| ZOMBA INMATES BAND RECORDING WITH PRODUCER |
This is really unexpected,
a group of male and female inmates at Malawi's Zomba Prison have been nominated
for Grammy Award in the United States. The nomination which was announced on Monday is in the World
Music category, the nomination which came as a surprise, is the first time that
musicians from the landlocked southern African country will be represented at
the prestigious Grammy awards.
Presently,
the group calls a crammed, dilapidating maximum-security prison home while their
album was recorded with just basic music equipment. However, hopefully in
February 2016, this group may achieve stardom in the music world.
| ZOMBA INMATES BAND |
The
US producer of the Zomba Prison Project, Ian Brennan, says "It is a great
accomplishment”. He stated that he was very happy for the prisoners and quite
shocked really too. He noted that "the awards have become extremely
celebrity-driven, and ironically, the World category in particular has become
so predictable - it's the same names almost every year … so to see a group of unknown
individuals get a nomination makes it that much more of an
accomplishment." The album containing 20 songs sang in the Chichewa
language. It was recorded within 2 weeks in 2013. This is not the first time
the producer, Brennan has worked with musicians from Malawi.
The group is made up of
prisoners, with the men mostly on life sentences for crimes like murder,
assault and theft while the women face charges like witchcraft and
homosexuality and they are confined to the brick walled and overcrowded Zomba
prison. And know what, they made use of buckets as drums for their music.
However, the group members
would not be able to attend the Grammy award ceremony on February 15, 2016.
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