WDP HITS THE GROUND RUNNING – BY Batho Motlhake

If the event of Sundaythe 26th of January is anything to go by, then it’s safe to say that 2020 is going to be a great year for the music scene in Botswana. Music enthusiasts were treated by All Things Musical, to a delightful experience, alive radio show broadcast from BLACK at Gaborone. Duma FM’s phenomenal jazz show presenter, Leroy Nyoni of the showBreezing, which airs every Sunday between 4pm and 7pm, came just a little bit closer to his listeners and bedazzled them with a mixed bag of entertainment for the evening including a Jazz Vynil set by Guest Matthew Gibson. The shows main act featured none other than the hottest local jazz band, WDP, which was scheduled for a live performance. The concept was simple, a soulful evening laced with a live radio show, great music, live performances, good food, drinks and awesome company.

I arrived at Black CBD just before 4pm. When I walked in the show was about to start and Gofiwa, the Duma FM broadcast engineer was making his final tweaks to his equipment. Leroy the show host had a table with a laptop, DJ deck mixer and a microphone as his studio set up. Next to Leroy was a live band setup with guitars, microphones and drums. People were having food and drinks. It was a laid back afternoon. The setup was in such a way that the people in attendance could also hear the music playing on radio. It was like we were all inside a radio station having food and drinks.

The show had mostly music until 6pm when Leroy invited Phomolo Somolekae on stage as his guest on the Show segment ‘Chillin’ with the musos”:Phomolois a 14 year old musical sensation who qualified for a slot at the world acclaimed show ‘America’sGot Talent’. She did a couple of local music covers, ‘Rejection’ byDJ Kuchi featuring Han C followed by ‘Hisa hisa’ by Motlha and ATI which she did with her sister Letlhabile. The crowd loved her and her performance inspired hope of the blue, black and white flag flying high. She left for America on Monday morning the 27th. The radio show seguedback to the usual music programming before WDP came on stage at 1830hrs. They brought the house down when they started with their rendition of ‘Robete’ by Sereetsi and the Natives, into Jujuboys’s Motho O Bolaa Motho, Berry Bone’s Mafurafura and the band being so bold as to attempt their remake of Franco’s Ke Lela Le Lona and their first set ending with Leroy Monageng’s Merafhe.

WDP is a live band that takes local hit songs and jazzes them up making them more soulful. The group has one album under them, ‘The Bechaunaland Sessions, Volume 1’. They also have their WDP Shindigs which are performances hosted in alternative spaces like residences or even secure parking lots underground or rooftops at least once a month in and around Gaborone upon announcement of Shindig Season. WDP played for 30 minutes until the end of the live show. They came back later and played another set for 1hr 30minutes. We left the place saturated musically.”