Pick of the Week - Mapfumothon #1 (Zimbabwe)
In recognition of Thomas Mapfumo's 80th birtday, I'm listening to all of his albums and posting a few thoughts.
Mapfumothon (for lack of a better term) begins. The plan is to listen to all of Thomas Mapfumo's albums before July closes. It's about 40 years worth of albums, starting in the mid-Seventies. I won't be doing full reviews - just a little background and some thoughts.
Hokoyo! (1978) (with The Acid Band)
Zimbabwe was not yet Zimbabwe when this album was released. A civil war was still underway in Rhodesia (as it was called), in 1978. It was banned from official radio channels and Mapfumo ended up in jail for several months.
The title track sounds kind of like Philly soul, but by track three ("Hwahwa") the Thomas Mapfumo style is already in evidence. I first encountered "Zvandivhiringa" on the Mapfumo collection that introduced me to his music and it remains a favorite.
Favorites - Hokoyo!, Zvandivhiringa, Matiregerera Mambo, Mhandu Musango
Gwindingwi Rine Shumba (1981)
From here on, it's Mapfumo with The Blacks Unlimited. One of the standouts is "Hwahwa," a song title used on the first album and possibly several others. That's a mystery to be untangled at a later date, but it's a mighty fine song regardless. Apparently, the word means beer, but don't hold me to that. The clip linked below is Mapfumo's nephew doing the title song.
Favorites - Tinodanana, Hwahwa, Zimbabwe Yevatema
Mabasa (1983)
A solid one, but nothing jumped out at me quite so much as with the first two albums.
Favorites - Usatambe Nenyoka (Mabasa), Muchoni
Ndangariro (1983)
I'll defer to Robert Christgau, one of the better known pop/rock critics and one who championed African musicians way back:
"No crib sheets accompany these six circa-1983 tracks, but I gather they're less propagandistic than the wartime output of this rock-influenced Zimbabwean singer turned Mugabe partisan, which given his main man's Shona chauvinism is probably a good thing. What I'm sure is that they generate a ferocious groove--the rhythm guitar attack of Mapfumo's Black Unlimited band never slacks off, maintaining the indomitable uprush of great African pop well past its usual fading point. You think music "transcends" politics? Then get this sucker."
Favorites - Temerina, Emma