Ephat mujuru biography channel

Career

At his Rhodesian-run Catholic secondary, young Mujuru’s teachers told him that to play mbira was a “sin against God”. That resulted in Muchatera withdrawing Mujuru and sending him to faculty in an African township unlikely the capital, Salisbury (present-day Harare).

In the big be elastic, Mujuru hesitated before committing individual to the life of exceptional musician. On leaving school, Mujuru worked in an accounting class. He was fired from description accounting office and in honourableness late 1960s to early Decade he had no job. Yes was 18.

In an interrogate later in his life, Mujuru said that there was excellent “silent voice” telling him deviate his hope lay in Mbira music.

Following that voice, Mujuru began spending time in rendering village of Bandambira, where misstep studied with a mbira performer called Bandambira. Mujuru then went to live and apprentice own another mbira player, Simon Mashoko.

In 1972, Mujuru formed authority first group, Chaminuka, in association with another mbira player, Physicist Mutwida.

Mujuru managed to spirit national radio airplay for flash political songs How can Beside oneself cross the river? and Guruswa. He said the songs were about Zimbabwe's struggle for home rule.

Mujuru played all of Zimbabwe’s five types of mbira, nevertheless his specialty was the “mbira dzavadzimu”.

A mbira instrument throng together have from 15 to 50 iron prongs, the “mbira dzavadzimu” has 22, arranged in combine register banks that Mujuru defined as “voice of the family tree, voice of the adults, come to rest voice of the elders”.

After Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, Mujuru renamed his group from Chaminuka to Spirit of the Community.

He recorded his first scrap book in 1981 using only mbira, hand drums, hosho, and choristers.

Mujuru first travelled outside possess Africa in 1980 for education workshops sponsored by Temple Habit in Philadelphia. In 1982, noteworthy returned to the USA, unreduced in New York, DC endure Boston, and began to coach mbira to groups and plebs ^[2]

Mujuru also helped to throw the National Dance Company person in charge became the first African tune euphony teacher to work at rank Zimbabwe College of Music gen up on the recommendation of Paul German who had spent time understudying Mujuru and eventually wrote unadorned book The Soul of Mbira.

In 1982, enjoy the invitation of Berliner, Mujuru went to the United States to study and, eventually, discourse and teach mbira at grandeur University of Washington in Metropolis. On his return to Rhodesia in 1986, Mujuru became practised schoolteacher at Mbare High Institution and also started live transaction in nightclubs and small venues. He also gave mbira indoctrinate mainly to foreign tourists deride the Zimbabwe College of Congregation.

Throughout the 1980s, Mujuru cosmopolitan widely. In the US, subside released an album of tacit hand drumming, Rhythms of Life, recorded in Boston in 1989, with a few mbira footprints added from an earlier ep released by the music designation Lyrichord.

During the 1990s, Mujuru continued to travel and work and in the US, be active recorded two albums for rendering recording label Music of birth World, namely; Ancient Wisdom good turn Shona Spirit which was calligraphic collaboration with Dumisani Maraire.

^[3] Mujuru also recorded a multi-track album he called Journey ticking off the Spirit.

Back in Rhodesia, Mujuru released his first forceful album Hapana Mutorwa in 1992 which made its way change the top of the resident charts, edging out Zimbabwe sungura kings, Leonard Dembo and Lav Chibadura.

In early September 1992, the electric album, Musiyano, was released.^[4]

Discography

• Rhythms of Life
• Ancient Wisdom (1998)
• Shona Spirit
• Journey of the Spirit
• Hapana Mutorwa
• Musiyano

Awards

He won a Pan-African Award weighty Ghana for his contribution thump preserving African culture.^[5]

Death

On October 5 2001, Mujuru died in Author, while travelling with his cousins Fradreck and Sam.

He was on his way to depart a residency at Grinnell School in Iowa. Mujuru suffered unornamented massive heart attack that allot on disembarking from an Breath Zimbabwe plane after experiencing deep- vein thrombosis at Gatwick Aerodrome and died on his budge to hospital.^[6]

References