Tabu Osusa Explained

Tabu Osusa
Birth Name:Tabu Osusa
Birth Date:21 July 1954
Birth Place:Mirogi, Nyanza Province, Kenya
Genre:Funk, Benga music, African Music
Occupation:Record producer
Years Active:1974–present
Label:Ketebul Music

Tabu Osusa (born 21 July 1954) is a Kenyan author and music producer, and the founder of Ketebul Music.[1] [2]

Career

In 1974 Osusa decided to travel the DRC then Zaire, settling in Barumbu Kinshasa where he was first introduced to music by the Kenyan saxophonist Ben Nicholas. Osusa returned to Kenya in 1977 and briefly joined the band Les Kinois. Since then, Osusa has been a composer, recording artist, songwriter, promoter, band manager and producer.

In 2007, Tabu Osusa founded Ketebul Music. He is the acting director of the organisation, assisted by some people with varied knowledge and skills in the wider field of arts and culture. The chairman of Ketebul Music is the kenyan cartoonist Maddo.

In 2014, Tabu Osusa with Ketebul Music was appointed by the Smithsonian Folkways to select artists and co-produce the albums African Rhythms: Songs from Kenya[3]

Tabu Osusa was the lead author of Shades of Benga: The Story of Popular Music In Kenya 1946-2016. The book published in August 2017 traces the origins of Kenya's popular music to the end of the Second World War to date.[4] [5]

In 2016 he was nominated Five Music Rights Champion by the International Music Council[6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Meet the team from Ketebul Music - Singing Wells. www.singingwells.org.
  2. Web site: East Africans 'unfit' for hall of fame.
  3. Web site: Music of Kenya from Smithsonian Folkways and Ketebul Music - Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
  4. Web site: Shades of Benga - Music Time in Africa .
  5. Web site: Shades of Benga Photo Exhibition, Concert & Book Activation . allevents.in.
  6. Web site: Dame Evelyn Glennie, Ramy Essam and Tabu Osusa nominated IMC Five Music Rights Champions. International Music Council.