Dr. Collela Mazee (1954-2000):

Richard Owino was born in 1954 in Gem, Siaya, Western Kenya. He is fondly remembered as Dr Collela Mazee because of his exemplary skills in the sweet melodious benga music. He was educated at Ngere High school, but quit midway to begin his career in music. In 1972 he joined Victoria jazz under the leadership of Achieng’ Nelly, another veteran of Luo Benga music. Nelly introduced Collela to the rigours of benga music but the pair soon split up in 1973. Collela Mazee took over the leadership of Victoria jazz hence forth. The band released such famous hits as jack-jack (1974), Nyaduse (1976) and others. Victoria jazz split again in 1979 into the various Victoria groups which ruled benga music in the 80s and 90s. Collela remained the leader of Victoria A.

Collela Mazee together with D.O Misiani defined benga as a musical genre. His style was melodious and fused the various melodies from the Luo traditional musical instruments such as orutu and nyatiti into a modernised version. He sang mainly about love but also ventured into politics occasionally. He became a house hold name in Kenya and beyond. He passed away on 7 march 2000. ( Courtesy www.jaluo.com ).
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