Jazz Maestro Ditches Wayward Civilian Backers in Botswana
Tired of working with wayward civilian musos, jazz maestro Lister Boleseng has lined up a military outfit and the “boys” can brew a storm.
During a recent festival, Lister displayed his new all-military ensemble. But Lister explained that it is not that he does not want to work with civilians. He said he has teamed up with his military colleagues because he spends most of his time with them.
“As a result, it is easy to rehearse with them.”
Lister has had some nasty experiences with civilian musicians. Earlier this year, one of his civilian guitarists, a Zimbabwean, was arrested for dagga possession along the Francistown/Orapa road.
The guitarist missed the show in Orapa where he was scheduled to perform with Lister.
According to one of the musicians, they were given money so they could take the earliest bus from Gaborone to Orapa. Apparently, the aircraft ferrying Lister and other guests to a Debswana function in Orapa was full.
However, the Zimbabwean guitarist had other ideas. Instead of boarding the bus, he decided to hitch hike to Orapa via Francistown. But he ran out of luck along the way when the police searched his bag at a roadblock and found some ‘green stuff’ suspected to be dagga. The guitarist was later deported after being fined.
One of the musicians said the “cleaning living Lister” was livid when the ‘Zim guitarist’ phoned him to say he had been arrested with a substance, which the police usually call a habit-forming drug. The band had to improvise to replace him.
Some of the civilian musicians that Lister used to jam with include leading guitarist Zakes Gw’aze and top-notch drummer Enock Mbewe. Lister has also played with local artistes like John Selolwane and Ndingo Johwa.
Lister has made a huge impact on the local music scene following the release of his acclaimed album, Life’s a journey. He has been in high demand at local shows.
Recently he shared the stage with South African trumpet virtuoso Hugh Masekela at a fund-raising dinner for the Masiela Trust.
Meanwhile, Lister was expected to rock Francistown at Dumela Lodge on Saturday and invade the Jazz Brew in Mochudi the following day.
Via Mmegi
