The Broadway Quintet. Amalume (Lekani Mowa).

Emerging to serve the entertainment needs of Zambia's United National Independence Party (UNIP) in the early 1960s, The Broadway Quintet gathered seasoned talent from Lusaka's best hotel bands to fashion its esteemed lineup. Starting as a quartet and later evolving into a quintet, the group's career spanned over twenty years as favourites on the cabaret circuit and boasted a myriad of prestigious collaborations.

The Broadway Quintet's jazz sensibilities set them apart from the rock sound that dominated Zambia's music landscape in the 1970s. Yet the formula behind Zamrock, fusing indigenous rhythms with Western pop, shaped their one and only 1976 long-player. Featuring modern arrangements of traditional songs, Amalume blended congas with sax sounds, African folk lyrics with electric keyboard shenanigans and show business tunes with jazz guitar noodling. With its psychedelic illustrated cover, which references the title track's warning against the perils of drinking alcohol, it was an explosive package of "originality and electrifying beauty" as the album's liner notes proclaimed.

Tony Maonde – Keyboards
Zacks Gwaze – Lead Guitar, Vocals
Simanga Tutani – Bass Guitar, Sax, Vocals
Timothy Sikova – Drums, Percussion, Vocals
Jonah Marumahoko – Congas, Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
Peter Bwalya – Trumpet on "Matteo" and "Nifyo Fine"

Produced and Arranged by The Broadway Quintet
Recorded at d.B Studios, Lusaka in 1976
Engineers: Graham Skinner, Nikki Ashley and Peter Musungilo
Cover Design by Trevor Ford and Gibson Tembo

Audio Restoration and Remastering by Colin Young at See Why Audio
Restoration copy sourced courtesy Sudeep Menon
Artwork Restoration by Ash Pederick
Produced for Reissue by Calum MacNaughton

Original Cat. No. ZTZ 4
Reissue Cat. No. SF14
℗ 1976 © 2023 Sharp-Flat Records