Oliver Mtukudzi, one of Zimbabwe's greatest artists, was born in 1952 and grew up in a suburb of Harare. He bought a guitar from the money he saved and developed his craftsmanship by singing and playing in churches and clubs. In the mid-1970s he joined the band Wagon Wheels with Thomas Mapfumo. Mapfumo was fiercely against the established order and showed it in his music. Mtukudzi, on the other
… hand, kept aloof from politics and preferred to sing about the difficult socio-economic conditions in which the Zimbabweans lived. In 1978 Mtukudzi formed his own band, the Black Spirits. Decades and more than forty albums later, he has emerged as a guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, actor and composer of film and theater music. Mtukudzi developed his own style of music that is therefore named after him: Tuku music. His fusion music interweaves elements from the traditional forms of mbira, the South African mbaqanga style, the metropolitan Zulu rhythms, the rural trance rhythms of Zimbabwe's Shona people and Zimbabwean JIT music. Typical of Mtukudzi is that he addresses social problems with a sense of humor and optimism. By singing in Shona, Ndebele and English, he conveys a message of peace and tolerance. The album The Other Side is a live album recorded in Switzerland in 1994. (SvdP) the rural trance rhythms of Zimbabwe's Shona people and Zimbabwean JIT music. Typical of Mtukudzi is that he addresses social problems with a sense of humor and optimism. By singing in Shona, Ndebele and English, he conveys a message of peace and tolerance. The album The Other Side is a live album recorded in Switzerland in 1994. (SvdP) the rural trance rhythms of Zimbabwe's Shona people and Zimbabwean JIT music. Typical of Mtukudzi is that he addresses social problems with a sense of humor and optimism. By singing in Shona, Ndebele and English, he conveys a message of peace and tolerance. The album The Other Side is a live album recorded in Switzerland in 1994. (SvdP)more