultural roots, something which comes out strongly in some of her songs-poetries earning her the other accolade of an “artivist” as Nunu combines styles reminiscent of those that inspire her and, in the process, she is fast discovering and manifesting herself.
With Energy, countless, Sobo, Valerie (By Amy wine house), American Boy (Tracy Chapman) and What are you gonna do about me (Richie Havens) she kept the winter blues away from the Kalabar, and the audience inspired, conscientise and entertained. Rounding off Nunu’s poetic and musical giftedness, is Christian Polloni, an excellent guitarist, who compliments and drives her poetic style. As experienced composer, producer and arranger Polloni has the rare gift to elevate a raw melody or a rough musical concept to a higher level of live performance and studio recording. This was unmistakable in what Nunu was able to deliver. And with such venues such as Kalabar opening their doors to Nunu and others, Ann Singer, Esme, Zenso, all of whom has of late been gracing the venue, you ain’t seen nothing yet about the Namibian musical scene. And Jazz-etcetera is just what many a musical socialites and lovers in Namibia may have been craving for. What are supposed to be chilly June winter Thursday nights, seem to be warming up into cosy jazzy Thursday nights at the Kalabar. As much as the backbone of her singing is jazz, it is jazz poetically styled on different genres, traditional, reggae, RnB, soul, you name it. And that’s put Nunu in a league of her own. Surely what else can one expect from a protégé of Maya Angelou, Chinua Achebe, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and – Brenda Fassie? A Maya Angelou, Chinua Achebe, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and – Brenda Fassie, all rolled into one and rounded off with the guitar finesse and producing genius of a Christian Polloni into an act known as Blend, as the duo is known.