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Oliver Mtukudzi’s Tuku Music
Putumayo Artists
It was a dark and rainy winter night, and where to turn to bring good cheer and more beat into life with some new CDs from Africa? As usual, that purveyor of World Music, www.Putumayo.com came through, this time with Oliver Mtukudzi – “The Grand Master of Zimbabwe Traditional Pop” - whose individual style has earned his music its own nickname, Tuku. Born in Harare in 1952, Mtukudzi’s career was a straight line from church gospel singing to joining the band, Wagon Wheels, and culminated in the formation of his Black Spirits band that has provided his sensational back-up since 1979. Although Mtukudzi has 40 albums to his credit, he is still a devoted live performing artist in Africa and abroad. His soundtrack to the Zimbabwe movie, JIT, has only added to his popularity and stature as a Zimbabwean “national treasure.”
Mtukudzi’s music mixes South African mbaqanga style with traditional bass, lead and acoustic guitar rock’n roll riffs, gospel music-like choruses, the hypnotic rhythms of the mbira (thumb piano), or the compelling strong line of his Korekore clan’s traditional pattern of drumbeats called Katekwe. Tuku Music is his first album manufactured in South Africa, and it has gone gold with its smash hit, Todii, his compelling plea for consciousness about AIDS.
For those of us who do not speak Shona or Ndebele and cannot directly appreciate his strength as a lyricist in these songs about the hard struggles of African life, their great beats and pure musicality are, in themselves, completely enjoyable. Unfortunately, the liner notes do not give all the lyrics, which is disappointing, because Mtukudzi offers many insightful and witty ripostes to man’s dilemmas, based on Shona proverbs and traditional phrases of encouragement and wisdom. (Some songs, like the pulsing Wake Up, do contain English lyrics or expressions.)
His refreshing melodies, sung in his unmistakable soulful rich voice, are part of the back-and-forth dialog between his searching self and a joyful chorus of beautiful female voices who answer his pleas and questions about the problems and lessons of life.
Mtukudzi’s music is irresistible. It makes you want to stand up and dance, both fast and slow (try a little cheek-to-cheek to Mai Varamba). The melodies are as clear and complex as the guitar lines, and I dare anybody not to enjoy Tuku Music over beers in the trophy room, or stuck in traffic, or cleaning out the garage. It made everyone I knew who listened to it happy, and that’s magic.
Other very appealing CDs by Oliver Mtukudzi are Collected Tuku,Paivepo, Bvuma and Vunzha Moto (Burning Ember). I’m getting them all.