IT was down memory lane as Tshala Mwana, the Congolese music queen of the Mutuashi style and her Mamou Nationale Band staged a come-back show at Hotel Africana on Thursday.
Tshala Mwana, who performed at a largely private function at the invitation of the Congolese ambassador, Jean Charles Lokoto Lulakombe, was a far cry from the gyrating queen of mutuashi dance, who last graced the Ugandan stage in 1996. She was less active, taking intermittent breaks and letting her band and lead songstress, Marie Jose, take over the two-hour performance.
There was no vigour and vitality in her gyrations. Even when she tried hard to shake, you could tell her heart was willing, but her body could not follow.
You understood it when Tshala Mwana, a former MP of Kasai Ocidental region under Desire Kabila (RIP) and currently presidential adviser on cultural arts under Joseph Kabila, largely had political undertones in her songs.
In one song, Mirembe Gyokka, done in halting Luganda, she sang: “Nawulira Mu Uganda temuli mirembe naye kati mirembe gyokka, Wangala Museveni. (I used to hear Uganda isn’t peaceful but it is now full of peace. Long Live Museveni).
However, do not be fooled, Tshala Mwana is an ageless beauty with that rare combo of grace, style and loads of talent.
A mellow Tshala Mwana performance
