HUSSEIN VALLY ABH 1994 Yehi Teer

HUSSEIN VALLY. Can I regard this artist as Legendary? To date he is still actively involved in music and is in contact with his fans at all levels. Well why not Legendary. The dictionary also gives the meaning of the word legendary as “remarkable enough to be famous”. If that’s the case, then Hussein Vally has certainly surpassed the qualification. Social media sees a lot of this gentleman on a regular basis. But just who is he? Is he a singer, musician, songwriter or stage performer? Well, he is actually all of the above and brilliant in each of his talents. Hussein’s single biggest contribution to our music, in my opinion, is his ability to perform as a one man band and hold his audiences attention. This style of musical performance was never taken seriously in the past as a one man band was regarded as a circus act with drums, bells and whistles tied to a performer. With the advent of the auto accompaniment keyboards in the late 70’s nobody though that it could be done professionally. Well to a large extent, that was true. But nobody considered that if the Auto Keyboard was accompanied with an artist with a great personality, then we have a new form of entertainment. Hussein’s solo act at the Wild Coast Sun in 1988 bears testament to this phenomenon. Under the directorship of Ahmed Moosa, every show of Hussein’s was a sell-out. Hussein wasn’t only considered as a singer, many musicians, me included, looked up to him as an inspiration with regards to electronic music. In fact, it was this inspiration that got my cousin Dennis Nepaul to start of “Suhana Sungeet”, which initially comprised Dennis, my sister Sungeeta and I. Hussein had given us all his support and advice at that time.
Hussein started singing from the age of 6 and started playing the guitar at the age of 9. He initially started with school concerts and community events in a small way. In 1976 he joined the Pretoria Band called “Orientals”. Around the same time he had cut an LP. (This means having recorded a set of songs on a long playing huge big disk) Sorry old timers, I had to make that clear for the current generation. Around 1981 he joined the “Chand Roshnee” of Benoni. Thereafter with the “Hi Lites” in 1982. Hussein started his solo acts from 1983 onwards and his career took off from there with unprecedented success. He has performed throughout South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Uganda and the DRC to name a few of his performance travels. Hussein was and still is an inspiration to many singers and has supported many in his career. Umita Kalyan is one of the many. Without his support, Umita would have probably stuck to singing Whitney Houston and Maria Carey songs at home and at school. He got her to do Hindi songs and provided her the first big public platform in Brits in 1992. Soon after that, he Introduced Umita to me for a recording. I suppose I then introduced MYSELF to Umita , starting a new chapter in my life. Supporting and promoting fellow artist is one of the remarkable qualities of this gentleman. Hussein has also made a name for himself in song writing. He has many songs to his credit and has written songs in Hindi, Urdu, English, Afrikaans and Zulu. Versatility is always a clear indication of a born lyricist.
As a songwriter, he has to be one of the most consistent composers of our time, with songs still being written and produced, as I pen this biography. A true gentleman and a dear friend in music, Hussein will forever be remembered for keeping our language, culture and South African identity alive in the form of his unique and distinguishable music.
HUSSEIN VALLY, another legend that walks amongst us.