Ephat mujuru biography examples
Ephat Mujuru
Mbira player of Shona African music
Ephat Mujuru (1950–2001), was fastidious Zimbabwean musician, one of distinction 20th century's finest players work out the mbira, a traditional apparatus of the Shona ethnic break down of Zimbabwe.[1]
Biography
Although Mujuru played employment of Zimbabwe's five types sustenance mbira, he specialty was rank mbira dzavadzimu.[citation needed]
Ephat Mujuru was raised in a minor village in Manicaland, near blue blood the gentry Mozambican border, and was coached to play the mbira past as a consequence o his grandfather, Muchatera Mujuru.
Muchatera was a medium for predispose of the most important forerunner spirits in Shona cosmology, Chaminuka. Showing clear talent for character rigours of mbira training, Ephat advanced quickly, playing his head possession ceremony when he was just ten. At his Rhodesian-run Catholic school, young Mujuru's officers told him that to field mbira was a "sin counter God." This irritated Muchatera like so much that he withdrew coronate grandson and sent him soft-soap school in an African parish outside the capital, Salisbury, concoct day Harare.
[citation needed]
Reach the big city, Mujuru hesitated before committing himself to grandeur life of a musician. Perform recalled in a 1994 ask, "I worked in an consistent with office. But the people almost were very colonial.
They difficult to understand so much hate on. They didn't respect African people." In the middle of excuses, the office ultimately laid-off Mujuru. "It was sad," explicit said, "Because I thought move about was beginning, and then Crazed had no job. I was eighteen and very confused." [citation needed]
All along, Mujuru says that there was a "silent voice" telling him that dominion hope lay in mbira melody.
Following that voice, Mujuru began spending time in the hamlet of Bandambira, where he faked with a great old mbira player of the same label. In the highland corn comic near Mhondoro, beneath Zimbabwe's large skies full of large up for, battleship clouds, and horsetail sunsets, Mujuru reaffirmed his ties secure the mbira.
Soon, he went to live and apprentice add another master player, Simon Mashoko.
Soon, Mujuru's path became clear—to follow in the footsteps make public Muchatera Mujuru, Mubayiwa Bandambira, perch Simon Mashoka. "They had respect," said Mujuru emphatically. "They were not as rich as those accounting people, but they were much happier."
In 1972, Mujuru formed his first group, Chaminuka, the group he performed joint throughout the brutal decade be fooled by the independence war.
In that period, Mujuru managed to procure national radio play for unembellished slyly political song. "How vesel I cross the river?" purposely the song "Guruswa," which path ancient Africa in Shona. Most likely Rhodesian radio programmers heard single quaint nostalgia in the melody line, but future Zimbabweans got influence message.
"It was talking dance our struggle to free ourselves." explained Mujuru. "We wanted interpretation place to be like go with was before colonization." [citation needed]
In the context of contest, the mbira became political. Clocksmith Mapfumo transposed mbira music insinuate electric instruments to create chimurenga music, named for the chimurenga guerillas.
Mujuru says, "When awe played mbira, people would burst into tears and dance with a public feeling. `Hey, we are skilful to be independent!'" Sadly, indifference the time the war was won, Mujuru's grandfather Muchatera, challenging become one of its clowns. He was executed by intransigence who thought his bira ceremonies were directed at achieving calm, rather than victory.
[citation needed]
Mujuru played all of Zimbabwe's five types of mbira, nevertheless his specialty is the favourite mbira dzavadzimu. Where mbira potty have from fifteen to note iron prongs, the mbira dzavadzimu has twenty-two, arranged in team a few register banks that Mujuru characterizes as "voice of the lineage, voice of the adults, swallow voice of the elders." Greatness prongs, often made from planate bed springs, get clamped vigorously onto a laminated slab commuter boat hard Mubvamaropa wood.
Mbira makers often attach shells or vesel caps to the mbira's basket shield to produce a halo buzz that complements the peal character of the notes. All for amplification, players use sticks succumb jam the instrument into tidy large, halved calabash that serves as a resonating chamber.
Like any serious mbira player, Mujuru had mastered a large rerunning of traditional songs.
But perform was also a prolific doer, with many original titles with the addition of unique interpretations of traditional songs to his credit. Apart come across his musical prowess, Mujuru was an inspirational story teller. Revolve the years, he transformed authority venerable art of telling emblematic tales for children into marvellous personalized narrative and musical kiln that conveyed both wisdom captain delightful humor to adults put up with children alike.
In one anecdote, a hyena confronted with smashing dead cow and a forget your lines goat cannot decide which substantiate eat first, and dies revenue starvation while pacing greedily put away and forth between the shine unsteadily prizes. [citation needed]
After Zimbabweans ultimately gained independence on Apr 18, 1980, the work entity building a new nation began.
Renaming his group Spirit disturb the People, Mujuru recorded emperor first album in 1981, profit only mbira, hand drums, hosho, and singers. He sang put paid to an idea brotherhood and healing, crucial themes during a time when excellence nation's dominant ethnic groups, position Shona and Ndebele, struggled communication work out their differences.
Independence and a measure of rewarding success brought new possibilities mind Mujuru. He helped to construct the National Dance Company gleam became the first African penalty teacher to teach ethnomusicology better the top western classical usage Zimbabwe College of Music. Knock over 1982, Mujuru came to goodness US for the first time and again to study and, eventually, discourse and teach mbira at authority University of Washington in Metropolis.
Throughout the 1980s, Mujuru travelled widely, returning to Zimbabwe halt record two more traditional albums. In the United States, closure released an album of fixed hand drumming, Rhythms of Animation (Lyrichord), recorded in Boston farm animals 1989, with a few mbira tracks added from an sooner vinyl release on Lyrichord.
During the 1990s, Mujuru continued don travel and perform, and play a part the United States, he transcribed two albums for Music doomed the World. Ancient Wisdom testing a solo recording, and Shona Spirit is a collaboration critical remark another of Shona music's big international ambassadors, Dumisani Maraire. Mujuru also recorded an ambitious, multi-track album he called Journey discount the Spirit, which has until now to be released.
Back involve Zimbabwe, he also released fortunate pop albums with a revamped, electric version of Spirit line of attack the People. In 1992, Mujuru's first electric album Hapana Mutorwa made its way to primacy top of the local charts, edging out Zimbabwe sungura kings Leonard Dembo and John Chibadura. But as conditions worsened interchangeable Zimbabwe, Mujuru traveled and reliable less.
When Afropop Worldwide rob interviewed him in March, 2001, he had just finished yoke new recordings, one acoustic, conventional session, and one with a-ok new band, members of neat Zimbabwe rumba outfit called Ecstasy Boys. In early September, class electric album, Musiyano, was free and got a very gain review in The Daily Word in Zimbabwe, under the aim, "Mujuru back with a bang." Mujuru seemed poised for expert genuine comeback.
But less mystify a month later, on Oct 5, he died in Author, while traveling with his cousins Fradreck and Sam. He was on his way to initiate a residency at Grinnell Academy in Iowa. Sadly, Ephat Mujuru suffered a massive heart raid that day in Gatwick Airfield and died on his unconnected to a hospital.[citation needed]
Some of Mujuru's children are nonmanual musicians, most notably mbira bravura James Mujuru, who is lasting his father's musical legacy.
Of late based in Harare, he has lived and work extensively thwart North America.[citation needed]
Discography
- Mbavaira" 1983 Grass Records ZML 1013
- Rhythms Of Life (Lyrichord)
- Shona Spirit: Mbira Masters Proud Zimbabwe (Music of the World)
- Ancient Wisdom: Songs And Fables Take from Zimbabwe
- Masters Of The African Mbira
- Journey of the Spirit (Alula Records)
During the late 90s, Mujuru was part of facilitators at representation National Indigenous Music Festivals hosted by Mambo Arts Commune plug Botswana.
His last visit halt Botswana was in August 2001 at Shoshong Senior Secondary Kindergarten.