When he died in a car crash in Kisumu 20 years ago, his fans wailed and rolled in the streets of Kisumu.
The death of Benga legend Daniel Owino Misiani hit them hard.
This was on May 17, 2006.
Now, fans of Shirati Jazz Band are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Benga legend across the country and in his native village in Shirati.
The climax will be on Sunday, May 16, in Shirati Village in northern Tanzania, where Benga fans from Kenya are expected to witness the grand celebration organised by the DO Misiani family.
Misiani, who lived most of his life in western Kenya and had a larger network of fans on the Kenyan side compared to his home country, is still regarded as a legend by Kenyan standards.
Misiani’s eldest daughter, Judith Anyango Otieno, appealed to Benga fans and revellers to turn up in large numbers and witness how the Benga legend will be honoured.
“He was loved in his lifetime and we must extend the same to the people he served during his lifetime. Therefore, come and see how we do it at Shirati Village,” Otieno told Ramogi Television during an entertainment programme.
In his lifetime, Misiani toured almost all towns in western Kenya and made inroads into Kenya’s major cities of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret, where he commanded a large following during his music career.
“We play music to educate and entertain. And at times, we do so to advise on different aspects of life so that we maintain and retain order and righteousness in life,” Misiani told this reporter in Nakuru during an interview in 1997.
Misiani loved performing at Lule’s Club along Kanu Street in Nakuru City on weekends.
He was born on February 22, 1940, in Nyamagong Village near Shirati in the Mara region of Tanzania, near the Kenyan border.
His interest in music started during his childhood in school and church choirs, where he played percussion in a local acoustic group.
The deep interest in music influenced him to pursue the career against the wishes of his parents, especially his father, who was a devoted Christian.
Misiani’s first guitar was destroyed by his deeply religious father.
However, Misiani disregarded his father’s strong opposition and remained committed to the career that took him across Tanzania and Kenya. He had humble beginnings, performing at funerals, social gatherings and bars in Kenya before settling in Nairobi in 1964.
While in the capital city, he pioneered Luo traditional music in the Benga genre while attempting to replace the traditional nyatiti with electric guitars. However, he retained a faster rhythm and tempo in his unique style of music when making his first recordings in 1965.
He later formed Orchestra DO7 Shirati Jazz Band, rising to the peak of his fame in the mid-1970s. He released a seemingly endless string of 45 singles, such as Piny Lichina, Kiseru and Simon Agira.
While most of his recordings were done in Dholuo, some were in Kiswahili under a variety of labels, including Kanindo, Hundwe, Sunguru and Kung Fu.
Some of his popular songs included Isabella, Kiseru Gor Mahia Part 1 and 2, and Kwach Rakido. The songs that impressed his eldest daughter Judith Anyango Otieno most were Isabella and Kiseru.
“These are some of the songs by my father that I loved most during his music career and I believe many of his fans equally do so,” she said.
Kiseru was later replayed by Soukous Stars in the album Nairobi Night by Lokassa Ya Mbongo in 1991.
Anyango said Misiani was a disciplinarian who loved friends and relatives equally.
“First and foremost, my dad was a disciplinarian who hated liars. Once he discovered that you were one, then you would never be on the same wavelength,” she said.
“You are all invited to come and witness how we do things in Shirati,” she said.