Let’s Talk Zim Music

I did not go through formal music education, but deep inside me I always felt that music was my true calling. As I journeyed through my career, I realized something was missing in my musical setup. I was unsure about the vocal keys and chords I was using, and my voice projection did not yet […]

From the year 2000, I found out that I had quite a number of people from different walks of life: music industry, media, arts and culture, Ministry of Arts and Culture as well as the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe who wished me bad luck. Many people were not happy with the success of Jenaguru

You might recall that in a previous article, I narrated how the late John Chibadura treated me like a brother early in my musical career. As my way of paying homage to the memory of John, you may also remember how I quickly acted when I heard about the challenges his sons were facing in

After the highly successful Jenaguru Music Festival of 1992, I felt lonely in the sense that most of my fellow musicians were not part of the festival’s organising team. I was of the view that for the Festival, codenamed Zimbabwe Musicians’ Day, to have a national outlook, many musicians needed to participate in the process

Jenaguru Arts Centre has established itself as an arts organisation in Zimbabwe and Japan. The organisation has contributed immensely to the teaching of arts in Zimbabwe and the popularization of Zimbabwean cultural music and dances in Asia. The Centre has groomed many individuals who have gone on to become successful artists locally and abroad. Our

The music industry in Zimbabwe is dead. It will take a lot of hard work to restore it to its past glory. The death of the music industry has deprived many established and aspiring musicians of the opportunity to make a living through the production of art. Music is not paying anymore due to rampant

In 1995, there was pandemonium at Gwanzura Stadium when a senior police officer, Jefta Dube, shot and killed (in cold blood) a junior police officer at a Jenaguru Music Festival.  It was alleged that senior officer Jefta Dube was urinating in public near the performance stage. The junior officer approached him and asked him politely

Zimbabwean politicians want to involve musicians in their political activities when they are campaigning to be voted into public office. Musicians would sing songs of praise and many a time such songs exaggerate the contributions and achievements of the politicians. Once, the politicians win power and are securely ensconced in their positions, they totally forget

There were many groups that revolutionised the Zimbabwean music scene by coming up with new ideas, new rhythms and new approaches to music composition and arrangement. These were groups which invented new sounds. Talking Drum was a brilliant musical outfit which emerged in the mid 80s. The group was composed of talented musicians: Henry Peters

Music fans are very special in so many ways. They are a valuable ladder by which artists reach the zenith of success. On the other hand, fans’ dissatisfaction can take artists down to the lowest professional depths. Many artists fall from grace because of arrogance, selfishness, self-centeredness and pride. A combination of these vices causes