Catalogue       Group                                                       A side/B side                                                        Year

Number

LUCY 5          Orch Karura Brothers                     Atieno Pts 1 & 2

LUCY 06        Ambira Boys                                  Sola Pts 1 & 2

LUCY 07        Ambira Boys                                  Ndogo Ndogo Pts 1 & 2

QUE 04         Karura Sisters                                Toto Toto/Gweterera Ndihota

QUE 05         Ambui Brothers                              Sister/Kirimino

QUE 07         Orch Karura Brothers                      My Dear Karibu/Ekiene Ucio

QUE 08         Orch Karura Bros                           Ciira Wa Ngatha/Wendo Wa Shifti

QUE 09         Karura Brothers Band                     Mwana Wa Ngoriai/Thina Wa Umbani

QUE 13          Karura Brothers                            Kariuki/Tiga Miaki

CEGE 03        Orch Shika Shika                           Ole Mama Pts 1 & 2

Ambira Boys were a Luo band from Nyanza province, who also recorded for Mlima. It’s hard to tell whether the group were proteges of Sylvester Odhiambo and Peter Owiso, who share the songwriting credit on LUCY 06, or whether both men were band members. Certainly both had careers with other groups such as the Blue Shade Band and Orch Sega-Sega and, no doubt, other outfits too.

A post on the Likembe blog links Odhiambo to Gabriel Omolo’s Apollo Komesha, that connection and the LP Likembe blogs about suggest these singles date from the 1980s. The Ambui Brothers don’t feature elsewhere in this discography, but James Mbugua’s Karura Brothers and Sisters most certainly do. Check the Bands Index for an up-to-date listing of the labels where their records appear.

Thanks to Sofiane of Groovy Record in Paris for supplying details of LUCY 06, LUCY 07, QUE 05, QUE 08 and the label scan. Thanks, too, to Fredrik Lavik in Finland who provided information on all of the other records listed.

In July 2011, Alan Wheeler supplied details of CEGE 03, another single by Jimmy Moni Mambo’s prolific Orch Shika Shika.