|
Back to Index
A
freedom fighter returns
Rob Crossan, The Independent (Zimbabwe)
August 29, 2008
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/a-freedom-fighter-returns-912057.html
The phone lines are
down in Zimbabwe. With frustrating regularity, the antiquated system
has been collapsing for years now. For Oliver Mtukudzi, the most
famous living musician still to call this deeply-scarred country
his home, it means that keeping in touch with his friends and family
back home is a logistical nightmare. A punctured tyre and near-deadly
road crash on his current tour of the UK has only added to the communication
problems:
"I wasn't on the
bus but my entire band was," says Mtukudzi, his voice as dry
and weathered as emery cloth as we speak in his London hotel. "We
were lucky in that we have a very skilled driver, but the first
thing a lot of our friends and families heard about it was when
it was reported in the newspapers."
For Mtukudzi, road accidents
are one of the less seditious occupational hazards of being the
last remaining superstar musician still living in Zimbabwe who is
prepared to speak out against the regime of Robert Mugabe.
Mtukudzi headlines the
Zimfest outdoor festival in Raynes Park, south London, this Saturday.
The festival, organised by three Zimbabweans - one white,
one Shona and one Ndebele (the two main black ethnic groups in the
country) - was initiated in 2001 with the aim of raising money
to support charities and NGOs that are still operating in the country.
It would seem to be a natural platform for a veteran dissident like
Mtukudzi. This, after all, is the man who, as far back as 2000,
was singing (in his native Shona language), a song called "Mkuru
Mkuru", meaning "old man", whose lyrics spoke of
a leader knowing the time to give up and bow out gracefully.
Mugabe's ZANU-PF party
complained bitterly about the lyrics. Mtukudzi cunningly responded
by saying: "If the leader is being affected by this song then
that means there is something wrong with him. But I'm talking about
any head of family. 'Mkuru Mkuru' applies to any family, but families
make up a community, and communities make up the nation."
"Walk down the street
in Harare, and you'll find more people of any age who love Tuku
[Mtukudzi's nickname] or at least have heard of him, than you will
any politician," says Gordon Glyn-Jones, one of the organisers
of Zimfest. A mercurial and impudent front man, Mtukudzi, now in
his fifties, may not be quite as energetic on stage as he once was,
but the success of the highly distinctive musical style he has developed
over the last 30 years (known as "Tuku Music") is still
dependent on his booming growl of a voice, backed with a lush guitar
sound, plucked to sound like the mbira. This instrument is also
known as a thumb piano: a native Zimbabwean creation consisting
of thin strips of steel layered across a hollowed-out calabash.
Marimba, bass and resonant female backing vocals create a sound
that is energetic, accessible and highly popular with British audiences:
"People should come to listen," says Mtukudzi when describing
his sound. "But they should also bring their dancing shoes."
He sold out the Jazz Café in Camden Town, north London, last
week and is expected to play in front of an audience of more than
5,000 at Zimfest.
"Every day is a
struggle and it's getting worse all the time," admits Mtukudzi
when I ask him about his choice to continue to live in Harare.
"I didn't choose
to be a Zimbabwean but the fact that I am makes me proud. A lot
of people have left the country - perhaps they have better
reasons to than I do. To be proud to be Zimbabwean is a totally
different thing to anyone saying they can be proud of Zimbabwe -
because now, every day is a struggle."
Perhaps understandably,
Tuku, as a man living under the present regime, is not a man to
scream revolution when you talk to him, preferring to use more subtle
methods of allegory and metaphor in his conversation and his music.
He is returning home after this tour, which also takes him to South
Africa, but he has no problem with headlining a festival such as
Zimfest, which has been so outspoken about Mugabe's reign.
"I think it's a
brilliant idea," he tells me. "Nothing is forever. Whether
leaders, or me and you, like it or not, things have to turn around.
Our economy is ruined but everything changes at some point. Hope
is vital for all of our people. And anyway, there's no such thing
as an easy life, wherever you are."
The
event that started it all...
Zimfest started in 2001
as a music and arts festival for 700 people in a field behind Wandsworth
Prison in south London. It was organised by "We Zimbabwe",
a charity that focused on raising money for groups working with
youth development, education, human rights and support for victims
of the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Now spearheaded by three
Zimbabweans - Phil Chikwiramakomo, Hilton Mendelsohn and Gordon
Glyn Jones - this year's festival is expected to draw around
5,000 people to the Prince George Playing Fields, Raynes Park, south
London on Saturday.
Appearing with
Oliver Mtukudzi are a range of other Zimbabwean artists including
rock act Mann Friday, Rina Mushonga and urban duo Bkay & Kazz.
Tickets cost £20 in advance and £30 on the day. See
www.wezimbabwe.org
for more information and tickets.
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
