by Lennon Mhishi
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| photo: Daniele Sbrisny |
Considering the general coverage that most African issues receive, especially Zimbabwe, in the past decade, Mokoomba is one of the good news stories that should certainly be shared, and that shows that there is always more to people and places than what is predominantly reported on.
I saw Mokoomba perform for the first time as part of the SOAS Concert Series in the Brunei Gallery in October of 2012. I had been introduced to their music by a friend in South Africa, and they were a pleasant surprise, although I had not heard them talked about. Since then, the band has grown in stature, and gone on to win the Best Newcomer Award of Songlines Magazine, perform at the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA), featured on BBC and to tour many countries all over the world. In many ways, they are part of a new sound coming out of Zimbabwe, and I have even heard whispers that they might even be the 'new' Bhundu Boys! There is no doubt that they can scale heights.
My desire to understand their music, coupled with my research interests in Zimbabwean music an performance spaces saw me follow them to the Jazz Café in Camden in 2013, and they did not disappoint either. When I walked into Rich Mix this time around, on the 1st of April, maybe I was not expecting a lot because I thought now I knew the songs and the sound, and because the show was on a Tuesday, I expected less people.
I was in for a surprise. The standing space was filling up, and the red and blue hues of the lights in the place gave it this cosy yet expectant and exciting air. When the music came, it was on another notch, well surpassing my expectations. The energy and versatility of the band, manifest in the dances and the straddling and fusion of different musical styles, was infectious, and had the crowd dancing through the sets. Away from their usual Afro-fusion, Mokoomba performed an acoustic set that mixed musical varieties such as imbube, reminiscent of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and the use of languages such as Shona, Tonga, Luvale and Nyanja, as one of the band members, Abundance Mutori pointed out.
Mokoomba, through such performance, has also brought to the fore the rich linguistic diversity of Zimbabwe, as even I, as a Zimbabwean, have been predominantly exposed to Shona and Ndebele. Their musical and linguistic versatility is evidence of the vast cultural potential of music and performance. From conversations I have had, Mokoomba has become part of a larger Zimbabwean musical repertoire, and a musical rallying point of pride and belonging for some Zimbabweans in the diaspora. Lead singer Mathias Muzaza asks, “Vekumusha muriko here uko?” which loosely translates into asking if those from home are there.
It would be apt to expect that in the near future, the Mokoomba sound can only become richer, and we shall be talking of the rise and rise, and continued rising of the band. One hopes Zimbabwe will also rise with them!
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House of Stone: From the Great Zimbabwe/Dzimbabwe where the name Zimbabwe comes from, which can be translated to mean 'house of stone'.
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