Oliver Mtukudzi

Jennifer W. Kyker

Description

Visit Oliver Mtukudzi's website

Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi, a Zimbabwean guitarist, vocalist, and composer, has performed worldwide and released some 50 albums. One of a handful of artists to have a beat named after him, Mtukudzi blends Zimbabwean traditional sounds with South African township music and American gospel and soul, to compose what is known as Tuku Music. In this biography, Jennifer W. Kyker looks at Mtukudzi's life and art, from his encounters with Rhodesian soldiers during the Zimbabwe war of liberation to his friendship with American blues artist Bonnie Raitt. With unprecedented access to Mtukudzi, Kyker breaks down his distinctive performance style using the Shona concept of "hunhu," or human identity through moral relationships, as a framework. By reading Mtukudzi's life in connection with his lyrics and the social milieu in which they were created, Kyker offers an engaging portrait of one of African music's most recognized performers. Interviews with family, friends, and band members make this a penetrating, sensitive, and uplifting biography of one of the world's most popular musicians.

Acknowledgements
Introduction: The Art of Determination
1. Hwaro/Foundations
2. Performing the Nation's History
3. Singing Hunhu after Independence
4. Neria: Singing the Politics of Inheritance
5. Return to Dande
6. Listening as Politics
7. What Shall We Do?: Music, Dialogue, and HIV/AIDS
8. Listening in the Wilderness
Conclusion: I Have Finished My Portion of the Field
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• African Studies
• MUSIC
• Multiple signal classification
• Ethnomusicology

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 31 octobre 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253022387
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

OLIVER MTUKUDZI
AFRICAN EXPRESSIVE CULTURES
Patrick McNaughton, editor
Associate editors
Catherine M. Cole
Barbara G. Hoffman
Eileen Julien
Kassim Kon
D. A. Masolo
Elisha Renne
Zo Strother
OLIVER MTUKUDZI
Living Tuku Music in Zimbabwe
JENNIFER W. KYKER
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS Bloomington and Indianapolis
This book is a publication of
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
2016 by Jennifer Kyker
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Kyker, Jennifer, 1979- author.
Title: Oliver Mtukudzi : living Tuku music in Zimbabwe / Jennifer W. Kyker.
Other titles: African expressive cultures.
Description: Bloomington ; Indianapolis : Indiana University Press, 2016. | ?2016 | Series: African expressive cultures | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016013096 (print) | LCCN 2016014578 (ebook) | ISBN 9780253022233 (cloth : alkaline paper) | ISBN 9780253022318 (paperback : alkaline paper) | ISBN 9780253022387 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Mtukudzi, Oliver. | Musicians-Zimbabwe-Biography. | Popular music-Zimbabwe-History and criticism.
Classification: LCC ML420.M72 K95 2016 (print) | LCC ML420.M72 (ebook) | DDC 781.63092-dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016013096
1 2 3 4 5 21 20 19 18 17 16
We are caught up in an inescapable network of mutuality . Strangely enough I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the way the world is made.
Martin Luther King
Pasina rudo, hapana hunhu - Without love, there is no hunhu .
Sekuru Musanyange
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Art of Determination
1. Hwaro /Foundations
2. Performing the Nation s History
3. Singing Hunhu after Independence
4. Neria: Singing the Politics of Inheritance
5. Return to Dande
6. Listening as Politics
7. What Shall We Do?: Music, Dialogue, and HIV/AIDS
8. Listening in the Wilderness
Conclusion: I Have Finished My Portion of the Field
Notes
Bibliography
Index
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book began to take shape on a warm April day in 2004 as Oliver Mtukudzi and I talked on a fire escape at Mount Holyoke College, where I had studied as an undergraduate and had now returned to see Mtukudzi and the Black Spirits perform. By no coincidence, this genesis points toward the people to whom I owe the deepest gratitude in enabling this project to take shape. The first is Mtukudzi himself, who was unfailingly enthusiastic and supportive from our initial discussion at Mount Holyoke to the final stages of manuscript preparation. Mtukudzi generously accommodated me backstage at shows, on the band s bus from one gig to another, and at the Pakare Paye Arts Centre in Norton, Zimbabwe. His willingness to engage in discussions about the complex and sometimes controversial elements of Tuku music-both musical and social-is yet another example of his commitment to singing hunhu. The second person present that day at Mount Holyoke was my undergraduate advisor Holly Hanson, who was responsible for inviting Mtukudzi to perform. An inspiring scholar, teacher, and mentor, Holly may not have expected when supervising my undergraduate thesis that some fifteen years later, I would still be seeking out her incredibly sound advice.
In Zimbabwe, Oliver Mtukudzi s wife Daisy, his late son Samson, and his daughter Selmor were especially warm, welcoming, and helpful. Debbie Metcalfe was also immensely supportive, offering me a place to stay in Harare, patiently sitting through hours of conversation about Tuku music, and granting me access to her personal archives. I owe especially deep thanks to my mbira teachers Musekiwa Chingodza, Sekuru Tute Wincil Chigamba, Patience Chaitezvi Munjeri, and Sekuru Cosmas Magaya. Hilda and Winfilda Magaya and their daughters, Lillian Gomera and Daphine Sikalela, also housed me during the first few months of my research stay. Many other Zimbabwean musicians, artists, and scholars have likewise contributed to this project, both directly and indirectly. Foremost among them is my incredibly talented dance teacher Daniel Inasiyo, who has shared his love of Zimbabwe ngoma not only with me, but also with generations of young Zimbabweans both at Chembira Primary School, and through his work with the nonprofit organization Tariro ( www.tariro.org ).
Among the many other Zimbabweans who have contributed to this book are Tendai Muparutsa of Williams College; Sheasby Matiure of the University of Zimbabwe; renowned poet and musician Chirikure Chirikure; mbira players Chaka Chawasarira, Wiriranai Chigon a, Irene Chigamba, Ambuya Judith Nyati Juma, Ambuya Rhoda Tembo Dzomba, and Benita Tarupiwa; dancers Julia Chigamba and Rujeko Dumbutshena; Marie-Laure Soukaina Edom and Blessed Rukweza of the Dance Trust of Zimbabwe; Rebecca Mai Mano Zeigler Mano, Gladys Tutisani and Dorothy Garwe at the United States Embassy; Maylene Chenjerai, Mathias Julius, Gilbert Douglas, and Anna Morris of Tumbuka Dance Company; Doreen Sibanda at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe; Christopher Timbe, Rumbidzai Chipendo, and Clayton Ndlovu of the Zimbabwe College of Music; Isabelle Nkawu, Taurai Moyo, Lillian Mabika, and Reuben Pembedza of Hloseni Arts; John Mambira, Mpho Mambira, and Trymore Jombo of Bongo Love; actress Chipo Chikara; mbira player Chartwell Dutiro; and Ed Banda, Tendai Ngirandi, and Farai Moyo of Capoeira Folha Seca. My fieldwork with these and many other individuals in Zimbabwe was made possible by a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship.
A number of Zimbabweans in Rochester, New York, have enthusiastically answered Shona language questions, sung Chemutengure, and shared wonderful Zimbabwean meals with me; foremost among them are Lloyd Munjanja, Tonde Mufudzi, Gillian Nyereyegona, and Simbarashe Kamuriwo. Also in the United States, Esau Mavindidze participated in many hours of conversation about the lyrics to Mtukudzi s songs, while Emmanuel Sigauke graciously allowed me to include his poem Hurry! Tuku in Concert. At Afropop Worldwide, Banning Eyre generously granted me permission to use several of his unpublished interviews with Oliver Mtukudzi. Thanks to Debby Chen, Mary Cairns, Mike Wesson, and Esa Salminen for permission to reproduce their wonderful photographs, and to Rob Cowling at Sheer Sound/Gallo Record Company for his work on securing permission to reproduce Mtukudzi s lyrics. Thanks also to Mai Shumba, for everything.
Among the many supportive colleagues I am privileged to work with at the Eastman School of Music and the College of Arts, Science, and Engineering at the University of Rochester, Ellen Koskoff has been a particularly wonderful mentor, colleague, and friend. At the University of Pennsylvania, I owe great thanks to Carol Muller for her support throughout the years; to Timothy Rommen for reading over early drafts of key chapters in the book; to Tsitsi Jaji for being a model of what is possible; and to Steven Feierman. At Wesleyan University, Eric Charry was instrumental in helping bring this project to completion; Mark Slobin, Su Zheng, and the many participants at the 2011 Summer Institute in Ethnomusicology, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Society for Ethnomusicology, also read and commented on early chapter drafts. Thanks also to Paul Berliner, Darien Lamen, Peter Hoesing, Tony Perman, Thomas Turino, and David Coplan for commenting on drafts at various stages of completion. Finally, thanks to editor Dee Mortensen for her sound advice, her patience, and her unfailing faith in this book.
Lyrics reproduced by kind permission of Tuku Music, which holds the copyright. All songs were composed by Oliver Mtukudzi and published by Tuku Music (Sheer Publishing), except for Ngoromera, Dzoka Uyamwe, Wasakara, and Todii, which were composed by Oliver Mtukudzi and Stephen Leslie Dyer and published by Tuku Music (Sheer Publishing) and Ikwezi Music. Images are used courtesy of Tuku Music, Sheer Sound/Gallo Record Company ( www.tukumusik.com ).
OLIVER MTUKUDZI
Ngoromera
(A fighting charm)
Ngoromera ingoromera
Fighting medicine is nothing but a charm
Harina zvarinoshanda, haringabatsire
It doesn t work, it cannot help
Ngoromera ingoromera ona
Fighting medicine is nothing but a charm
Harina zvarinoshanda, haringabatsire
It doesn t work, it cannot help
Ingoromera, ingoromera wani
It is only a charm, only a charm
Harina zvarinoshanda, haringabatsire
It doesn t work, it cannot help
Zuva nezuva haritonge matare ngoromera
Day after day, it cannot solve disputes
Harina zvarinoshanda, haringabatsire
It doesn t work, it cannot help
Zuva nezuva hachitonge matare chibhakera
The closed fist never resolves disputes
Hachina zvachinoshanda, haching