Anastasio Taso Stefano, the brains behind the group Makonde, was born in Africa. At times he made us believe it was Tanzania , and sometimes it was Kenya , anyhow he had strong roots for Tanzania and Great love and passion for both countries.

Having had his early education at St Mary’s Nairobi and Duke of York, ( Lenana School as it is now known), Taso’s love and passion for Music started in the early years. Always sitting down strumming his Guitar and humming away to tunes that he called his own.

Taso is one of the few Artistes that never attempted copyrights, from the word go, he believed doing copyrights was infringing ones rights and robbing one of his creativity and talent.

After a lot of attempts to put an African Group together, let me quote him as always saying,'“A true African group is one that fuses African Benga Beat to marry any International Beat and make it sound African". This was no easy task as most of our Kenyan Artistes, right from the early years of Fundi Konde and Fadhili Williams to the Kelly Browns and Slim Ali, adopted the Twist, Rock n Roll, Soul or even the American Country & Western of Ray Charles and Charley Pride.

Taso wanted a real Afro Beat ,that would give him an identity and not sound like the Afro rock of ”The Osibisa”, who were the Afro Rock Group then. The hunt was on for the line up.

From the Benga world he picked Shabani Onyango on Drums, a seasoned young session musician from Nyanza, from the hills of Taita, in the Coast province, he chose Ali Magobeni on Guitar, who brought in the Swahili touch, from the highlands of Mount Kenya, Central Province, Key Board/ pianist maestro Francis " Kanyoni" Njoroge, on the Western Kenya frontline at the Kenya Uganda border, came Bassist Sammy ' Marie Wandaka' Kasule, and further down the Tanzam Rail Line, Zambia, came Lead Vocals Kazadzi Saleh, and finally Taso also on Vocals.

As Promoter and MC for the group Taso settled for his long time friend Radio DJ, Abdulhaq.

The act was ready, with a base right in the heart of Eastland’s, Kariokor Estate, Makonde, practised regularly, as professional Musicians, as all members were full time employees of the Group.

Makonde performed at various locations, Taso as Marketer and Sales person knew his job. The group enjoyed exclusive Gigs at localities that most other Groups only dreamt of being.

During the Kenya coffee boom, Makonde were right in it, not selling or smuggling coffee, but providing entertainment every evening at a Club in Sofia Town, Busia for the rich traders who after an exhausting day of wheeling and dealing would end up at the Club to either celebrate the Boom or drown their sorrows if they had been done in.

Makonde appeared on stage with Boney M, at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi, went on a countrywide Tour with Reggae Group, Aswaad on the Group's Kenya Tour, courtesy of the British Council Nairobi, travelled to the U.K. to perform as an opening act for Mano Dibangos UK Tour. Taso was inspirational in organising the BBC Documentary, ' Afro-Rock', Sweet Sounds Of Honey, Film for the celebrity Kenyan Stars, of the time.

On the recording scene, Makonde were on the forefront of new releases, with hits, such as 'Soseme Makonde', and 'Marie Wandaka' and the Sensational ‘Mola Are You There’, topping the charts and dominating the Airwaves.

Taso and Makonde were ahead of their time, Kenya was not yet ready for that kind of hype, charisma and real Afro Beat, but Makonde was an inspiration to plenty a musician in Kenya to date.

The group finally disbanded after Taso left the country, I guess tired of the piracy racket and lack of support for Talent by the Authorities, for better pastures.

The rest of the members pursued solo careers with Francis " Kanyonyi" Njoroge being the most successful, though he is now more into Club and Hotel circuit playing as a Solo Pianist, Shabani passed away; with Kazadzi and Kasule all trying their luck overseas, and Ali shuttling between Kenya and Europe.