John Mwale was a Kenyan guitarist highly influenced by George Mukabi. He was born in 1925 in Western Kenya and was recording for the Nairobi-based Capitol Music Stores (CMS) label in the 1950s. The two business partners who owned CMS had a falling out and one then set up the competing label African Gramophone Store (AGS), which we see here.
AGS was producing 78 rpm records well into the 1960s – and this record is likely from the early 1960s, but unfortunately I have no exact recording date.
This disc was quite beat and has a particularly rough start – the noise floor seems to get progressively worse as the song progresses. Despite that – I hope you enjoy this lovely performance that stands out despite the shortcomings of the medium it is preserved into.
Released as AGS 763
Recorded in Nairobi, Kenya in the 1960s.
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