Artista destacado: Keturah

Desde el cálido corazón de Malawi, África, surge Keturah, una virtuosa de 26 años que llega al escenario mundial con su álbum debut homónimo, una odisea de 10 canciones que narra el viaje de Keturah desde su pequeña y remota aldea de Monza hasta las costas de Venice, California.

Nunca habiendo puesto un pie en un avión, ni mucho menos salir de Malawi, el viaje de 30 horas de Keturah resultó ser un gran salto adelante en el viaje de un artista que comenzó a pie.

Khalidwe- Keturah ft Giddes Chalamanda

¡Conoce la historia del viaje musical de Keturah desde el inicio!

Keturah se dio cuenta por primera vez de su potencial musical cuando era niña, mientras caminaba por su aldea en Malawi, África, junto con su tío. Él tocaba la guitarra y cantaba baladas mientras ella observaba y escuchaba hasta ganar la confianza para unirse con sus propias melodías.

Comenzó a formar una conexión con su comunidad que había sido esquiva durante mucho tiempo, ya que de niña, en su mayoría guardaba sus talentos para sí misma, a menudo sintiéndose más como una anciana que como una niña en su grupo de compañeros.

Encontró consuelo en sus pensamientos o en los recuerdos de su madre, quien a menudo la sentaba para compartir su sabiduría contándole historias. Las dos eran mejores amigas hasta que su madre falleció cuando Keturah tenía solo 13 años. Habiendo perdido ya a su tío, Keturah recurrió a la música como una forma de llevar adelante la tradición de su familia sobre contar historias y hacer música.

Achisale- Keturah

Determinada a llegar a una audiencia más amplia, Keturah se puso en marcha, esta vez hacia Blantyre, la segunda ciudad más grande de Malawi, donde esperaba encontrar un estudio de grabación. Conoció a un productor local que quedó tan impresionado por su voz que se ofreció a grabarla de forma gratuita. Keturah grabó una canción que finalmente llegó a la radio, lanzando su carrera musical con lanzamientos que empoderan a los oyentes para conectar su identidad malauí como una forma de darse cuenta de su propio poder. La actitud resonó y Keturah ganó el apodo de "Chica Local" mientras ascendía al estatus de celebridad de Malawi.

Pronto, su talento llamó la atención del cónsul honorario francés, Luc Deschamps, quien dirige la Fundación Jacaranda, una escuela malauí para huérfanos así como centro cultural.

Uno de los miembros de la familia Steinberger, colaboradores de la Escuela Jacaranda para Huérfanos, dijo: "Ella es un alma sabia y antigua con una voz y un talento que trascienden. Nuestro objetivo es hacer un álbum arraigado en la cultura musical de Malawi con algunos matices del sur de California".

Deschamps pronto reconoció su potencial y la conectó con Harlan Steinberger, un productor nominado al Grammy y director de Hen House Studios, un sello discográfico independiente y estudio de grabación que produce música de todo el mundo desde Venice, California.

La Fundación Jacaranda, junto con el gobierno francés, organizó que Keturah viajara a Los Ángeles y grabara en Hen House en julio de 2022. Ella llegó con notas que presentaban melodías bosquejadas sobre una guitarra lo-fi, dejando que Harlan moldeara las cosas a partir de ahí.

Como Playing For Change conoció a la “Chica Local”.

Harlan esperaba elevar los demos al convocar al cofundador de Playing For Change, Mark Johnson, rodeando a Keturah con un elenco de estrellas de Playing For Change, incluyendo a los miembros de la banda, Jason Tamba y Mermans Mosengo, el bajista Kaveh Rastegar (quien ha trabajado con músicos como John Legend y Bruno Mars), Magatte Sow (un baterista senegalés que apareció en la banda sonora de la película Black Panther), el experimentado intérprete de kora Prince Diabaté, Mickey Raphael (el armonicista de Willie Nelson), John Densmore en la batería (The Doors), el cantante de soul Chris Pierce, junto con la leyenda de la guitarra zimbabuense, Louis Mhlanga, y el joven pianista de Stones Throw, Jamael Dean.

En una entrevista con The Times Group Malawi Harlan comentó:

"Hemos tenido un ensayo de preproducción seguido de una sesión de grabación. Ha sido increíble. Keturah es una gran cantante y los músicos que he elegido para su banda son increíbles."

El álbum es una mezcla dinámica de géneros en idioma Zulú, desde los ritmos animados y alegres del Afro-folk-funk de "Kwanumkwanu", hasta las emotivas baladas de "Sukulu" y "Chimbalame", la inspirada en el Americana "Nchiwewe" y canciones más ligeras como "All The Way from Africa" y "Ku Nyumba". La excepcional composición musical y las poderosas vocales de Keturah son elevadas por una percusión intricada, melodías de guitarra, sutiles coros de fondo y cuernos, creando un álbum ecléctico que muestra su talento como cantautora africana lista para hacer un impacto global.

“It is the honor of my life for me and Playing For Change to be involved in Keturah’s new album. She has so much talent and brings so much light to the world”. - Mark Johnson

Afirika- Keturah

Check out Keturah’s interview in between the recording of her new album!

How do you feel after four days of recording?

Working, it’s very good. I’m a bit nervous about everything.

I overthink things sometimes

Yeah, me too, that's how I am. I always want to do something good, like perfect, so if someone asks me: Is this good? I feel like it’s not good enough; I always want to do more.

Are you happier being a perfectionist?

I feel like maybe I should accept it, but I think I should also accept that not everything can be perfect all the time.

So the concept of perfection in your eyes is different from other people?

You know, I’ve listened to other songs that were not mine and they sounded perfect. When I listened to these songs I was like: there is no mistake! Everything that it has is on point.

But perfection is not always good because when I listen to certain songs that I thought were perfect, I get bored because of the perfection. A song needs to be imperfect in order to be human.

Do you doubt yourself sometimes?

Yes, people tell me how good I am but I’m not convinced of myself.

Does it change when you have more fans?

I feel like having fans who like my work makes me want to be even more perfect for them. I think to myself: I’m good, I make good music that many people love and I have a good voice but sometimes I do doubt myself, it’s normal.

Was Kaveh singing helping you?

Well, he was very good and I liked how he tries to convince me that I’m good enough. He is a good teacher and if there were more people like him back home we would become even better.

There are not a lot of people as encouraging as that?

You know I’m not perfect. Everyone back home thinks that I already know everything and I’m perfect; they don’t try to encourage me or remark on my mistakes. They love music but think that I’m already good enough, even when I’m doubting myself. That’s why I like what Kaveh is doing, because he taught me that every moment you are recording, you have to be aware that everyone is watching you and you make a mistake, what can you do?

The show must go on…

Yeah, that's it! Mermans and Jason were also encouraging me and that really helped me a lot.

What you saw last night (ask what it was) inspired you?

Yeah, I loved everything about last night, the performances, the people, it was amazing.

I think I have to go in and record the other songs, they are also very cool, they are new songs and I’m ready for that.

Take a peek inside some of the stories shared about Keturah’s journey in the creation of her new album release.

Ku Nyumba

Inspired by a true story.

When I was staying in my home village, an old lady who used to visit me and always asked for help told me that she was living alone. I was concerned that she had no one to care for her or

stay at home.

“Where are your children?” I asked.

She said she had three adult children, one being a doctor and the other two, also

educated, stayed in Blantyre city.

“Why do you come and ask for help when you have children?” I asked, as she started crying.

“My children don’t come and see me because they think I am a witch and I will bring them

bad luck,” she said.

It hurt me to hear this, as a woman; that her children abandoned her like that. I couldn’t imagine how it felt to be isolated by your own kids or abandoning your own mother back in the village.

The song’s message is: Always remember where you came from, make sure your mother is doing well and go back home. Be a responsible person and never forget where you came from because your roots are the essence of who you are.

Mvula

I composed this song a long time ago, sitting under a tree when I was distressed thinking about my career. I was about to finish recording my first album. I had worked really hard and saved the little money I had to record in a studio, having two last songs to finish recording that day.

To my surprise, I heard that the producer had gone to South Africa and would not be coming back. I couldn’t even reach him on the phone and he took everything with him. I felt really depressed and decided to go for a walk. As I was walking, I found a tree and sat down while it rained.

That’s how I came up with this song that talks about people who had it hard in life, how every time they take a step ahead, something tries to push them back. The rain, I thought, represented those falls and how we sometimes end up at the same starting point.

Kwanumkwanu

There is this saying that goes:

However far the stream flows, it never forgets its source.

No matter where you go, home will always be the best.

I wrote this song because I’ve seen many people who go back to South Africa, for instance, only when they are sick, to remember there are people who care about them back home. However, when they are feeling well, they don’t remember their home.

I wanted to share the message that, no matter how far you are, one day you will come back home to your loved ones, so carry them around with you at all times, in your heart.

Nchiwewe

In my country, many young people face heartbreaks and some end up hurting themselves, committing suicide or doing things that are harmful.

Sometimes we end up doing these things and we put all the fault on ourselves. We feel guilty if the relationship or marriage ends or we feel like it’s our fault, yet we have to understand that sometimes we are not the problem and not everything is on us, it’s just how life is.

Even if we try everything to make it work, if we are not with the right person in the relationship, it’s not gonna work. The title of the song is related to this idea that some people are like dogs with rabies, biting people and taking advantage without ever being at peace.

All the Way from Africa

This is a happy song where I express how good it feels to travel - and I introduce myself to people. I invite them to come and visit my country, to see the beauty of Malawi and of Africa.

Sukulu

In Africa there are so many people that think that, instead of sending a child to school, it is better and easier to marry them off. I remember that one day when I was in school in Mangochi, Malawi, I visited a friend and we were sitting and having a conversation with another group of young women. The group was talking about a married woman and called her so she could join, to my surprise it was a very young girl about 12 years old that came out of the house.

After she left, they told me a man had come to her parents when she was three years old and gave them money, saying he would return and marry her when she grows up. He was an old man and I was surprised and saddened by the fact that instead of sending their daughter to school, they gave her to this man and destroyed her future.

This song is about keeping girls in school and making sure they have a bright future and that their rights are respected.