BY Dr. MICHELINA ANDREUCCI
Zimbabwean popular music is dominated by an accepted and stylish music genre commonly known as ‘Sungura’ Music.
The term Sungura in Zimbabwe is often misinterpreted for the type of music played by a group of peri-urban artists from a wide multi-ethnic group.
According to renowned Zimbabwean art and music critic Dr. Tony Michel Monda ”Sungura is a multi-ethnic musical genre.
The genre is unique to Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania, with the gut of its background and meaning often shrouded in the polyphonic rhythms and intuitive improvised, racing solo lead guitar riffs that are characteristic of the genre . . . the lyrics take from the Shona tradition of orature and storytelling in a contemporary narrative. Sungura is part of our intangible musical heritage and musical memory.”
Journalistic reports, terms, prose and common myths have often missed the roots of Sungura music, initially popular amongst immigrant farm labourers from Malawi, Angola, Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique. Developing in Zimbabwe in the 1970’s and widely popularised in 1980s, it captured the buoyant post-independent mood of the time.
Today’s musical DNA of sungura is descended from the patriarchs of the Sungura Boys – Shepherd Chinyani and Ephraim Joe, who gave an extra edge to the Kanindo Sound from the East and Central Africa, with the lead guitar remaining the key instrument, but pitched just a bit higher and the tempo much faster. This early group was followed by veterans DeveraNgwena Jazz Band and Jonah Moyo, with groups like Khiama Boys, Zimbabwe Cha-Cha-Cha Kings and Leonard Dembo amongst others competing fervently .
During the mid-eighties, after the demise of the Sungura Boys, the Khiama Boys emerged as natural successors.
Members of the included System Tazvida (Rhythm guitar), Nicholas Zacharia (Lead guitar), Alick Macheso (Bass), Silas Chakanyuka (Drums), and Zacharia Zakaria (Sub Rhythm guitar).
All went on to forge successful careers with their own bands and their own distinct style of sungura.
Other Zimbabwean musicians associated with the rise of sungura include: System Tazvida, Simon Chimbetu, John Chibadura, Leonard Dembo, Thomas Makion, Marshall Munhumumwe, Daiton Somanje, Solomon Skuza, Tongai Moyo, and others. Many have sadly passed away, but shall be remembered for their contribution to Zimbabwe’s foremost popular music genre – Sungura Music.
Sungura is characterised by lengthy songs with fast tempos which are full of high energy and intricate lead guitar riffs. It’s by-and-large lyrical in pattern interspersed with many ideophonic solos on guitar and drums in the call-and-response fashion.
As a genre it is the working-class staple, played from mines and farms to township beer halls and now city stadiums and city nightclubs. The narratives of sungura are grounded in life of the high-density townships with love songs, socio-cultural experiences and Shona morals often espoused in the lyrics.
Sungura or Museve, as it is also known, is the most popular music genre in Zimbabwe today.
Continuously varying in speed and tempo, the music compares well to the very illusive little hare – tsuro, and its mannerisms – Kamwana ke tsuro, or ‘Kalulu’ in Bemba or Nyanja Languages of Zambia and Malawi respectively.
Dr. Monda explains that the word Sungura alludes to a hare in Kiswahili. “Many will know that the word ‘Sungura’ means an elusive little rabbit – difficult to snare, surprise or capture. Illusive, and at every point the hare has a variation in speed, direction or tempo. What this means is that sungura is a unique musical genre, replicating itself, whilst simultaneously inventing new pathways and rhythms in a unique cycle of sound . . . allusions to the music are drawn from the characteristics of the hare; rhythmic, originally contrived, unpredictable and consistently changing direction in a fast speed and tempo”. He added.
As a stage designer and music stylist, I encountered many musicians and actors first hand. Numerous conversations with the late Cde Chinx, the Khiama Boys, Thomas Mapfumo, Oliver Mtukudzi, Nicholas Zachariah, Alec Macheso, Tongayi Moyo, and several other Sungura musicians gave me an in-depth appreciation of the music and its makers.
The Sungura DNA of music artiste Peter Moyo, son of the late Tongai Moyo, attracts an immense amount of publicity whenever his name is mentioned. Being the son and heir of a Sungura king does not make it any easier for Peter Moyo. His potential often supersedes expectations. This makes the launch of his new album “Zvamanje Manje Ndiwe Urikupisa”, at Takarangana Nightclub in Hatcliffe, a historically unique musical masterpiece, an album worthy of critical acclaim.
Definitions of the past genre and echoes of the old sounds have been recreated, reabsorbed and reproduced in a novel way to please a new generation of fans. It is the memory of his father, Tongayi Moyo, and the new sounds from Peter Moyo, that combine to unite the old and new fans of Dhewa Music, which Peter Moyo has absorbed and replicated admirably in his new album – “Zvamanje Manje Ndiwe Urikupisa”, establishing his own signature brand of a new Sungura genre.
Now on his 5 th album launch Dhewa the Younger, deserves a more cosmopolitan audience.
Following the death of the late Sungura genius, Tongai Moyo, on October 15, 2011, his son Peter Moyo, a footballer by profession, took over the reins of his father’s Utakataka Express Band, which he managed to sustain despite many professional, social and financial challenges;
including the rejection of the band by some members like Shiga Shiga (vocalist), and Spencer Khumulani (bass guitarist), who could not adjust to Peter’s new style of management.
However, Peter’s newly assembled line up is unique and decidedly his own incomparable style, in management, rehearsals and performance.
The making of superstars is never easy. It is filled with innumerable trials and tribulations; more than that, there are unknown enemies lurking in the corridors, waiting for the demise of one’s success. Against this background of petty jealousy, rivalry and misinformed criticism, Sungura musicians have been highly competitive and prone to public vilification.
Whilst Tongai’s music lives on, Peter Moyo is charting a new destiny, as his new album “Zvamanje Manje Ndiwe Urikupisa”, testifies. Listen and appreciate the new Sungura sounds of Peter Moyo; you will be pleasantly surprised.
Dr Michelina Andreucci is a Zimbabwean-Italian researcher and a published author in her field. For views and comments, email: linamanucci@gmail.com
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