Entertainment / Music
Mokoomba going to be the next best thing internationally
11 Jun 2013 at 03:34hrs | Views
I can see a situation where Mokoomba is going to be the next best thing internationally to come out of Zimbabwe after the Bhundu Boys. At the height of their fame in the late 1980s, the Bhundu Boys were signed to Warner Records. They toured North America, Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan and Hong Kong, and were chauffeured to venues from luxury hotels. They owned a large house in London. They did Zimbabwe proud.
I remember Biggie Tembo coming to me in 1992 asking me to help him get a new passport. As he put it: "Fred, I know you are known to Mr Tobaiwa Mudede. Please talk to him so that our passports can be processed quickly as we are in the middle of a tour. We are off to Japan next week."
I said: "But you all got new passports only two years ago. They should expire after 10 years. So what happened?" He said: "We have visited 38 countries in the past two years and the different immigration officers in each country have been stamping our passports each time we go to a different country. Now they are full of stamps. So we need new passports."
Within a week, the Bhundu Boys had processed their new passports and were off to Japan.
I can see the same thing happening to our next generation of successful musicians, Mokoomba. They are out of Zimbabwe at the moment and are travelling the world until September.
Walton Dangarembizi a.k.a Wala Danga, a Zimbabwean friend of mine based in London who is also the director of Limpopo Productions, informs me that last Wednesday, June 5, the boys gave an exhilarating performance at the Jazz Cafe in Camden Town, London, and everybody was talking about their phenomenal performance even days after. The only sign of disgruntlement came from Zimbabweans who could not identify with their music. Some were asking: "Are these guys really from Zimbabwe? They did not even sing a simple Shona song!"
The English people who were there did not care much about the language. They just enjoyed this thrilling band.
Wala says, with such magnificent performances, Mokoomba will never be out of work in Europe. Indeed, he showed me a schedule of Mokoomba's next performances with several countries they will visit which include Morocco, Holland, France, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Ireland, Belgium, Germany and Denmark.
This is an excellent international debut from a band nobody saw coming.
I last saw them perform at Hifa last month and even Zimbabweans here were asking if the band was from within the country. I heard some whisper that they were from Senegal and others saying that they were Baaba Mal's band. In all, Mokoomba, riding their own rising tide, are probably the best music news in Zimbabwe at the moment.
I agree with Banning Eyre of Afro Pop World, USA, that Mokoomba is quite simply the most impressive band Zimbabwe has produced in recent years. This year, they won the Best Newcomer World Music Award.
Surprisingly, its members do not hail from Harare, Mutare or Bulawayo, cities which traditionally have produced the finest artistes in Zimbabwe. Rather, these seven musicians come from the northern parts of Zimbabwe near the border with Zambia.
Mokoomba, formed in 2001, trumpet the energy and dynamism of their region's best known geographic feature, the august Victoria Falls.
Lead singer Mathias Muzaza has been all over Southern Africa, absorbing music and culture. He speaks six languages, and sings in Tonga, Nyanja, Lubale, Shona and Ndebele
with a sharp, clear voice capable of gale force exertions we might expect to hear from a West African grit.
Muzaza and guitarist/singer Trustworth Samende wrote most of the songs they were churning out on this night at Hifa with most of them coming from their CD, "Rising Tide", songs which range from funky rap, to expert Congolese grooves, including quasi-reggae and even a Latin tune along the way. The rest of the band members are Abundance Mutori on bass, Reason Muleya on percussion, Costa Ndaba Moyo on drums and Miti Mugande on keyboards. They have added a saxophonist to the band whose name I am still to learn. (Marcus Gora, where are you?)
You won't hear any of the sounds generally associated with Zimbabwe - no sungura, no museve, no dendera, no mbiras, or marimbas. Hit after hit, the songs came with a groove and lots of energy from "Mwile" to "Misozi'" from "Mabema", "Mbimbe", to "Africa", "Mzumba", "Messe Messe" and "Njoka'.
When I attended their concert, Mokoomba were not slow in letting the 10 000 plus audience at Hifa's Telecel Main Stage, up on their feet. Song after song, the crowd at first showed anticipatory excitement, sometimes after the first note, and enthusiastic appreciation with clapping after every song. There was a weird balance between the urge to show how unbelievably stoked the band was and the desire to quietly and serenely take it all in. Far from remaining stoic, at the beginning when Mathias Muzaza began singing with occasional bursts of colour in his stage moves, the motionless crowd hung on every note, with many faces blissed out in rapturous contemplation.
That didn't stop a few hips from swaying during the jubilant "Njoka" or its follow-up tunes, "Weleye" and "Nimukonda". In no time at all, everybody was in dancing mood but they did not sing along.
They did not know the words. Most of the band's songs are not easily understood by the average Shona or Ndebele speaker as they are mainly in Tonga.
However, the crowd did not care. They just appreciated the good melodies and rhythm coming from the band. I could see that on this Hifa night, Mokoomba was out to conquer.
Although Mokoomba exploit Tonga rhythms and melodies, they are out to create a global fusion, a music rooted in their home reality while still open to the sounds of the world as evidenced by their latest CD "Rising Tide".
After winning awards in Zimbabwe, recording a debut CD and touring Europe in 2009 and 2010, Mokoomba caught the ear of ace Cote D'Ivoirian bass maestro and female producer Manu Gallo. Gallo is a veteran of Kiyi M'Bock, Zap Mama, and has released a number of fantastic solo CDs in her own right. She produced Mokoomba's "Rising Tide", and her savvy judgment and familiarity with high-end afro-pop production helped to make every track shimmer.
"Njoka", the title track, is a brilliant mash-up of beat box vocals, warm guitar riffling, and punchy percussion and brass work, all backing Muzaza's edgy lead vocal and rich layers of backing vocals from the rest of the group.
This band can sing, and they prove it on every track. "Mwile" is the Latin track, and Muzaza's keening vocal works beautifully in this context. "Misozi" explores the Congo connection, beginning with folksy acoustic guitar picking reminiscent of the old Copperbelt pickers (from the Zambia/Congo border).
Later, the song revs into full Congo pop mode, kwasa-kwasa style, with animated stop time riffs, sweetly soaring guitar leads, and great rhythm breakdowns. "Nimukonda" nods to melodious old-school reggae, and then rough-and-ready dancehall.
The sheer density of ideas in this session is impressive, but it never feels like the musicians are merely checking off stylistic boxes. Their commitment and verve enlivens every performance, right up to the club-by crescendo, "Weleye," where Gallo's suave production touch is once again a unmistakable and powerful asset.
Mark my words, whatever happens, the impressive Mokoomba will leave an indelible mark in this world!
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Feedback: f_zindi@hotmail.com
I remember Biggie Tembo coming to me in 1992 asking me to help him get a new passport. As he put it: "Fred, I know you are known to Mr Tobaiwa Mudede. Please talk to him so that our passports can be processed quickly as we are in the middle of a tour. We are off to Japan next week."
I said: "But you all got new passports only two years ago. They should expire after 10 years. So what happened?" He said: "We have visited 38 countries in the past two years and the different immigration officers in each country have been stamping our passports each time we go to a different country. Now they are full of stamps. So we need new passports."
Within a week, the Bhundu Boys had processed their new passports and were off to Japan.
I can see the same thing happening to our next generation of successful musicians, Mokoomba. They are out of Zimbabwe at the moment and are travelling the world until September.
Walton Dangarembizi a.k.a Wala Danga, a Zimbabwean friend of mine based in London who is also the director of Limpopo Productions, informs me that last Wednesday, June 5, the boys gave an exhilarating performance at the Jazz Cafe in Camden Town, London, and everybody was talking about their phenomenal performance even days after. The only sign of disgruntlement came from Zimbabweans who could not identify with their music. Some were asking: "Are these guys really from Zimbabwe? They did not even sing a simple Shona song!"
The English people who were there did not care much about the language. They just enjoyed this thrilling band.
Wala says, with such magnificent performances, Mokoomba will never be out of work in Europe. Indeed, he showed me a schedule of Mokoomba's next performances with several countries they will visit which include Morocco, Holland, France, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Ireland, Belgium, Germany and Denmark.
This is an excellent international debut from a band nobody saw coming.
I last saw them perform at Hifa last month and even Zimbabweans here were asking if the band was from within the country. I heard some whisper that they were from Senegal and others saying that they were Baaba Mal's band. In all, Mokoomba, riding their own rising tide, are probably the best music news in Zimbabwe at the moment.
I agree with Banning Eyre of Afro Pop World, USA, that Mokoomba is quite simply the most impressive band Zimbabwe has produced in recent years. This year, they won the Best Newcomer World Music Award.
Surprisingly, its members do not hail from Harare, Mutare or Bulawayo, cities which traditionally have produced the finest artistes in Zimbabwe. Rather, these seven musicians come from the northern parts of Zimbabwe near the border with Zambia.
Mokoomba, formed in 2001, trumpet the energy and dynamism of their region's best known geographic feature, the august Victoria Falls.
Lead singer Mathias Muzaza has been all over Southern Africa, absorbing music and culture. He speaks six languages, and sings in Tonga, Nyanja, Lubale, Shona and Ndebele
with a sharp, clear voice capable of gale force exertions we might expect to hear from a West African grit.
Muzaza and guitarist/singer Trustworth Samende wrote most of the songs they were churning out on this night at Hifa with most of them coming from their CD, "Rising Tide", songs which range from funky rap, to expert Congolese grooves, including quasi-reggae and even a Latin tune along the way. The rest of the band members are Abundance Mutori on bass, Reason Muleya on percussion, Costa Ndaba Moyo on drums and Miti Mugande on keyboards. They have added a saxophonist to the band whose name I am still to learn. (Marcus Gora, where are you?)
You won't hear any of the sounds generally associated with Zimbabwe - no sungura, no museve, no dendera, no mbiras, or marimbas. Hit after hit, the songs came with a groove and lots of energy from "Mwile" to "Misozi'" from "Mabema", "Mbimbe", to "Africa", "Mzumba", "Messe Messe" and "Njoka'.
When I attended their concert, Mokoomba were not slow in letting the 10 000 plus audience at Hifa's Telecel Main Stage, up on their feet. Song after song, the crowd at first showed anticipatory excitement, sometimes after the first note, and enthusiastic appreciation with clapping after every song. There was a weird balance between the urge to show how unbelievably stoked the band was and the desire to quietly and serenely take it all in. Far from remaining stoic, at the beginning when Mathias Muzaza began singing with occasional bursts of colour in his stage moves, the motionless crowd hung on every note, with many faces blissed out in rapturous contemplation.
That didn't stop a few hips from swaying during the jubilant "Njoka" or its follow-up tunes, "Weleye" and "Nimukonda". In no time at all, everybody was in dancing mood but they did not sing along.
They did not know the words. Most of the band's songs are not easily understood by the average Shona or Ndebele speaker as they are mainly in Tonga.
However, the crowd did not care. They just appreciated the good melodies and rhythm coming from the band. I could see that on this Hifa night, Mokoomba was out to conquer.
Although Mokoomba exploit Tonga rhythms and melodies, they are out to create a global fusion, a music rooted in their home reality while still open to the sounds of the world as evidenced by their latest CD "Rising Tide".
After winning awards in Zimbabwe, recording a debut CD and touring Europe in 2009 and 2010, Mokoomba caught the ear of ace Cote D'Ivoirian bass maestro and female producer Manu Gallo. Gallo is a veteran of Kiyi M'Bock, Zap Mama, and has released a number of fantastic solo CDs in her own right. She produced Mokoomba's "Rising Tide", and her savvy judgment and familiarity with high-end afro-pop production helped to make every track shimmer.
"Njoka", the title track, is a brilliant mash-up of beat box vocals, warm guitar riffling, and punchy percussion and brass work, all backing Muzaza's edgy lead vocal and rich layers of backing vocals from the rest of the group.
This band can sing, and they prove it on every track. "Mwile" is the Latin track, and Muzaza's keening vocal works beautifully in this context. "Misozi" explores the Congo connection, beginning with folksy acoustic guitar picking reminiscent of the old Copperbelt pickers (from the Zambia/Congo border).
Later, the song revs into full Congo pop mode, kwasa-kwasa style, with animated stop time riffs, sweetly soaring guitar leads, and great rhythm breakdowns. "Nimukonda" nods to melodious old-school reggae, and then rough-and-ready dancehall.
The sheer density of ideas in this session is impressive, but it never feels like the musicians are merely checking off stylistic boxes. Their commitment and verve enlivens every performance, right up to the club-by crescendo, "Weleye," where Gallo's suave production touch is once again a unmistakable and powerful asset.
Mark my words, whatever happens, the impressive Mokoomba will leave an indelible mark in this world!
------------
Feedback: f_zindi@hotmail.com
Source - Fred Zindi Music
