Uploaded June 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Olith Ratego was born Musa Odhiambo Omondi on 26 December 1974 in Asere, Ugenya in Western Kenya. The middle child in a family of three Olith Ratego dropped out of school at an early age to help his father, Walter Omondi Onyango, run his carpentry workshop.
A self-taught musician, Olith Ratego later used his woodwork skills to create a novel five-stringed instrument he named okoddo after his great-grandfather, Okoddo Madanda, who was known to his peers as a fierce warrior and revered as a mythical figure by members of his community.
Olith Ratego is an ingenious vocalist, a gift he inherited from his mother, Maria Anyango Odari, who was an accomplished singer in her own right. His musical style is greatly influenced by traditional dodo of the Luo people of Kenya who live along the shores of Lake Victoria. In 2001 he moved to Nairobi City and recorded his first song Mamano Daa which enjoyed massive radio airplay locally. However, earnings from royalties accrued from the song could not sustain him in the city and a disillusioned Olith Ratego went back to his village in Siaya County.
He came back to Nairobi two years later and signed with Ketebul Music where he released the album osuga in 2003. Olith Ratego has performed in many European cities and collaborated with internationally acclaimed musicians such as the German composer Sven Kacirek and Cuban jazz pianist Omar Sosa. Olith Ratego again returned to his village in Asere to continue running his late father’s carpentry business and performing music on special occasions.
On this live show, Olith Ratego was accompanied by Ben Mukabwa on bass, Fiston Lusambo on guitar with Brian Nyamanga and Thelma Lukachia of the Loko band on percussions and shakers, respectively.
Find out more about our recording with Olith Ratego here: singingwells.org/stories/day-three-9-march-2022-kisumu
Olith Ratego was born Musa Odhiambo Omondi on 26 December 1974 in Asere, Ugenya in Western Kenya. The middle child in a family of three Olith Ratego dropped out of school at an early age to help his father, Walter Omondi Onyango, run his carpentry workshop.
A self-taught musician, Olith Ratego later used his woodwork skills to create a novel five-stringed instrument he named okoddo after his great-grandfather, Okoddo Madanda, who was known to his peers as a fierce warrior and revered as a mythical figure by members of his community.
Olith Ratego is an ingenious vocalist, a gift he inherited from his mother, Maria Anyango Odari, who was an accomplished singer in her own right. His musical style is greatly influenced by traditional dodo of the Luo people of Kenya who live along the shores of Lake Victoria. In 2001 he moved to Nairobi City and recorded his first song Mamano Daa which enjoyed massive radio airplay locally. However, earnings from royalties accrued from the song could not sustain him in the city and a disillusioned Olith Ratego went back to his village in Siaya County.
He came back to Nairobi two years later and signed with Ketebul Music where he released the album osuga in 2003. Olith Ratego has performed in many European cities and collaborated with internationally acclaimed musicians such as the German composer Sven Kacirek and Cuban jazz pianist Omar Sosa. Olith Ratego again returned to his village in Asere to continue running his late father’s carpentry business and performing music on special occasions.
On this live show, Olith Ratego was accompanied by Ben Mukabwa on bass, Fiston Lusambo on guitar with Brian Nyamanga and Thelma Lukachia of the Loko band on percussions and shakers, respectively.
Find out more about our recording with Olith Ratego here: singingwells.org/stories/day-three-9-march-2022-kisumu
