Album Review - Ndipeiwo Zano (1978), by Oliver Mtukudzi

Traveling back in time to Oliver Mtukudzi's first (of many) albums.

Ndipeiwo Zano (1978)

by Oliver Mtukudzi and The Black Spirits

In a profile I ran across recently, Thomas Mapfumo remarked that he'd lost count of how many albums he released in his lengthy career. It seems a similar case with the late Oliver Mtukudzi, a bandmate of Mapfumo's way back in the early days. Estimates vary as to how many albums Mtukudzi released in about forty years of music making. The consensus seem that it's in the sixty to seventy range.

Ndipeiwo Zano holds the distinction of being Mtukudzi's first album. As I noted a while back, its also one of nearly two dozen of his albums you can pick up at Bandcamp, if not for a song, then for a reasonable price.

Something that jumped out at me, before even listening to a note, is the length of the songs. All twelve tracks hover around the three-minute mark. Contrast that with the popular Tuku Music collection, from 1998, where most tracks land in the six to seven minute range.

The album opens with the title track, which apparently translates to “Give Me An Idea.” Like a lot of Zimbabwean music at the time, it was concerned with the war of liberation underway in the country (which was not yet Zimbabwe). It instantly wormed its way into my ear and merits a spot on my personal best of Tuku list. A nice lilting rhythm and it doesn't sound much different - to my ear - than his latest music. Perhaps a bit less refined, but the album was apparently recorded on a four-track.

As for the rest of it, there are really no duds in the bunch. But a few songs stood out from the pack. "Gunguwo," to my ear, could almost pass for a song by Mtukudzi's old bandmate, Mapfumo, except perhaps for the vocals. "Ziwere" is notable for the vocal interplay and for the fact that the next song - "Bganyamakaka" - feels like it picks up where it's predecessor stopped. Almost as though they were snipped in two.

It was on "Tibvumbamirei" that it finally sunk in that the drummer seemed to be playing mostly the same tittering cymbal pattern throughout much of the album. But it works. It dials back the brisk tempos that have mostly prevailed and almost has a kind of melancholy flavor.

"Ndiri Bofu" was another another winner, with great background vocals that seemed almost to dominate. It sounded naggingly familar, as though it might have appeared elsewhere. A dribble of research confirmed that it later appeared on a few other albums.

Thumbs up. :)