Alick Nkhata ‎– Radio Lusaka

Alick Nkhata (1922–1978) was a Zambian musician, freedom fighter and broadcaster from the 1950s to the mid-1970s. He was very instrumental in the set up of early radio broadcasting in Zambia and was one of the early broadcasters for local programs in the 1950s. He was also a member of a music band of the 1950s called the Lusaka Radio band which turned to become the Big Gold Six band.

"Shalapo" and "Maggie" are some of the songs credited to his name. Unfortunately during the October 1978 raid in Mkushi by Rhodesian forces on Zimbabwean guerilla fighter camps, Alick Nkhata was caught in the cross-fire and was accidentally attacked. The Rhodesian forces mistook him and other farmers who had gathered doing their normal marketing business for guerilla fighters and were attacked. Alick Nkhata road in Lusaka is named after him.

ALICK NKHATA – RADIO LUSAKA (LP, 2025)

First-ever vinyl reissue of Zambian legend Alick Nkhata’s recordings
Country, township jazz, and syncretic pop from the heart of the freedom movement

Vocalist, guitarist, and bandleader Alick Nkhata moved effortlessly between lonesome country slide, big band pop, and air-tight vocal harmonies, all with roots in Bemba and other African traditional songs and rhythms. It’s a dizzying, inclusive, expansive blend from an artist and music archivist who became the voice of his nation’s fight for freedom. The lyrics and music represent the times - lonesome country laments like 'Nafwaya Fwaya' and 'Fosta Kayi' drift along the railways to urban centers and copper mines. 'Nalikwebele Sonka (I Told You Sonka)', sung in “deep-Bemba” pairs honey-soaked yodels with a warning about the downward spiral of unemployment in townships, while 'Mayo Na Bwalya’ (Mother of Bwalya) is a mother’s plea to a traditional songbird for guidance of her wayward son. Songs like 'Shalapo', 'Kalindawalo Na Mfumwa', and his biggest hit, 'Imbote', infuse piano, big band horns, and even early electronic instruments into stunning syncretic pop masterpieces.

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Mississippi handles the first vinyl anthology of Zambian freedom fighter and musician Alick Nkhata's unorthodox hybrid pop rallying cries, that muddle local Bemba traditional forms with country, big band and even early electronic sounds.

Known as Zambia's first pop star - he's even got a road named after him in the country's capital of Lusaka - Nkhata cut his teeth playing in the Lusaka Radio Band (later called the Big Gold Six Band), writing wry, socially motivated sing-along songs in mostly Bemba and Nyanja. Nkhata's secret weapon was his worldliness and education; he'd traveled outside Africa during World War II when he served in Myanmar, and when he returned home in the 1940s, he connected with British ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey and began to archive the traditional music he'd grown up with. But he was fascinated with everything the world was offering at the time, and began to figure out ways to blend global pop sounds with Zambian folk. 

'Radio Lusaka' assembles some of his best-known songs, restoring and re-mastering material from the original 78s and bundling the tracks with unseen photos, lyrics (with translations) and extensive liner notes from NTS's Jamal Khadar. Some of these might be familiar, especially if you've heard the 1991-released 'Shalapo and Other Love Songs: Original Zambian Hits from the 1950s', but the music has never sounded quite as good as it has here. All the big ones are covered, from the piano-heavy almost ragtime sounding 'Imbote' and the lilting big band-inspited 'Kalindawlo Ni Mfumu' to 'Shalapo', a romantic synth-led syncretic pop standout sung in Bemba and English that still sounds like nothing else. 

But there's more where that came from: the melancholy influence of early US country is plain to hear on opening track 'Nafwaya Fwaya' and there's even full-on yodeling on 'Nalikwebele Sonka', that details the hardships of township life in the "deep bemba" dialect. Nkhata would go on to get a job as a radio announcer and translator at Lusaka's Central African Broadcasting Corporation (later the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation), eventually becoming the director, and was popular not just at home, but in neighboring Zimbabwe and Malawi. In the 1960s, he wrote music for the United National Independence Party, helping smooth the transition into independence, and kept shaping Zambian culture throughout the '70s as the country was slowly decolonised.

Alick Nkhata: the Zambian freedom fighter who preserved folk music

By Ben Forrest

Folk music is much more than acoustic guitars and untrained voices; it is capable of capturing the history and culture of certain places, people, and time periods, preserving them for future generations.

Across the vast and diverse continent of Africa, those cultural roots were consistently and deliberately erased by colonial powers over a period of hundreds of years, yet the folk traditions of nations like Zambia continue to thrive in the modern age, in defiance of those colonial rulers. That enduring folk influence is largely down to the efforts of artists and freedom fighters like Alick Nkhata, who always remained dedicated to their own cultural heritage.

Born and raised in the heart of Lusaka, Nkhata grew up surrounded by the rich culture and music of Zambia, but he was also witness to the colonial oppression of his homeland at the hands of the British Empire. Before long, the Empire called upon the budding young musician to fight in the British Colonial Forces during World War II, during which he was stationed in Burma. Upon returning to his home, however, Nkhata focused all of his attention on music, preserving the traditional folk sounds of his native Zambia.

It was then that the musician formed a quartet, which eventually morphed into the Lusaka Radio Band. Focused on rural folk songs, often with a country music twang, the band became known throughout Zambia and the surrounding region thanks to radio airplay in central Africa, along with a smattering of vinyl releases throughout the 1950s. Although the music they were playing wasn’t inherently political or overtly confrontational, the very fact that Nkhata and the Lusaka Radio Band had dedicated themselves to performing rural Zambian folk was defiant in its own right.

After all, it was this music which reaffirmed the cultural heritage of the region, reminding audiences of all the joy and vibrancy of their nation. It is difficult to overstate the importance of this cultural pride in post-war Africa. It was a time during which more and more nations across the continent began to demand independence from their colonial powers. So, after hundreds of years of oppression, of attempting to strip away any kind of African identity, it was down to artists, musicians, and writers to remind the people of those strong cultural roots.

As a result, the timeless tones of Alick Nkhata became a kind of unofficial soundtrack to Zambian independence. The Republic of Zambia was formally established in 1964, after a period of great political turmoil and conflict. Nkhata continued to perform throughout the period of independence, alongside his band, which soon renamed itself the Big Gold Six. In fact, he went on to work with the Central African Broadcasting Service in the wake of Zambian independence, dedicating himself to the recording and preservation of traditional music.

Nkhata eventually graduated to the Zambian Broadcasting Service, becoming a definitive voice for the traditional folk music of central Africa, and creating a wealth of incredible recordings himself, although many of them have since been lost to obscurity. He retired in 1974, relocating to a farm in Mkushi, where he could be free to breathe the country air and play the music that he had spent his whole life preserving.

Tragically, only four years into his retirement, Nkhata was killed. Conflict raged on in Zambia and the surrounding regions post-independence, with the Rhodesian Army constantly at war with various guerrilla groups, militias, and freedom fighters. Unknowingly, Nkhata’s farm was near a base for the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army. During a raid on the camp by Southern Rhodesian forces, the musician was killed in a crossfire.

Despite his tragic death, however, Nkhata still boasts an incredible legacy over the musical and cultural landscape of Zambia and of central Africa in general. His tireless work in preserving traditional songs and giving the nation a stronger sense of cultural identity continues to permeate the modern musical scene of the region. What’s more, Mississippi Records’ newly announced compilation of selected works from Nkhata, entitled Radio Lusaka, promises to introduce the incredible life and work of the folk freedom fighter to multiple new generations of audiences all across the globe.

Today we are thrilled to release the first single “Nafwaya Fwaya” from the great Zambian vocalist, guitarist and bandleader Alick Nkhata

Alick Nkhata (1922-1978) did it all - a golden voiced singer, student of African musical traditions, visionary Zambian freedom fighter and the literal voice of his nation’s post-independence aspirations, broadcasting daily on Radio Lusaka. His music travels from Jimmie Rodgers-inspired blue yodels to piano-based jump up jazz to stunning vocal harmonies in a syncretic pop entirely of his own making.

Nkahta’s work took him throughout southern and eastern Africa, where he used his ease with language and music to learn and document traditional cultures. For years, he guided legendary South African musicologist Hugh Tracey through the region. Stints with revolutionary groups in Zimbabwe exposed him to the power of radio, which he used as the voice of his own aspiring nation, broadcasting daily throughout Zambia’s freedom movement. His vast knowledge of traditional culture combined with his cosmopolitan lifestyle and access to the latest instruments and records led to his stunningly varied and creative musical output.

Despite his fame in Zambia (where a main thoroughfare in Lusaka carries his name), and his influence on generations of artists who came after, this is the first compilation of Nkhata’s work ever released on vinyl. Sourced from rare 78s and unreleased acetates, carefully restored, and licensed directly from Nkhata’s family. The large booklet contains lyric translations by celebrated Zambian author Ellen Banda-Aaku, and in-depth notes by African country scholar Jamal Khadar @krolobykhadar. This is one of Mississippi’s deepest archival dives. No artist deserves it more. -Mississippi Records

Alick Nkhata ‎– Radio Lusaka

Label: Mississippi Records ‎– MRI-209

Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Reissue
Country: US
Released: 15 Aug 2025
Style: Country,  Township Jazz, Zambian Folk
Source: Digital

Visit: https://mississippirecords.bandcamp.com/

1. Alick Nkhata And Shadrack Soko - Nafwaya Fwaya = I Search 2:25
2. Lusaka Radio Band With Alick Nkhata's Quartet - Kalindawalo Ni Mfuma = Kalinwandalo Is A Chief 3:09
3. Alick Nkhata's Quartet - Elena 3:04
4. Alick Nkhata And Shadrack Soko - Fosta Kayi 2:30
5. Alick Nkhata And Shadrack Soko - Nalikwebele Sonka = I Told You Sonka 2:30
6. Alick Nkhata - Shalapo = Goodbye / Stay Well 2:58
7. Lusaka Radio Players - Kapata Mukaya 3:35
8. Lusaka Radio Players - Bambi Balefisa Kumwabo = Some Hide Where They Come From 3:08
9. Lusaka Radio Band With Alick Nkhata's Quartet - Imbote 2:59
10. Alick Nkhata's Quartet - Fodya = Tobacco 2:37
11. Alick Nkhata - Mayo Na Bwalya = Mother Of Bawalya 2:24

12. Alick Nkhata's Quartet - Tuli Beni Calo = We Are Visitors Of This World 2:40