By Mono Mukundu
It is one thing to be good at what you do and It is another thing to be influential & inspirational.yourdictionary.com defines someone influential as someone who has an impact on how people act, or how things occur.
On this list I am listing drummers that have influenced how drumming is played in Zimbabwe and influenced others to join in the field.
Remember when I described a great person as someone who has contributed something to a society or to humanity, these guys contributed new original styles to Zimbabwean drumming as well as inspire other people to take up drumming.
I will do another list of good drummers on another day, especially the new school, but here let me introduce you to my list of the 3 most influential.
1:JETHRO SHASHA:
It would be serious blasphemy to exclude this name from the list. Jethro Shasha, whose nickname was “The drum machine” passed away at the age of 46 in 1998,he is the most celebrated drummer in the history of Zimbabwean music.
His CV is yet to be matched His CV includes such names as Stimela, Salif Keita, Hugh Masekela, Music ye Africa etc.
Jethro inspired such drummers like Sam Mataure & many more that you know & do not know. There are international festivals where he would be invited alone. When he passed away it is said he was mourned more in South Africa, than here in Zimbabwe where he left a huge mark on the music scene there.
2:SAM MATAURE:
Another very influential name is Sam Mataure. He is also someone with a fat CV that includes the likes of Tuku, Hugh Masekela, Thomas Mapfumo, Mirriam Makeba etc.
More than anything else Sam is known for performance discipline. Sam influenced so many drummers that include Bobby Mutyasira, Blessing Muparutsa etc.
3:OBERT GOMBA:
Obert is well known more for his work as Alick Macheso’s drummer, but having jammed with him, he is very versatile, very experimental & can fit in any genre. It is at Ochestra Mberikwazvo that Obert rose to prominence. His drum fills were totally different from Sungura drumming that we were all accustomed to. I think he is also the first to use a double pedal kick drum set on Sungura music. Obert single handedly influenced modern Sungura music drumming.
This is Mono, God’s favorite Guitar man signing off.
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